Celebrating our 2025 Journey to Justice sponsors

Last week, 600+ community members came together at the Loews Vanderbilt Hotel for Journey to Justice, an evening dedicated to celebrating and standing in solidarity with the innocent. This event, which raised over $500,000, was vital to sustaining the Tennessee Innocence Project’s programs for the coming year, including legal advocacy, re-entry support, and community education.

As we reflect on the evening’s success, we are deeply appreciative of the individuals, firms, and businesses that made it possible. These incredible sponsors, most of whom have been legacy supporters of TIP, make up the backbone of our work, empowering our team to continue fighting for those who have been wrongfully convicted.

Meet the distinguished Presenting, Innocence, and Exoneration sponsors whose commitment to justice fuels our mission. To every sponsor featured below: thank you! We truly could not do any of this without you:

Our corporate partners

Purpose Transport LLC

This year, TIP was honored to welcome East TN company Purpose Transport as the Presenting Sponsor for Journey to Justice. Not only did Purpose Transport lead the charge in powering this year’s event; they also continue to remind us of the importance of local businesses who invest in justice. PT’s President of Operations, Megan Hawk, also serves on the Tennessee Innocence Project’s board of directors, and shared powerful testimony at Journey to Justice about her family’s own harrowing experience with wrongful conviction. We are so grateful for Purpose Transport’s continued support over the last three years!

Garza Law

East TN based defense firm Garza Law has long been a champion for fairness and due process, and the Tennessee Innocence Project has been honored to have their sponsorship support for five years in a row. Garza Law’s commitment to protecting constitutional rights and advocating for those facing complex legal challenges reflects the heart of our mission and fills a vital need in our state.

Holland & Knight

As one of the country’s leading law firms, Holland & Knight brings a spirit of excellence and everything they do, including through their commitment to giving back to nonprofits like the Tennessee Innocence Project! Our team is grateful for Holland & Knight’s continued dedication to strengthening the justice system andfor their sponsorship of Journey to Justice for the second year in a row.

Bass, Berry & Sims

With a longstanding reputation for legal leadership across the state beyond, Bass, Berry & Sims has been an essential ally of the Tennessee Innocence Project—not only through their longstanding sponsorship of our annual Journey to Justice event, but also as one of our most generous pro-bono legal partners. Since TIP’s founding, Bass Berry Sims has been on the front lines with TIP fighting for several innocence cases, including Wayne Burgess (exonerated in 2023), Artis Whitehead (exonerated in 2024), Thomas Clardy (still fighting), and Greg Lance (still fighting). We are incredibly appreciative of what they do in and outside of the courtroom!

Burr & Forman

Nationally recognized law firm Burr & Forman has the rare distinction of being a sponsor of the Tennessee Innocence Project since the very beginning—all the way back to our very first Journey to Justice event in 2019! Burr & Forman’s loyal partnership demonstrates their ongoing investment in due process and justice for all, including and especially the wrongfully convicted. We are so grateful for their legacy sponsorship!