Knoxville Mayor makes changes to staff, brings on former BOE member

Kincannon

Knoxville Mayor Madeline Rogero has added former Knox County School board member Indya Kincannon to her staff.

Kincannon, who will start Oct. 5 and earn $60,000 annually, will oversee community agency grants and appointments to city boards and commissions. She also will manage special projects for the Mayor, and serve as the mayor’s liaison to the school system.

“Indya brings a wealth of experience, leadership and talent to the mayor’s office,” Rogero said in a released statement. “Her 10 years of outstanding public service on the school board and strong record of community service make her an ideal addition to my staff. She understands our city and the importance of building strong community partnerships. We are fortunate to have her join us.”

Kincannon served as a school board member from 2004 to 2014 before teaching writing, history, Spanish and drama to international students in Slovenia in 2014 and 2015.

She’s also served as Beaumont Magnet Academy PTA president, a Fourth and Gill neighborhood leader, a Habitat for Humanity group leader and Mayan Families Project volunteer in Guatemala, and a volunteer AYSO soccer and Baby Falcon basketball coach.

Clay

Kincannon will replace Jackie Clay, who served as the mayor’s project manager since December 2011. Clay, who also will earn $60,000 annually, was promoted to a position where she will manage a community crime reduction program targeted to two specific Project Safe Neighborhoods that work to reduce violence and create opportunities for boys and young men of color from the ages of 15 to 24.

“Jackie brings a social worker’s heart and an organizer’s laser focus to address one of the biggest challenges in our city,” Rogero said. “She has been an asset in the Mayor’s Office these past four years and is the right choice to manage this new targeted effort to create opportunities for success for our young men and boys of color.”

Clay, who lives in the Parkridge community, has been a community organizer and an instructor at the University of Tennessee College of Social Work.

She serves on the Martin Luther King Jr. Commemorative Commission, as board chair of Girl Talk Inc., as the nominating committee chair for HomeSource East Tennessee, and as vice president of the Freedman Mission Historic Cemetery Committee.