Diversified Trust, an independent comprehensive wealth management firm, has elevated four to new positions.

Jeff Carson has been promoted from senior vice president to principal. In his role as principal and senior fiduciary officer, Carson is responsible for the oversight and administration of the firm’s fiduciary services and also leads the planning team in Nashville.

Carson previously was senior vice president and senior trust officer with U.S. Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management. He earned a graduate of the University of Mississippi and earned his J.D. from Mississippi College School of Law and his LL.M. degree in Estate Planning from the University of Miami Law School.

Brittany Wyrick has been promoted from vice president to senior vice president. Wyrick supports the corporate operations team and provides broad administrative and operational support for the firm’s five offices. She previously worked at Hays Advisory as an operations specialist and at Donaldson Capital Management as a business information manager. She is a graduate of Western Kentucky University.

Amy Shehan has been promoted from associate to senior associate. She is a member of the operations team and is responsible for client support and account administration. Shehan has more than 10 years of experience in the financial services industry, previously working for Edward Jones Investments and in the Wealth Management Department of Truxton Trust.

State education board elects new officers

The State Board of Education has conducted its election of new officers.

Robert Eby, representing the third congressional district, was elected chairman. Eby was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2018 by Gov. Bill Haslam and served two terms as vice-chairman. He served 16 years on the Oak Ridge Board of Education.

Eby is a graduate of the University of Tennessee with degrees in Chemical Engineering. He previously served as the plant manager at the 4,000-person Oak Ridge Gaseous Diffusion Plant, as well as serving as the executive vice-president of Navarro Research and Engineering Company.

Darrell Cobbins, representing the ninth congressional district, was elected vice-chairman. Cobbins was appointed to the State Board of Education in 2017. He is a Memphis native and a graduate of Rhodes College with an MBA from Fogelman College of Business at the University of Memphis.

He is president of Universal Commercial Real Estate, LLC, a firm he founded in 2007.

The board elected outgoing chair Lillian Hartgrove as Chair Emeritus. Hartgrove had served as board chair since January 2018 and was appointed to the board of education in 2014, representing the sixth congressional district, and has one year remaining in her current term.

Hartgrove served for 12 years as vice president of workforce development and education under the Highlands Economic Partnership for the Cookeville-Putnam County Chamber of Commerce.

Also, Nashville media veteran Joe Fisher has joined the State Board of Education staff as public information officer. Most recently, he served as director of news and communications at Tennessee Tech University. He previously served as a television sports anchor for WSMV and WKRN, a public relations account executive for Dye, Van Mol and Lawrence, as well as more than 20 years as director of broadcasting and play-by-play voice for Vanderbilt University athletics.

Centennial Conservancy adds to leadership team

Centennial Park Conservancy, a nonprofit organization committed to preserving and enhancing Centennial Park and the Parthenon and providing accessible and expansive cultural programming for Nashville, has hired Wendy Buntin to senior director of donor engagement and Steve Citerin to senior director of marketing and communications.

Buntin joins the Centennial Park Conservancy from the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society where she previously served as vice president of advancement, covering 16 states in the Midwest and South. Before that, she spent seven years with the American Red Cross as the regional chief development officer for the Tennessee Region and the national director of coaching and development, and 11 years as director of philanthropy at The Nature Conservancy of Tennessee.

Citerin brings more than 20 years of marketing communications expertise to Centennial Park Conservancy. Most recently, he served as the assistant vice president of marketing and communications for the Heritage Foundation of Williamson County. He has held senior marketing roles within other nonprofits, including Tennessee Performing Arts Center, in addition to strategic planning positions at brand and digital agencies.

In addition, Justin Tam has been promoted to vice president of development and park partnerships, and Justin Branam is now vice president of programming.

A member of the Centennial Park Conservancy team since 2011, Tam has served in key roles, including Musicians Corner production director, grants manager and parthenon partnerships manager. In his new role, he manages Centennial Park Conservancy’s development activities, which include donations, grants and corporate partnerships.

Branam has worked in various roles to support Musicians Corner since joining Centennial Park Conservancy in 2014. In his new role, he manages the full scope of Centennial Park Conservancy’s programs, including Musicians Corner, Nashville Earth Day and Kidsville. Branam has over a decade of experience working in the nonprofit sector and has been a prominent force in the Nashville music scene.

