Valley Focus: Daughter of Muhammad Ali Headlining Fresno Event

FRESNO, Calif. (KFSN) -- You have the chance to meet the daughter of the late, great Muhammad Ali.[br /]She's speaking at an event in Fresno designed to engage and inspire women. Maryum Ali will speak at the 6th Annual Women of Color Business Symposium on October 26, 2019, in Fresno. [url HREF="https://www.fmbcc.com/" TARGET="_self" ]https://www.fmbcc.com/[/url][br /][Ads /][br /]Tara Lynn Gray is the CEO of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce which is hosting the event. She sat down with Valley Focus host, Liz Harrison October 10, 2019 to talk about the event and the mission of FMBCC.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] What is the mission of the Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce? First of all, that's a mouthful.[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] It is. And it's Fresno Metro Black Chamber of Commerce and Chamber Foundation.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] Oh, I didn't even say the whole thing! So, what is your mission?[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Our mission really is to engage, educate, and empower black-owned businesses and business owners. And we do that through technical assistance, advocacy, and capacity-building services. And so this event that we have coming up, our 6th Annual Women of Color Business Symposium, is one of our programs where we do all three. We engage, educate, and empower in a day-long symposium that is eally designed to hit several different areas for our business owners. It's education, it's fun, and it's empowering at the same time.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] Okay, and there is a very special guest that's coming with a very famous name. Who is your keynote speaker for the event?[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Actually, we are going to do a fireside chat with her.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] Nice![br /][Ads /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] So, it'll be kind of intimate and fun. Her name is Maryum "May May" Ali, and she is the eldest daughter of the one-and-only, late, great Muhammad Ali.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] And you've had a chance to talk to her, you said, a couple of times. You said she's just down-to-earth, plain, very easy and comfortable to talk to[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Absolutely. She is just a regular homegirl and fun to engage with. She has a heart for children and families. And so her work and her mission personally is very much so in alignment with our Women's Economic Impact Center, which is our program that provides culturally competent entrepreneurship training for women of color.[/i][br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] So, I'm just curious. If you're having a day-long event for women of color in business, there must be a lot of women of color in business in the Central Valley. Is that true?[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Absolutely. Absolutely. Over 3,000.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] Wow![br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Yes. Yes. And we usually have about 150 of those women turn out. And it is, like I said, very engaging. We have lots of speakers from the community. We have Dr. Karen Crozier this year.The team from Black Girl Magic is gonna be there, Jamillah Finley. We have a fabulous lineup. Yes, we have a wonderful, famous lunchtime speaker, but we have lots of value and lots of incredibly talented women right here in this Central Valley that will also be participating and sharing their wisdom.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] That's wonderful. So, what do you -- What exactly do you want women to come away with after attending this event?[br /][Ads /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Well, you know, our theme is "Positioned to Prosper." And we like to think that we are providing nuggets of wisdom, that we are providing information that takes our business owners and even our professional women to the next level. So, we hope that women walk away with a new connection, new information, answers to questions that they may have about subject matters that are very important to them. We'll be covering health. We'll be talking about entrepreneurship and different avenues towards that. We'll be highlighting our Circle of Excellence, which is a group of women that get nominated for that group every year. And then we take 7 to 10 women through an entrepreneurship training program the following year. And we sew seeds into their business and really try to help them along the way and build their capacity.[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] That's good. That's good. Do you have young women who are also coming to this event?[br /][br /][b]Tara:[/b] Yes, we do. And in fact, we have some amazing supporters that have just come on specifically for the purpose of bringing out our young women.[br /][br /][b]Liz[/b]: Great. That's awesome. So, when is this event? Where is it taking place? And how can people get more information?[br /][br /][b]Tara[/b]: Wonderful. Glad you asked. It's Saturday, October 26th. It's an all-day event, from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. You can get more information on our website, which is fmbcc.com/events. Or you can choose "Women's Symposium" from our You can get more information on our website, which is fmbcc.com/events. Or you can choose "Women's Symposium" from our[ menu and that will take you there, as well. You could call our office -- 559-441-7929. What did I miss?[br /][br /][b]Liz:[/b] I think you got it all. And we're gonna remind them where they can go and get more information. The Women of Color Business Symposium is October 26th in Fresno.[br /][br /][b][i]For more ticket information --441-7929. Or go to fmbcc.com.[/i][/b]