The Weekly Wrap-Up 03/06/20
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Your MEMBER ONLY email on all things the Chamber worked on this week
and you need to know about, to get the most of your membership.
Thank you for being a member.
(This Weekly is being shared to everyone so we can share information about he Nashville Tornado Recovery.)
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CEO Brief-
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A week ago, I thought today's Weekly was going to be all about the busy legislative week we thought we had instore. Monday, I thought I would be updating you on the coronavirus that I had a business briefing on, and the legislation we were still facing. I never imagined Tuesday was going to happen and I would be updating you on our response to the historic Nashville Tornado.
You all know what happened, you saw the immediate response from us and how we worked to connect need to assistance.
If you did not read our earlier email this week on the response, please take a look.
The outpouring of support and help is amazing. We have continued connecting those in need to those wanting to give back. We have a lot of new information on the tornado recovery in the Tornado Recovery section below. Please take a look and get involved in the recovery. There are so many ways to help. We will be out there tomorrow and hope to see you.
We are working on resources for responding to Covid-19/ the coronavirus. We do not want to alarm people but want our members and our community to be prepared. It is here, and we must deal with it. See additional info below.
The tornado and Covid-19 do not discriminate on who they affect. They do not care what race you are, who you love, what your gender is, or your income level. The response to both though, can be discriminatory and not equitable. We will work to make sure that the responses remain equitable for our members and our all in our community.
The tornado did not just hit Germantown and East Nashville, both heavily populated with the LGBT community and businesses. The neighborhoods of North Nashville with its black population and Donelson and Hermitage with its immigrant community were equally impacted. There are LGBT people in those other communities as well, the marginalized of the marginalized. We will push for an equitable rebuilding for all areas of the city, for all people impacted.
The other equity issue in the tornado response and a very important one we should all be watching, is how the money that is being collected for the recovery is being spent. The need right now is to get resources in people's hands. The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and other organizations collecting funds are wonderful, but we must monitor and make sure we are spending all the money on recovery, and it is accessible to all that need it, and accessible quickly. We are working with many community partners to make sure this will happen.
Continuing to look ahead, we need to make sure we are ready to help in the recovery, not just this weekend, but in the weeks and months and years, it will take. We promise we will be committed to assisting our members and the community to recover, no matter how long.
-Joe
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Please join us in welcoming the following NEW individuals and businesses that joined our Chamber this week:
We are proud of the continued participation from the following individuals and businesses who RENEWED or upgraded their membership this week:
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We have another major week in the legislature ahead of us. See our bill report to know where everything stands. While the bills last week were rolled, we will see them up next week and we need you to take action again. Out partners at TEP have organized the direct action campaigns, we thanks them for that. Take action below and show up next week wearing red if you can.
Monday, March 9:
SB2233
by Sen. Haile is up in the Senate Health and Welfare Committee. It is a caption bill that will likely carry language affecting the access of transgender youth to best practice health care. This bill and amendment were not sought by the transgender community, LGBTQ organizations, parents of transgender youth, or health care providers. Our understanding is that it will put into law the existing protocols. The problem is, besides the fact that no one that will be affected requested the bill, that protocols change as research and experience provide new information. We should not have to go through a legislative or regulatory change every time the standards evolve.
Tuesday, March 10:
HB1689
by Rep. Cepicky is the second anti-transgender student-athlete bill and it is up for consideration in the House K-12 Education Subcommittee.
HB2827
by Rep. Terry is up in the House Public Health Subcommittee. It is a caption bill that could carry language affecting the access of transgender youth to best practice health care. This bill and amendment were not sought by the transgender community, LGBTQ organizations, parents of transgender youth, or health care providers. Our understanding is that it will put into law the existing protocols. The problem is, besides the fact that no one affected requested the bill, that protocols change as research and experience provide new information. We should not have to go through a legislative or regulatory change every time the standards evolve.
Wednesday, March 11:
SB2896/HB2721
is the 'censor the libraries, jail the librarians' bill. It is back up in Senate Government Operations Committee and House Cities and Counties Subcommittee.
Note:
TEP has ended their email campaign as of currently for this bill due to the large response but if it is restarted, we will share the link.
HB2410
by Rep. Ragan is an anti-marriage equality bill up for consideration in the House Children & Families Subcommittee.
