New Urban League CEO is Looking at Local Needs During Challenging Times

Laurie Shanderson Evans has her sights set on the future of the Knoxville Area Urban League (Knoxville, TN), but the nonprofit’s new leader knows she has to start with what her community needs right now.

"My primary goal is to get to know the community," said Shanderson Evans, who began her role as president and CEO of the Knoxville Area Urban League in July. "The needs of the community, the challenges that the community is facing right now, given all the federal changes and all the other administrative changes that will impact families in our community, it's really important to know what they need so we can prioritize it properly."

Shanderson Evans was selected after an 11-month national search. She brings to Knoxville from Nashville an extensive education and health management background.

She has been diligently pursuing the nonprofit's mission of helping minority groups and underserved communities in Knoxville reach social and economic equity. Shanderson Evans spoke with Knox News about her vision for the organization just before the Urban League's 2025 Equal Opportunity Awards Gala on Oct. 23.

At the event themed around celebrating resiliency, Shanderson Evans spoke to an enthusiastic and glamorously dressed audience, and joined in celebrating the evening's honorees.

"When I think of resilience, I think of my own journey as a little girl growing up in poverty," she said to the crowd. "I was shaped by the kindness of organizations like the Urban League that saw potential in me long before I did. Those programs gave me opportunity and they gave me hope.

"And now, as I look out into this room and see my brother, my cousin and my son here with me tonight, I'm reminded of why this work matters so deeply. Unlike me and my siblings, my son has been able to live a life without struggle. Not because the world changed overnight, but because the opportunities that opened for me changed his trajectory. And that's what we're fighting for. A community where every child can dream without barriers and where struggle does not define their destiny."

To read the full story, click here.