Deisha Finley and Amber McMillan, both College of Social Work alumni, were recently selected as part of the Knox.biz 40 Under 40 Class of 2020. This is the 14th class that Knox.biz has honored.
Deisha Finley, MSSW 2006, is the Senior Corps Manager for Knoxville-Knox County Community Action Committee. In that role, she works with seniors on a daily basis fulfilling their mission of “Helping people. Changing lives.” In the Knox.biz interview, Deisha expressed her gratitude for the chance to help bring new opportunities to the lives of senior citizens. “For me it’s just been great to know that I have been part of a movement here in Knoxville to bridge the gap on inter-generational opportunities for seniors and young adults. We have, over the past 10 years, seen much more interaction with the Office on Aging. From caregivers, from student interns, from young adults and helping them understand the diverse array of needs for older adults in our community and how they can make an impact and making sure that seniors have a seat at the table. I think a lot of times it is about changing attitudes and it is about policy shifts, and a lot of that doesn’t happen until you take the time to share stories of how seniors are impacting our community every single day.”
Click here to read Deisha’s entire interview
Amber McMillan, MSSW 2007, is the Senior Director of Crisis Services at McNabb Center. In her role, Amber has helped thousands of people with mental health and substance abuse. In the Knox.biz interview, Amber was asked what her wish would be if she could change something about Knoxville. “I’m a social worker, so my mind constantly goes to how to improve things for people who live here, and honestly the first thing that came to my mind was the housing market. It’s always been a problem. I mean when you look at people who are complaining about homeless camps here and homeless individuals hanging out there, I think if we could improve housing options for (homeless) individuals that it would overall just improve, Knoxville as a whole. I would wish for more affordable housing. More income-subsidized housing. More units available that are affordable. That’s not just for, you know, people with mental health issues or substance-use issues. When you think of people who live under a certain income level, there’s just not enough housing units or housing options for those people.”
Click here to read Amber’s entire interview