Baker Donelson has named Meagan Nebel to serve as the firm’s first director of lateral recruiting and integration, a newly created role responsible for managing the recruitment, acquisition, integration and retention of shareholders and of counsel.

This role, which will focus on growing Baker Donelson’s lateral attorney ranks, is the latest new role created by the firm to expand its recruiting team. In December, Baker Donelson named Mark A.B. Carlson as its first chief growth officer, an additional position created to focus on lateral attorney recruiting, acquisition and integration.

Nebel will collaborate with practice and industry group leaders and other senior firm leadership to identify lateral growth opportunities and to fill those needs with accomplished and promising attorneys. She will work directly with external recruiting firms to maintain a steady flow of candidates to support the Firm’s growth objectives. Additionally, she will oversee the lateral attorney integration process, ensuring a seamless transition into Baker Donelson’s client service-driven culture.

Nebel will work closely with Carlson in his role as chief growth officer, which oversees all aspects of lateral attorney recruiting, acquisition, integration, and ensuring talent growth strategies are aligned with the Firm’s strategic vision.

She previously served as a business development manager on the firm’s marketing & business development team, partnering with leadership in the firm’s health law & public policy and business departments to develop and implement strategic plans for client growth.

Tarpley to Receive TBA’s Leech Award

Nashville attorney John Tarpley will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s (TBA) prestigious William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award.

The Leech Award is given to a Tennessee lawyer who has been of outstanding service to the profession, legal system and the community. It is named for former Attorney General William M. Leech, and the recipient is selected by the Fellows of the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.

A shareholder in the Nashville office of Lewis Thomason, Tarpley is a former president of the Tennessee Bar Association and has also held numerous leadership positions with local, state and national legal organizations, including service in the American Bar Association’s House of Delegates and the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary.

While president of the TBA, Tarpley established the “Lawyers Care” program and successfully recruited lawyers to do more pro bono work in the state. In addition, he implemented the “Leadership Law” program and continues to be involved in its programming.

Outside of his service to the legal profession, Tarpley has also served as president of the board of directors of the Music City Chapter of the March of Dimes and as a member of the Board of Directors of First Steps. He is a 2016 graduate of Leadership Nashville.

In addition, Brennan Wingerter, assistant public defender and appellate director, will be honored next month with the Tennessee Bar Association’s Claudia Jack Award.

This award is being presented annually for the third time to an outstanding a public defender or court-appointed private practitioner who has served the legal community and her clients in an exemplary fashion. It is named after the late Claudia Jack, a longtime champion of the poor and underprivileged, and a public defender in Maury County.

This year’s award recipient was selected by a committee consisting of the vice president of the Tennessee Bar Association, chair of the Access to Justice Committee, chair of the Criminal Law Section, speaker of the House of Delegates and chair of Juvenile & Children’s Law Section.

An honors graduate from the University of Tennessee College of Law, Wingerter began her legal career by completing a multijudicial clerkship in the Tennessee Supreme Court and serving as a professor of law at Lincoln Memorial University. She then became the inaugural director of the Appellate Division of the District Public Defenders Conference.

In this role, Wingerter has built a statewide office from the ground up, leading the office in and out of the courtroom, and taking a lead role in statewide efforts to improve appellate advocacy on behalf of indigent clients.

Walters honored with ‘Connector’ Award

Bayard (Bud) Walters, owner of Cromwell Media, has been presented the Francis S. Guess “Connector” Award by the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp.

The award recognizes an individual who has worked to connect the hospitality industry to the community at large or to a particular group in order to make Nashville a more appealing, open and successful destination. It is one of two annual awards given by Nashville’s hospitality industry.

Walters founded Cromwell in 1969 with the formation of a single station in Hawesville, Kentucky. Cromwell has since grown to a family of 31 stations with corporate offices in Nashville.

The award was presented at the recent Nashville Hospitality Industry Celebration Luncheon.

Francis S. Guess served on the board of the Nashville Convention & Visitors Corp, including as board chair. He served on the boards of many hospitality industry partners, including the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum, the former Convention Center Commission and the Convention Center Authority.

In 2016, the Nashville hospitality industry honored Guess’s career by creating the Francis S. Guess “Connector” Award, which recognizes an individual who has worked to connect the hospitality industry to the community at large or to a particular group in order to make Nashville a more appealing, open and successful destination.