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Nashville Tornado Recovery
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We hope everyone continues to heal and rebuild after Tuesday's tornado. We are Nashville. We rebuilt before and we will do it again. We are so proud of our members, partners, and friends for springing into action!
The best way to stay up to date on all of this is to follow us on social @NashvLGBTcc on all platforms.
Members affected:
According to our partners at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce, there are 131 businesses that have been impacted. These range from businesses being totally destroyed to them, not having power, and the ability to open. All of these businesses have employees that are also impacted as they can not work.
Businesses and workers affected can find resources here.
Several members had damage or completely lost their homes; countless other community members have also lost theirs and are now in need of shelter. We have been contacted by many members that have places to stay and are offering to those in need, and we will help coordinate housing opportunities.
Members response:
- From the housing being offered by members to those that don't have a place to stay, to the restaurants that are feeding volunteers, the outpouring of support is amazing. Of note:
- We connected Councilmember Emily Benedict to the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corp, and they organized food trucks to converge on apartment complexes that did not have power and feed those living inside.
- The corporate employee resource groups that have reached out asking for somewhere to go, and we connected them to the needs identified by members affected. Going forward, Hands On Nashville is where everyone should check for volunteer needs.
- HRC Nashville had two days of food/supply drives.
- The number of benefits and fundraisers being planned by many members is staggering. Tribe hosted a fundraiser last night, earning over $6,000, and there is one planned at Play for Saturday night.
- Please let us know what you are doing, and we will help promote it.
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We are asking all members who haven't already signed up for another volunteer opportunity to join us in Buena Vista this
Saturday, March 7th.
Volunteers are needed to help with this community clean up, support for neighbors who lost so much, meals and more. Work will venture throughout the neighborhood and into Elizabeth Park. Sign up for one of two shifts- 9 am - 1 pm and 1 pm - 6 pm using the link below.
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PLAY Dance Bar
will be
fundraising for tornado relief
after the devastating Nashville tornadoes this
Saturday, March 7th
. Many in the Middle Tennessee LGBTQ+ community were affected directly by this tragic event. Play is proud to be matching ALL donations up to $7,000. Please come help us raise our goal of $14,000 or more towards helping people impacted throughout our community.
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Our friends and partners at
Conexion Americas are collecting donations all weekend to be distributed to Latino families.
Please disregard the Friday at 2 pm deadline.
They seek plastic storage bins, gift cards to Home Depot/Kroger/Walmrt, flashlights, portable chargers, batteries, new blankets, non-perishable food, heavy duty trash bags, and gloves.
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Due to tornado damage and power outages in
OZ Arts Nashville's neighborhood, TeatroCinema's
Plata Quemada will now be at
TPAC's Johnson Theatre on
March 6th and 7th. We love to see these two members working together!
Plata Quemada fuses elements of theatre, cinema, and graphic novels to spin a heart-pounding noir tale of bandits and betrayals with mind-blowing multimedia effects.
Plata Quemada will be performed in Spanish with English supertitles. Check out the trailer
here.
Use promo code INDUSTRY for $15 tickets!
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We delivered a membership sticker to our newest Platinum members,
Mars Petcare. They are collecting items to bring to the Community Resource Center as part of the tornado recovery. We are proud to welcome them as a member!
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We were honored to attend TLACC's networking luncheon this afternoon. Joe spoke on the Tornado Recovery Resources Panel with the
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce,
Conexion Americas, Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition, and the American Red Cross.
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The Tennessee Chamber of Commerce & Industry issued resources for the coronavirus pandemic.
As the coronavirus continues to spread throughout the world and the United States, it is imperative that Tennessee employers are prepared to handle this issue. Take a look of those resources below.
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Wednesday night Joe and his husband Jim Schmidt with Schmidt Government Solutions were honored by the Nashville Post as 'leaders' in the government category.
We had many members who were also honored. We will share the issue when it is available digitally.
The leaders issue is an annual list of Nashville leaders making an impact in the city.
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On Thursday, we attended the
The Summit: Inclusion & Diversity Symposium
at
Vanderbilt University
. This day served as an opportunity for attendees from across the region and beyond to come together for a day of empowerment, education, and networking. Joe spoke about the work the Chamber is doing in D& I and why inclusive policies matter.
