A $3.5 billion goal is ambitious. The vision behind it is even more so: a bigger, brighter future for UT Knoxville students.
On September 18, 2026, UTK officially launched It Takes A Volunteer, a multi-year fundraising campaign designed to fuel the university’s continued growth and impact. Of course, launching a campaign of such magnitude calls for something beyond the traditional donor gala.
To reach potential donors, the launch needed to capture what it truly means to be a Volunteer – and that’s where LEO Events was honored to step in as a collaborator.
“There’s something pretty special about seeing a great team, great partners, and a whole lot of Tennessee pride come together,” Cindy Brewer, founding partner at LEO Events, said. “The Events and Advancement teams at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville are truly first-class, and it was a privilege for LEO Events to play a part in the launch of their new campaign.”
It takes a Volunteer.
There’s a certain poetry to helping launch It Takes A Volunteer as an alumni-led initiative. For LEO, this wasn’t just another program in the lineup. It was an opportunity to give back to a university that has helped shape generations of Volunteers and LEOs – including many of our full time team members, interns, all our LEO Fellows, and even one of our founders and visionaries, Cindy Brewer.
$3.5 billion may be the black-and-white fundraising goal, but the real story is the magic that investment can unlock through stronger student experiences, groundbreaking research, top-tier athletic programs, and a university positioned to make the greatest possible impact.
Start with a vision. Then build the experience.
LEO’s work with UTK began more than a year before guests arrived. Working alongside the university’s Advancement and Alumni Events teams and other vendors, LEO provided strategic consultation, creative development and event expertise to shape the vision – and determine how our team could make the greatest impact.
Our clients landed on the concept of an experience that felt less like a dinner and more like a journey. The launch event took guests through a progressive dinner experience punctuated by interactive moments designed to spotlight three critical areas of the campaign: athletics, student experience, and research.
Invoking the Vols Experience
Guests began with a Torch Night-inspired welcome, harkening back to the start of their own journeys as students at UT. From there, they moved through a series of immersive, student-led experiences designed to build connection, pride, and anticipation.
Current students were deployed in various positions and stations across the event, becoming a key part of the storytelling. Their presence helped make the university’s future tangible, putting real faces and real experiences behind the campaign’s ambitious goals, reminding potential donors what it’s all about.
The journey culminated in a graduation-style ceremony, giving guests a chance to celebrate not only UTK’s next chapter, but their own role in making sure the school’s future is a bright one.
One team. Many moving parts.
A campaign launch this ambitious – one of the biggest in UTK history – required a diverse team of event partners to make it possible. LEO managed all food and beverage while helping coordinate a broader network of UT alumni-owned businesses and university-connected partners spanning production, technology, activations, lighting, décor, and more.
Every vendor was chosen by UTK with intention, ensuring every part of the ecosystem behind the experience had a meaningful connection to the school and its mission. Even three LEO Fellows were selected by UT’s Advancement team to serve as student champions, representing the university directly and engaging with guests as they learned about the campaign goals throughout the launch event.
“The It Takes a Vol event was made even more meaningful by bringing together an incredible and talented group of alumni-led businesses to help make these events happen,” Cindy Brewer said. “We loved collaborating alongside so many skilled partners to create something very special for a place that means so much to so many.”
The objective wasn’t just to help execute a launch event, it was to connect the dots, bringing diverse teams, specialties, and perspectives together around one shared objective. LEO was proud to play a small part in the campaign’s successful launch.