Stempel

David W. Stempel, a partner in Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP’s Nashville office, is among the winners of the M&A Advisor’s ninth annual Emerging Leaders Awards.

The awards recognize and celebrate the achievements of young M&A, financing and turnaround professionals who have reached a significant level of success and made a notable contribution to their industry and community.

Winners were selected by an independent panel of judges from a pool of prominent nominees. The winners were introduced Sept. 14 at an awards gala during the M&A Advisor’s 2018 Emerging Leaders Summit in New York City. Founded in 1998, the M&A Advisor offers insights and intelligence on M&A activities to M&A, turnaround and finance professionals.

A member of Bradley’s Corporate and Securities Practice Group, Stempel has worked for clients in numerous industries on transactions involving mergers, acquisitions, sales, joint ventures and capital raising.

He is a graduate of Vanderbilt University and earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law.

Pathway Lending’s Gwin named to consumer board

Gwin

Mick Mulvaney, acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has appointed Clint Gwin of Pathway Lending as a member of the Consumer Advisory Board.

Gwin will serve a term of one year on the board.

The CFPB was created to provide a single point of accountability for enforcing federal consumer financial laws and protecting consumers in the financial marketplace. That responsibility was previously divided among several agencies. Today its work includes, rooting out unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices by writing rules, supervising companies, and enforcing laws that outlaw discrimination in consumer finance.

Since 2003, Gwin has led Nashville-based Pathway Lending, a CDFI that provides loans to small businesses lacking access to traditional financing options throughout Tennessee, and as of 2016, the state of Alabama. During his tenure, the nonprofit lending and education organization has grown significantly, becoming the largest CDFI in the region with more than $135 million in assets. Pathway Lending has originated 1,250 loans totaling $250 million supporting over 700 businesses. In 2017 alone, the organization’s activities funded 107 businesses, educated 881 entrepreneurs, created 361 new jobs and retained 2,553 existing jobs in Tennessee and Alabama.

Other new members to the Consumer Advisory Board will serve a one-year term. They are:

• Liz Coyle, executive director, Georgia Watch
• Sameh Elamawy, chief executive officer, Scratch Services, Inc.
• Manning Field, chief operating officer, Acorns
• Jason B. Gross, chief executive officer, Petal
• Clinton B. Gwin, president and CEO, Pathway Lending
• Ronald A. Johnson, president, Clark Atlanta University
• Brent Neiser, senior director of strategic programs and alliances, National Endowment for Financial Education
• Sophie Raseman, director of product, Brightside
• Luz Urrutia, CEO, Opportunity Fund

Takacs McGinnis Elder Care adds veteran attorney

Johnson

Chris Johnson has joined Takacs McGinnis Elder Care Law, PLLC as an associate attorney, partner Barbara Boone McGinnis has announced. Johnson will be providing legal expertise on a wide range of client issues with a focus on estate planning, VA benefits and Life Care Planning.

Johnson has 19 years of legal and military experience. Commissioned as a second lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps after graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy, his career included multiple deployments to Japan and Afghanistan and he served in a number of roles as an infantry officer and judge advocate, including platoon commander, company commander, chief legal assistance officer, senior defense counsel, military justice officer, 3rd recruit training battalion executive officer, commanding general’s deputy staff judge advocate, and deputy chief legal advisor to the to the Afghanistan National Army.

Prior to his retirement from military service in 2014, Johnson had achieved the rank of major and was heading the Legal Services Support Team serving Marine Corps Air Station, Cherry Point, North Carolina. After relocating to the Nashville area, he previously worked at a law firm where his practice included elder law, estate planning and administration, probate law and VA benefits planning.

Chris holds a degree in mechanical engineering from the U.S. Naval Academy and a J.D. from the College of William and Mary School of Law.

Buffkin / Baker selects governance practice leader

Wattleton

Buffkin / Baker, a leading national retained search firm, has hired Faye Wattleton, previous managing director of Alvarez & Marsal, as co-head of the governance practice.

Wattleton’s career spans more than three decades of governance experience. She has held approximately 20 board member positions for public and private corporations, academic institutions and high-impact philanthropic organizations.