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We are N! We are proud of our member, the
Nashville Soccer Club, who celebrated the first game of their inaugural season last Saturday
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This team is diverse and inclusive. Rainbow pride and trans flag were flying proud. Stay tuned for Pride Night!
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Nashville SC released their anthem at this game. Listen to the anthem
here
. It rings true for all of Nashville right now as we band together and rebuild.
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Moving Forward Transportation Listening Session
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You are invited to the Moving Forward Transportation Listening Session with the Office of Mayor John Cooper. The listening session will be on
Thursday, March 12th from 11:30 am - 1:00 pm
at the
Adventure Science Center
.
Mayor Cooper’s Office is currently in the first step of the planning process in determining Nashville’s transportation priorities, with the goal of releasing initial recommendations in June 2020 and releasing a full transportation plan by the end of September 2020. This transportation listening session will be a prime opportunity for the business community to directly voice their values, priorities and goals for the upcoming transportation plan.
Please register below.
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HRC Nashville Equality Dinner
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Join HRC Nashville as they celebrate 25 years of LGBTQ advocacy throughout Tennessee. The dinner will be on
Saturday, March 14
, at the Renaissance Hotel Downtown Nashville.
Chamber Members can get $25 off their ticket by using code:
CHAMBER20
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March Brewing Up Business
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We know this is going to be a packed event, make sure you REGISTER today!
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Pride in Business Awards 2020
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The
Pride in Business Awards (previously known as the Excellence in Business Awards) will be held on
Friday, June 5th at the
JW Marriott! This event will kick off what will be an incredible PRIDE month!
We need your help! We have to give awards to somebody and we need you to tell us who is deserving. We are now collecting nominations for the awards. Please use the
form below to nominate a company, small business, friend, co-worker, boss, spouse, peer, mentor, mentee, or yourself for an award from the LGBT Chamber.
We will accept nominations through March 31st.
We will announce all finalists at our Brewing Up Business program on April 16th. Please send as many deserving nominees as you want in the following
categories:
- Corporate Diversity
- Small Business Diversity
- Business Leader of the Year
- Entrepreneur of the Year
- Ally
- Community Service
- Leadership in the Arts
Help us recognize individuals, businesses, and organizations who are making a difference in our community!
Tickets and sponsorships are on sale now. Sponsorships are going fast, so reach out to
Lauren if you want to make your mark on our signature event!
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Dine Out for Life at The Mockingbird
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The LGBT Chamber is excited to support
Nashville CARES
and host lunch at
The Mockingbird Nashville
for Dining Out for Life 2020. Come eat lunch and talk to other Chamber members that will gather to support this great cause.
Dining Out For Life is a national event that helps fight HIV/AIDS in our community through the good work being done by Nashville CARES. 100% of all the money raised during this event will go to provide Preventive Education Services, as well as other services - all FREE - to people living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
Visit the
DOFL Website
to see a list of participating restaurants if you are interested in supporting another restaurant for dinner
.
Please RSVP to this event by registering and join us for lunch on Tuesday, April 21st! We strongly encourage guests to make reservations as well.
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Nashville + Middle Tennessee LGBTQIA+ Community Visioning Project
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From
Nashville Pride
: We are in the next phase of our Nashville + Middle Tennessee LGBTQIA+ Community Visioning Project. Join us as we prepare for the upcoming phase of learning more about our community and what assets it has to offer. Use the link below for more information on becoming a part of the team and joining a task force.
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Are you interested in reaching 100+ diverse
business
professionals? Sign up to host our monthly networking event, Brewing Up Business! Hosts are can show off their space and any services or products they provide, will be listed on the LGBT Chamber website, social media, and events calendar, and have the opportunity to speak at the event. These dates are filling up fast. Reach out ASAP if you are interested this year!
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We value your membership with the Nashville LGBT Chamber and we want to make sure you find value in our partnership. Please click the link below to maximize your membership!
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To better serve our members, we ask that you subscribe to groups that fit you and/or your business in ChamberMaster. This is will ensure you get all pertinent information! To subscribe to groups:
Log In
> Company Information > Employees > Groups/Interests
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Joe Woolley
CEO
Lauren Bland
Membership Manager
Nashville LGBT Chamber
615-507-5185
41 Peabody Street
Nashville, TN 37210
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