Previous winners include Kitty Moon Emery (2017), Steve Buchanan (2018) and Ron Samuels (2019).

Cagle, Markley retiring from Centerstone

Centerstone, a not-for-profit health system specializing in mental health and substance use disorder treatments, has announced the retirement of two executives, regional CEO John Markley and Chief Marketing Officer Debbie Cagle.

Markley has been with Centerstone and its legacy organizations for nearly 38 years, having joined in 1985 as staff accountant. Since then, he has helped the nonprofit grow from a relatively small organization serving just two counties into one of the largest community-based behavioral health care providers in the country.

Cagle joined Centerstone in 2004 and has held multiple key executive leadership roles at the organization in payer contracting and relations, marketing and business development, affiliations and mergers, branding and communications.

Cagle has served on the State of Tennessee Mental Health Planning Council, TennCare Partners Program Round Table, National Association of Private Psychiatric Healthcare board of directors (Washington, D.C.) and was a member of the Society for Health Care Strategy and Market Development.

Red Cross Tennessee picks executive director

The Tennessee Region of the American Red Cross has named John Mitchell executive director of the Heart of Tennessee Chapter in Murfreesboro. The Heart of Tennessee Chapter serves Bedford, Cannon, Coffee, DeKalb, Franklin, Lincoln, Marshall, Moore, Rutherford and Warren counties.

Mitchell previously served the American Red Cross 2012-2015 as the executive director for the chapter office in Franklin. More recently, he served as the director of development for The Salvation Army in Murfreesboro.

Mitchell previously worked at Middle Tennessee State University Jones College of Business as development director and for the Boy Scouts of America as a district executive. He holds a degree in business administration and physical education from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg, Kentucky.

Rebuilding Together taps new executive director

Rebuilding Together Nashville, a home repair and community development nonprofit, has hired Nicole Rowan as its executive director.

Rowan, who brings has more than 10 years of experience in nonprofit management and community advocacy in the nonprofit sector, holds a graduate degree in business management from Indiana Wesleyan University and undergraduate degrees in business administration from Northwood University and Indiana Business College.

She spent 2002 through 2016 working within the YMCA movement, working for YMCA associations serving in Indianapolis, St. Louis and Nashville. She most recently served as the executive director of the Northwest Family YMCA, 2016 to 2018.

Rowan joins Rebuilding Together following a successful five years under former executive director Kaitlin Dastugue.

To date, Rebuilding Together has completed health and safety focused repairs in 600-plus homes in the greater Nashville area, including 31 homes in Bordeaux and 16 home affected by natural disasters. Rebuilding Together was awarded $1.8 million toward repairing additional homes in Nashville by the Barnes Fund for Affordable Housing this spring.

Green Hill Music names A&R director

Green Hill Music, the boutique record label and creator of jazz, instrumental and specialty music releases, has promoted Ben Binner to director of A&R.

Binner is a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Oshkosh with a degree in music business and recording technology. He later moved to Nashville to pursue a career in the music industry. Binner was hired by Gaither Music Group in 2019 to lead the label’s streaming and playlisting initiatives and was named digital streaming manager for the brand in early 2021.

Jernigan named to Forbes’ advisors list

Dee Edwin Jernigan, executive vice president of FirstBank Investment Partners, is among the Raymond James-affiliated advisers named to the Forbes list of Best-In-State Wealth Advisors.

The list recognizes advisers from national, regional and independent firms.

Jernigan, who joined Raymond James in 2003, has more than 25 years of experience in the financial services industry.

Father Ryan selects Davis as next president

Father Ryan High School Principal Paul Davis has been selected as the school’s new president.

Davis, a 1981 graduate of Father Ryan, will become the 15th head of school in Father Ryan’s 98-year history when he begins as president July 1. He has served as principal since 2007.

Davis has been with Father Ryan for the last 36 years, first as a teacher and assistant coach and then as Dean of Students from 1998 until 2007, when he became principal. He expressed his gratitude on his selection.

Davis is a graduate of Tennessee Technological University and returned to Father Ryan in the fall of 1986 to teach English. He later served as coach of freshmen volleyball, baseball and freshmen basketball, while also serving as moderator of the Student Council. In 1992, he earned a master’s degree in educational psychology and counselor education from Tennessee Tech.