About KBMH Week
Our Mission
The Knoxville Black Maternal Health Conference is an annual event dedicated to addressing and improving the state of maternal and paternal health in Knoxville and beyond.
**New 2026: This week-long event brings together local researchers, birth workers, holistic practitioners, business owners, advocates, and other professionals dedicated to maternal health and wellness.
Our mission is to advocate for equitable, respectful care, restore ancestral birthing and postpartum traditions, and empower Black families through education, advocacy, and community-driven support. We believe birth is a human right—and Black families deserve to experience it with dignity, safety, and self-determination.
Our vision is a world where Black mothers and families are supported by culturally rooted care that honors their bodies, stories, and lived experiences. A world where healthcare systems are equitable, holistic, and accountable. A world where the village is restored, and Black communities thrive in wellness, liberation, and generational healing.
Our commitment is to:
- Center Black mothers, birthing people, and families
- Advocate fiercely for respectful and equitable care
- Build community-led solutions grounded in culture and tradition
- Educate, support, and uplift from conception through postpartum
- Restore the village that has always sustained us
MEET OUR Curators
Alexis Alsup
Community-Based Doula | Student Midwife | Perinatal Herbal Medicine Practitioner & Advocate, Founder of Empowered Doula Services
Alexis Alsup is a proud native of Knoxville, Tennessee, a Certified Doula, and the founder of Empowered Doula Services. Her journey into birth work is rooted in a deep commitment to restoring dignity, trust, and culturally responsive care to the birthing experience.
With advanced training in traditional herbal medicine for pregnancy and the postpartum period, Alexis approaches care through a holistic lens—honoring the physical, emotional, and spiritual transitions of pregnancy, birth, and parenthood. She is currently a student midwife on the path to becoming a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) in Tennessee, expanding her ability to support families across the full continuum of care.
Alexis is passionate about serving families of all backgrounds, with a dedicated focus on African American women and families, who continue to face disproportionate risks and systemic barriers in maternal health. Her work centers autonomy, education, advocacy, and generational healing—ensuring families feel informed, supported, and empowered throughout their journey.
Beyond individual care, Alexis is a committed advocate for birth justice. She is the curator of the Knoxville Black Maternal Health Conference and played a key role in successfully championing the passage of maternal health legislation SB1832/HB2226, advancing policy change to improve outcomes for families across Tennessee.
Through her clinical work, community leadership, and advocacy, Alexis remains dedicated to building a future where every family has access to safe, respectful, and empowering maternal care—and the birth experience they truly deserve.
Femeika Elliott
WOMB PRACTITIONER, FOODWAYS EDUCATOR & SPIRITUALIST
FOUNDER OF MEIK MEALS’ LOTUS PROGRAM
Femeika is the founder of Meik Meals (2019) a multifaceted health foods brand and The Lotus Program (2022) an in-home meal nourishment wellness company for women and mothers post birth. She brings her background of 8 years in whole foods education, sacred medicine and ancestral practice with over 10 years in the social work field. She is passionate about health, food justice and black equity as she founded the Rooted East Knoxville Collective in July 2022 a food and land justice collective.
Femeika is incredibly passionate about serving her community, bringing awareness through food, education and women’s health as the preservation of culture and ancestry inspire her work as she is the founder of the Lotus Program Experience– a holistic women’s wellness & maternal health practice. She is an activist and the founder of the Knoxville Black Maternal Health Conference as she championed the passing of maternal health legislation SB1832/HB2226.
