About Us

My name is Shania Robinson, and the Memphis Health Jamboree is the dream I didn’t know I was building until community, culture, and my public health journey pushed me toward it.

While I am not originally from Memphis, I have been connected to this city for as long as I can remember, through family, food, music, stories, and the spirit that makes Memphis feel like home even before you ever live here. Memphis has always been a place I felt spiritually and culturally tied to, a place that shaped how I see community, resilience, and joy.

This idea began to take shape when I became a grant recipient in the University of Memphis Public Health Changemakers Initiative. That program didn’t just teach me public health -- it challenged me to reimagine it. To ask who gets to shape health experiences. To ask why so much of health still feels cold, clinical, and disconnected from real life, and to ask what would happen if we centered culture, creativity, identity, and community wisdom in the work.

The answer became the Memphis Health Jamboree: a vibrant, sensory-rich health celebration created with the community, not just for it.

I’m building an experience where health feels familiar and joyful, where people can see it, taste it, feel it, move with it, and experience it in ways that honor who they are. This is an event where you can learn from a chef, dance with your family, talk to a mental health counselor, listen to live music, explore cultural traditions, and actually feel connected to the idea of wellness.

Along the way, I created the OKRA Health Network and the CORNBREAD Passport because our relationship to food, especially southern culinary heritage, is a story of identity, survival, celebration, and belonging. I wanted Memphis to have a health system that feels like home. Something warm. Something real. Something rooted in us.

This Jamboree is more than a single day.
It’s a year-round movement designed to rebuild trust, celebrate community, and make wellness accessible without judgment, pressure, or shame.

I am raising funds because I am committed to making the Jamboree accessible, especially for families and neighborhoods too often overlooked by traditional health programs. Your support helps cover:

Sensory health zones and cultural experiences
Community performances and youth programming
Giveaways and wellness incentives
Local artists, chefs, and vendors
The launch of the OKRA year-round wellness network
The CORNBREAD Passport engagement system
Safety, accessibility, and operational needs
The Crumbs & Culture Tour: a series of activation workshops leading up to the Jamboree that engage the community and raise awareness.

This project is my way of honoring the spirit of a city that has given me so much, and it’s my way of helping shape a healthier, more joyful future, one where people feel seen, supported, and celebrated.

If you believe in community-led change, culturally rooted public health, and you believe Memphis deserves something beautiful and empowering , I invite you to be part of this movement.

Thank you for supporting the Memphis Health Jamboree and for helping build a new, joyful vision of public health.