PANEL - Music Votes Coalition: How You Can Impact Voting & Non-Partisan Causes

Featured Speakers:

Tequila Johnson - Co-Founder & CEO of The Equity Alliance

Tequila M. Johnson is an award-winning activist, community organizer, and political strategist whose work focuses on creating equity by increasing access to economic opportunities and civic engagement for marginalized communities. Revered as “The Mouth of the South,” she has been featured in The New York Times, The Washington Post, on CNN, MSNBC, and around the country.

Tequila is the co-founder and CEO of The Equity Alliance, a Black Led Tennessee-based multi-entity network of for-profit and nonprofit businesses designed to equip black people with tools and strategies to strengthen their communities and keep the government in check. She is most known for Building culturally relevant programs and events that center the voices and leadership of those at the helm of injustice.

Her work in and for the community has earned widespread praise and recognition. Her awards include the 2020 Roddenberry Civil Rights Fellow, 2021 Echoing Green Fellow, 2020 Tennessean of the year, 2019 Human Rights Coalition Rising Advocate Award, The Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence Award 2019; Nashville Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business Superstar 2019; the NAACP Ella Baker Power Award 2019; the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee’s Movers and Shakers Award 2018; Nashville. Business’ 100 Leading African Americans 2018; Nashville Black 40 Under 40 2018; and Nashville Voice’s 2018 Nashvillian of the Year. Tequila was a featured presenter at the 2020 Global Political Activism Summit in Ghana, Accra, in 2019 at the national Unrig Summit, and in 2019 at the Muslim Women’s Conference in Abu Dhabi, UAE.

Tequila graduated from Tennessee State University, received her master’s degree in counseling psychology, and is pursuing a Ph.D. in industrial and organizational psychology. Additionally, she is a certified project manager and holds a graduate certificate in grant writing and nonprofit, public, and executive management. She serves on the Metro Nashville Industrial Development Board, the sustainable business coalition, and is the Vice President of Rosebank Elementary PTO. When she’s not working, she enjoys singing in her church choir, dancing, and spending time with her daughter.

Annie Flook - Director of Artist Partnerships and

Business Development at Propeller                   

Annie is the Director of Artist Partnerships and Business Development at Propeller, bringing over 13 years of experience in the touring side of the music industry. With a background in booking, tour marketing, and artist development, she has advised artists of all sizes on sustainable touring strategies, live marketing campaigns, and effective fan engagement tools. Annie began her career at ICM Partners, working under Nick Storch and Marsha Vlasic, where she helped route tours for a diverse range of artists. She later joined Warner Records' Artist Development team before transitioning to Atlantic Records, where she oversaw a roster that included Kelly Clarkson and Charli XCX.

As Head of Artist Development and Touring at Elektra Music Group, she led tour development and innovative promotional efforts for over 70 artists across the Fueled By Ramen, Elektra, and Roadrunner labels. At Propeller, Annie helps artists authentically build fan communities around causes they care about. She has helped grow the platform to over 2.2M registered users while raising over $11M for nonprofit partners through impactful partnerships with artists like Noah Kahan, Gracie Abrams, Tinashe, and Brandi Carlile.

Carissa Stolting - Founder of Left Bank Artists 

Carissa Stolting is an artist & event manager, and the founder of Left Bank Artists. In 2014, Stolting designed Left Bank with Grammy award-winning artist and cultural ambassador, Abigail Washburn, with the intent of creating an arts management company that champions artistic integrity and creativity above all. Left Bank has since become the management home to wildly inventive artists like Leyla McCalla, Rachel Grimes, Wu Fei, Uncle Earl, Shane Parish, Ahleuchatistas and more.

Carissa has a passion for producing live events in addition to supporting the growth of artists’ careers. She was the Managing Director of the Big Ears Festival (2018 & 2019) + produced / curated Nashville International Women’s Day (2017), and Bela Fleck & Abigail Washburn’s “Circle Round Home” residency (2017), which raised over 30k for Nashville non-profit organizations.

Stolting is a board member of experimental chamber ensemble, chatterbird, The Porch Writers' Collective, Sonosphere, and an advisory board member of Modern Foreign Languages and Literatures at University of Tennessee, Knoxville. Carissa holds an M.A. in French & Linguistics and was a French Lecturer before she began working in the music industry.

Moderator: Donald Cohen - Founder & President

of Fan Alliance                                                        

Donald Cohen is a long-time organizer of community and worker organizations dedicated to social and economic justice. He is the Founder and Executive Director of In the Public Interest, a national research and policy center that studies the impacts of privatization on public goods. He is the Founder and President of the Fan Alliance. He is a co-founder of the Rainey Day Fund that provides support to BIPOC, LGBTQ+, disabled artists, and others who add to the rich fabric of roots music. He is on the Music Council of the Artists Rights Alliance. His opinion pieces and articles have appeared in the New York Times, Reuters, the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune, The New York Daily News, The New Republic, The American Prospect, The Nation and other online and print outlets.