Masami Izumida Tyson has joined Womble Bond Dickinson (US) LLP as a global business and international trade partner in the corporate and securities group. She is based in the firm’s new Nashville office.

The opening of a Nashville office last month – Womble’s 21st in the United States and 28th internationally – was bolstered by the firm’s Global Business and International Trade team, including partners John Scannapieco, Josh Mullen and Alan Enslen.

Tyson joins Womble from the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development, where she served as global director of foreign direct investment and trade. In this role, she liaised with international, diplomatic and economic offices on behalf of the state of Tennessee.

She also maintained strategic oversight for all overseas teams tasked with recruiting companies interested in doing business in Tennessee, provided support to companies located in Tennessee, and advised state leadership on matters relating to foreign affairs.

Tyson previously served in several in-house counsel roles, including senior counsel for Nissan North America.

Tyson earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School after graduating from Johns Hopkins University. She is a council leader for the U.S.-Japan Council and board chair for the Japan-America Society of Tennessee.

Attorneys in Womble’s Nashville office include:

• John Scannapieco (partner, Nashville/Washington, D.C.), who assists both U.S. and foreign businesses engaged in the global economy.

• Josh Mullen (partner, Nashville/Washington, D.C.), who focuses his practice on government contracts and business litigation.

• Alan Enslen (partner, Washington, D.C./Nashville), who represents clients in international trade and national security matters, government investigations and regulatory enforcement actions, and global trade disputes in the commercial and defense sectors.

• Frank Xue (associate, Nashville/Washington, D.C.), who focuses his practice on cross-border transactions and corporate matters. He assists Chinese clients with foreign direct investments, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, corporate structuring and governance, commercial contracts, labor and employment, and immigration matters in the United States.

• Joy Holloway (counsel, Atlanta/Nashville), a transactional attorney who focuses her practice on mergers and acquisitions, commercial contracts, finance and securities.

Graham Healthcare names new Clarus CEO

Graham Healthcare Capital has selected Rich Maradik as CEO of Clarus, the firm’s SaaS call management platform.

Maradik brings more than 25 years of experience in leading organizations through change, including a major public company in the hospitality and travel industry. Maradik succeeds Michele Oglesby, who had served as Clarus’s interim CEO. She was recently promoted to senior operating partner at GHCC.

Founded in 2013 in Nashville, Clarus provides medical call management for a range of companies, from one-provider practices to large health systems. It is used nationwide in 35 specialties, supporting providers, practice staff and their patients. Graham Healthcare Capital acquired Clarus in June 2019.

Maradik comes to GHCC from NSight, where he served as CEO. The company is a provider of property management technology systems to the middle market hotel segment in North America. Maradik also served as both chief marketing officer and chief information officer of Gaylord Entertainment, leading sales, marketing, revenue management, strategic alliances and information technology functions for the company from 2006 to 2012.

The Vanderbilt graduate also has served as CEO of SmartDM, a data management company he co-founded.

Mayor Cooper expands communications team

Mayor John Cooper has announced the expansion of his communications team with the addition of Brandon Marshall and Chris Echegaray.

Marshall, who has served as digital director and LGBTQ liaison in the Mayor’s Office since October 2019, will now serve in the newly created position of deputy communications director and LGBTQ Liaison.

Marshall will continue to oversee digital strategy, and will take on expanded responsibilities on the communications team, including serving as a spokesperson for Mayor Cooper. In addition to his communications role, Marshall will lead the Mayor’s Office outreach and engagement on key issues impacting the LGBTQ Community.

Marshall previously was a television news reporter for WTVF Channel 5 in Nashville and KWTX News 10 in Waco, Texas.

Echegaray joins the Mayor’s Office as the head speechwriter and communications adviser. Previously, Echegaray worked for Metro Nashville Public Schools where he led communications, strategic planning, community and family engagement at Whitsitt Elementary School, a predominantly Hispanic urban school with 93% low-income students.

Echegaray previously published writing on immigration, race and justice issues for Harvard University and led the content creation strategy for the launch of Vanderbilt University’s Clinical and Translational Science Awards Consortium.

Earlier in his career, Echegaray was a reporter for The Tennessean and The Tampa Tribune for more than seven years, covering a wide range of issues including immigration, education, health, business, courts, and other social issues affecting the community.

Ellis named principal at Buffkin / Baker

Buffkin / Baker, a partner-led executive search firm, has added Pelema Ellis as principal. He will be responsible for creating value for clients in the firm’s higher education practice.