Wattleton has also served on the boards of Estée Lauder, Quidel Corporation, Empire Blue Cross & Blue Shield, The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Columbia University, among others.

Prior to Alvarez & Marsal, she led the Center for the Advancement of Women as co-founder and president, conducting women-focused national research for public education and policy advocacy.

Wattleton made history as the youngest, first woman and first African-American president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America, a position she held for 14 years. During her tenure as president and CEO, she restructured the organization and grew it to $500 million, making it the nation’s seventh largest nonprofit.

Wattleton holds a bachelor’s degree in nursing from Ohio State University and a master’s degree from Columbia University.

Centerstone appoints foundation president

Rhodes

Centerstone, a not-for-profit providers of community-based mental health and addiction services, has named Ramona Rhodes president of Centerstone’s Foundation. Rhodes has extensive strategy and operations experience and previously served as executive vice president of marketing and chief operating officer of the foundation.

Rhodes will be responsible for advancing Centerstone’s mission through philanthropy.

Centerstone’s Foundation is the philanthropic arm of Centerstone and supports the work of Centerstone, directly impacting clients and their families, advancing research and service innovation.

Rhodes has 29 years of experience in behavioral health care fundraising and marketing. During her tenure at Centerstone, the organization has grown from a small, Nashville-based agency to a multi-state, multi-tiered national organization serving over 180,000 individuals annually.

Rhodes holds a degree from Lipscomb University and is a member of the American Marketing Association and the Association of Healthcare Philanthropy.

FirstBank hires manager for financial center

Gillespie

Dana Gillespie, a Franklin native and senior banker with 23 years of financial services experience, has been hired as the financial center manager at FirstBank’s Five Points branch in Franklin. Gillespie will oversee center operations, lead new customer acquisition, and build relationships with customers and businesses in the Franklin community.

Prior to joining FirstBank, Gillespie served as a branch manager at a local credit union for six years. She has also held branch manager and vice president positions at several Franklin-area banks over the past 18 years.

Gillespie is a member of the Downtown Franklin Association and the Williamson County Chamber of Commerce, as well as a charter member for Kiwanis of Thompson’s Station and Spring Hill.

Stone, Powers elected as state Realtors officers

Hagan Stone of Brentwood (Parks) will serve as 2019 president-elect of Tennessee Realtors.

Another Middle Tennessean, Sher Powers of Nashville (Urbane Residential Specialists) will serve as Division 2 (Middle Tennessee) vice president.

Tennessee Realtors installed its slate of 2019 officers at its recent annual fall convention in Knoxville. The volunteer leaders will serve in key roles as members of the statewide association’s 10-member Executive Committee.

Others include:

• Alexander Bynum of Dresden, Secretary-Treasurer
• Greg Glosson of Memphis, Division 1 vice president
• Kelly White of Sevierville, Division 3 vice president

These new officers will join President Kathy Tucker (Chattanooga), 2019 Division 1 Vice President Linda Frantom (Paris), Division 2 Vice President Randy Worcester (Clarksville) and Division 3 vice president Sally Sparks (Knoxville) on the state association’s governing executive committee.

Capitol View welcomes 3 to residential leasing team

Bertlekamp

McNutt

Burke

Boyle Investment Company and Northwood Ravin have announced that Northwood Ravin has hired three new employees to join the residential team at Capitol View, a 32-acre mixed-use district in Nashville.

Emmie Bertelkamp, community manager, will manage leasing and assist in community outreach, events and promotion. Since earning her undergraduate degree from Western Kentucky University, she has served as a community manager for multiple properties throughout the Greater Nashville area.

Alyssa McNutt, assistant community manager, relocated to Nashville after serving as an assistant community manager for Varela Westshore, a Northwood Ravin property in Tampa. She brings with her extensive experience in leasing and marketing residential projects.

Sara Burke, leasing professional, earned her undergraduate degree in public relations from Georgia Southern University in 2016 and spent the last year as a leasing consultant and marketing coordinator for Olmsted Nashville, where she planned resident events and managed marketing efforts.