Berlinger named partner at Buffkin / Baker

Buffkin / Baker, a partner-led executive search firm, has promoted Megan Berlinger to partner.

Berlinger joined Buffkin / Baker in 2022 as an associate partner actively engaged in academic medicine searches with a focus on serving AAMC institutions and health systems. She has more than 16 years of experience in school of medicine and health system administration, serving in key roles at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, including heart & vascular service line administrator and department administrator.

Berlinger holds a degree in public health and master’s in health care administration from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is certified within executive coaching and a founding partner for the Elevate Institute. Berlinger also is an adjunct professor at UNC’s Gillings School of Global Public Health, where she teaches and advises within the health policy and management division.

OZ Arts selects Coddon board chair

Contemporary arts center OZ Arts Nashville has election of Marjean Coddon, a community volunteer and OZ Arts board member, as the new chair of its board of trustees.

Coddon’s election as board chair follows five years on OZ Arts Nashville’s board. She will succeed Jerry Johnson, whose eight years as chair and OZ Arts board member come to a close.

Coddon has experience in prominent leadership positions with other Nashville nonprofit boards, having served as chair for Nashville Repertory Theater, Oasis Center, New Beginnings Center and Congregation Micah.

Other board members include Jimmy Wilson III (vice chair), Laurie Seabury (secretary), T. Alp Ikizler, M.D. (treasurer), Meera Ballal, J.D., Med, Michelle Gaskin Brown, Daniel Bryant, Ann Waller Curtis, Shervin Eftekhari, Max Goldberg, Donald R. Hardin, Jr., James Kelley, Sherri Neal, Arnita Ozgener, Aylin Ozgener, Kevin Roddey, Adam Sansiveri, Hope Stringer, Josephine Vandevender Ward and Marcus Whitney.

Ahmed named to Staffing 100 List

Maruf Ahmed, president and COO of Digital Intelligence Systems, LLC, a global IT and workforce solutions company, has been named to Staffing Industry Analysts’ Staffing 100 North America list.

The list honors leaders who have made an impact on their company or the staffing industry in the previous year.

TDCI taps new captive insurance section director

Mark Wiedeman has joined the Tennessee Department of Commerce & Insurance as director of TDCI’s Captive Insurance Section.

A Utah native, Wiedeman is a graduate from Brigham Young University with degree in history and a master’s in public administration. Wiedeman began his regulatory career working as a valuation analyst for the Utah State Tax Commission. He joined the Utah Insurance Department in 2012 as an auditor before being promoted to senior examiner and eventually rising through the ranks to become assistant division director.

In 2022, Mark left the Utah Insurance Department to start a business in contract insurance examinations and captive insurance consulting.

Thomas & Hutton names site selection director

Bryan Farlow has joined Thomas & Hutton as regional director, economic development and site selection for Tennessee. With 14-plus years of industry experience, Farlow will spearhead the expansion of the firm’s economic development and site selection activities in Tennessee and across the United States.

Bryan’s previous held positions at the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development and Jobs Ohio. He is a graduate of Tennessee Wesleyan University and went on to study at the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma.

Belmont selects Taylor for new vice presidency

Belmont University has named D’Angelo Taylor, Ed.D., the university’s vice president for hope, unity and belonging and will serve as the architect of the newly created HUB – Belmont’s Office of Hope, Unity and Belonging.

Taylor will lead the university’s diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives in support of its strategic emphasis to embrace hope and inclusive excellence to reweave the social fabric.

Taylor will begin his new role at Belmont May 1.

The HUB will serve as a centralized office dedicated to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives, carrying out the institution’s desire for all community members to experience a meaningful and authentic sense of connection.

As part of this charge, the HUB will be responsible for managing all efforts related to Title IX compliance and prevention, as well as all non-discrimination and equity work (Titles VI, VII and IX) including prevention, protection and accountability.

Taylor currently serves as vice president for student affairs at Central State University, Ohio’s only public HBCU.

He previously was associate director of the Multicultural Center at the University of Southern Indiana.