Ellis brings more than 20 years of experience in driving a strategic effort through a variety of roles in higher education. Previously, he served as president at Great Bay Community College, leading a comprehensive reorganization of the college’s leadership structure. Before that, he was the vice provost for enrollment and strategic development at the University of Missouri.

Most recently, he was vice provost at the University of New Hampshire, where he led efforts to increase net tuition revenue.

Ellis holds a Ph.D. in higher education from the University of Michigan’s Center for the Study of Higher and Postsecondary Education, an MBA from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a master’s degree in higher education and a bachelor’s degree in organizational psychology from San Jose State University.

Centerstone’s Reid promoted to chief marketing officer

Centerstone, a national leader in behavioral health and addiction services, has promoted Johnel Reid to chief marketing officer.

Reid, who joined the nonprofit as vice president of public affairs and marketing, will now lead strategy and oversight for the organization’s branding, communications, grant writing, national policy and referral marketing. She steps into the role previously held by Debbie Cagle, who retired in June.

Reid joined Centerstone in 2018 after serving as vice president for strategic planning and marketing at Community Health Systems, providing executive support to an operating division that included 38 hospitals and systems across several states. From 2003 to 2012, Reid was director of marketing and public relations at HCA Healthcare.

She holds a degree in sociology and political science from Longwood University in Virginia.

Market Retrievers adds partner, promotes co-founder

Market Retrievers, a digital marketing agency based in Nashville, has announced the addition of Jon Blankenship as a partner at the firm, and the new role for co-founder Abby Wheeler as vice president of marketing campaigns.

Blankenship has spent his career developing digital marketing initiatives for higher education, fundraising efforts, media companies and donor engagement campaigns. He has a background in content development, web design, email marketing and analytics.

In his role as vice president of strategy, he will be responsible for helping the agency’s clients form an overall marketing and content plan and coordinating the deployment of those plans.

Wheeler co-founded the agency in 2021 and has been in marketing for over five years. She is a content design and implementation expert and has helped brands and organizations increase followers and engagement by exponential amounts in her previous role as director of marketing campaigns. In her new role, she will also help manage the firm’s team of content designers as they develop client deliverables.

CU hires marketing, communications director

Cumberland University has hired Joey Clark as the university’s new executive director of marketing and communications.

The Lebanon native holds degrees in English and creative writing from The University of Tennessee at Knoxville and a master’s degree in higher education administration and supervision from Middle Tennessee State University.

Clark most recently worked as the director of marketing and engagement for Nashville-based lender Colten Mortgage.

Health Care Council announces new board

The Nashville Health Care Council has finalized its 2022-23 board of directors, which includes eight new members who will support the Council’s goal of inspiring global collaboration and improving health care by serving as a catalyst for leadership and innovation.

Newly appointed board members include:

• Neil de Crescenzo, Change Healthcare

• Tammy Hawes, Virsys12

• L. Gregory Jones, Belmont University

• Amy Seigenthaler, Finn Partners

• Scott Mertie, Kraft Healthcare Consulting

• Drake Jarman, Contessa

• Kristin Neal, Optum

Council board members continuing their terms include:

• Lucinda M. Baier (vice chair), Brookdale Senior Living

• Ray Guzman, SwitchPoint Ventures

• Tim Adams, Saint Thomas Health

• Jeffrey R. Balser, M.D., Ph.D., VUMC, Vanderbilt University School of Medicine

• Michael Burcham, Shore Capital Partners

• Stuart Clark, Premise Health

• Eric Evans, Surgery Partners

• Steve F. Flatt, National Healthcare Corp.

• Robert A. Frist, Jr., HealthStream

• James E. K. Hildreth, M.D., Ph.D., Meharry Medical College

• Tim Hingtgen, Community Health Systems

• A.J. Kazimi, Cumberland Pharmaceuticals

• Paul Kusserow, Chairman, Amedisys

• Bruce Moore, HCA Healthcare

• Leif M. Murphy, TeamHealth

• Keith Payet, UnitedHealthcare

• Saurabh Sinha, emids

• Lynn Shapiro Snyder, Epstein Becker & Green

• Dee Anna Smith, CEO, Sarah Cannon

• Maggie Spalding, senior vice president, member, Lockton Companies

• Herman Williams, M.D., chief physician executive, BDO USA

• Andrea Willis, M.D., BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee