Registration is filling up for the 10th annual Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase happening September 13 at OZ Arts Nashville! Don’t miss this chance to celebrate the business acumen, innovative spirit, and artistic prowess of local artists, makers, and entrepreneurs across an array of artistic disciplines. We are excited to introduce you to the amazing panel of Judges lending their time and expertise for this year’s competition:
Adrianna Flax, AM Flax Consulting
Adrianna Flax is the founder and owner of AM Flax Consulting, a diversity, equity, and inclusion consulting firm helping clients make diversity their differentiator. She uses her intersectional identity, passion, and humor to deeply connect with clients and audiences. Her firm provides training, DEI executive coaching, keynote speaking, and DEI strategy consulting to Fortune 500 companies, small businesses, nonprofits, government, and higher education. Her clients include Mars, Poshmark, and The Nashville Arts and Business Council. Adrianna’s professional history includes nonprofit management in the arts and administration of New York State Council on the Arts grant funding to support artist and arts in education regionally in New York State.
Adrianna serves as co-vice president of the TN Pride Chamber of Commerce and founder of the DEI Consultants Cohort. She holds a Bachelor of Visual Arts from the State University of New York at New Paltz, and a Master of Arts and Cultural management from Pratt Institute.
Emmanuel LeGrair, R.H. Boyd, The Commonwealth
A native of Akron, Ohio, Emmanuel LeGrair has been a Nashville resident for 10 years since receiving his M.Ed. from Vanderbilt University. He currently oversees Community Engagement Initiatives at R.H. Boyd, is the founder of The Commonwealth where he curates events and experiences for the Nashville men’s style community, and is a content creator and stylist. He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Arts and Business Council of Greater Nashville, the Kindling Arts Festival, the Community Advisory Board for Nashville Public Radio and has served on the Warhol Society Board of the Frist Art Museum and as Director of Programming for Nashville Design Week.
His other interests and experiences include singing (professionally trained), education, and he has a great love and respect for art, markers, artisans, and creativity of all kinds and always looks to support and partner in any way that he can.
Mia O. McNeal, Country Music Association
Mia O. McNeal is a passionate voice in business advocacy and implementing conscious, intentional diversity and inclusion. In May 2022, Mia became the Senior Director, Industry Relations and Inclusion for the Country Music Association. In her role at the CMA, Mia brings her unique brand of energy to strategy and implementation, focus groups, DEI workshops, and inclusive coaching. She works tirelessly with CMA staff, board, members, and industry leaders to bring common sense and empathy to conversations and policies centered on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Additionally, Mia works to expand the members of CMA and explain the exceptional benefits of the organization.
Mia graduated from Harding University, receiving her Bachelor of Science in Organizational Leadership and Business Management. Before joining CMA, Mia founded Goal Digging, LLC, focusing on inclusive and equitable strategies for business sustainability. Mia served six years at the Southern Region Minority Supplier Diversity Council, first as Vice President, then President and CEO. In these roles, Mia was responsible for certifying, developing, and advocating on behalf of minority-owned businesses. For almost four years, she served as President and CEO of the Arkansas Mississippi Minority Supplier Development Council. Economic development in traditionally underserved communities has been and continues to be her life’s work.
While calling Nashville home, Mia is an Arkansas native and was appointed by the Governor of Arkansas to serve on the Arkansas Minority Business Advisory Council. She also served as a Little Rock School District MBE/WBE Committee member. McNeal also served on the Arkansas Coalition Against Domestic Violence Board of Directors. In 2014, McNeal was named one of 25 Women to Watch. She was also selected as one of the 20 Most Influential African Americans in the State of Arkansas and became the first African American to hold the title of Mrs. Arkansas United States.
Sam Davidson, Nashville Entrepreneur Center
Sam Davidson is a four-time entrepreneur and the CEO of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. He grew up in Nashville and still proudly calls it home.
Throughout his career, he has learned that the height of one’s success is directly related to the depth of their community. To that end, he works to connect people to resources, ideas, and one another so that they can achieve more together then they ever thought possible. He loves doing this at the EC, which is working to make Nashville the most entrepreneurial city in America by growing the depth of its entrepreneurial community.
Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase is the culmination of the Arts & Business Council’s Periscope: Artist Entrepreneur Training program. Registration is free!
Don’t miss your chance to be the first to see what’s next for Nashville’s creative community!
Don’t miss your chance to be the first to see what’s next for Nashville’s creative community!
Periscope Pitch + Artist Entrepreneur Showcase is presented by Amazon. Program support is generously provided by the Buckingham Foundation FifthThird Bank, Launch Tennessee, Piedmont Natural Gas, and Southwest Airlines.