Joseph V. Ronderos, Jr., has joined Stites & Harbison, PLLC’s business litigation service group. His practice focuses on financial services, product liability and business litigation.

He previously was an associate with McGlinchey Stafford in Nashville. His experience includes defending actions and claims under federal and state consumer protection statutes including the Fair Debt Collection Practices Act (FDCPA), the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act (RESPA) and the Truth in Lending Act (TILA).

Ronderos earned his J.D. from the University of Tennessee College of Law in 2017. He is admitted to practice in Tennessee and Alabama.

Miller honored by financial services group

Burr & Forman partner Zachary D. Miller has been elected as a fellow of the American College of Consumer Financial Services Lawyers. Membership in the College is by invitation only and recognizes lawyers for their experience, preeminence in the field and repeated and substantial contributions to the promotion of learning and scholarship in consumer financial services law.

Miller is a partner in Burr’s financial services litigation group with extensive experience in consumer finance litigation. He defends financial institutions such as banks, mortgage lenders, credit card companies and debt buyers/collectors on many issues and is a frequent writer and speaker on consumer finance litigation.

Simmons joins Diversified Trust as principal

Diversified Trust, an independent wealth management firm with offices throughout the Southeast, has added Cameron Simmons as a principal in its Nashville office.

During her 28-year tenure, Simmons most recently served as executive director and banker at J.P. Morgan Private Bank. Previously, she spent 26 years with Regions Private Wealth Management, where she served as senior vice president and was named a top wealth adviser for both Middle Tennessee and the entire organization numerous times.

Simmons earned her B.A. from Louisiana State University and completed Family Enterprise adviser training through the Cole College of Business at Kennesaw State University.

Also at Diversified Trust, Jeffrey (Jeff) Carson was recently elected a fellow of the Tennessee Bar Foundation, an association of 840 attorneys across the state. Invitations to this position of honor were extended to 27 attorneys by the board of trustees.

Carson has nearly 23 years of experience in financial and legal services and serves as principal and senior fiduciary officer at Diversified Trust.

He is a graduate of the University of Mississippi. He 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.

Gibson picks Heidt for chief marketing officer

Gibson has promoted Elizabeth “Beth” Heidt to the role of chief marketing officer, Gibson Brands.

A seven-year veteran of Gibson, Beth spent her early years at Gibson in entertainment relations and in 2021 was promoted to vice president of cultural influence.

She previously worked in brand strategy, production and experiential marketing with House of Blues, Red Bull and Fortune 500 brands including Samsung, Hyundai, Live Nation, Verizon and AT&T.

She will be responsible for overseeing Gibson Brands’ global brand and marketing teams, entertainment and artist relations, social media, partnerships, public relations, multi-media divisions, as well as the Gibson Gives Foundation.

Belmont bolsters its advancement team

Jamie Lee has been named senior director of corporate and foundational relations within Belmont’s advancement team.

Lee will support the university’s advancement team leading corporate and foundation development activities, directly supporting Belmont’s Strategic Path to 2030 by helping expand revenue sources.

Lee earned a degree in business administration from Tennessee Tech University and has held various roles at the Nashville Health Care Council for nearly 15 years. Most recently, she served as the organization’s chief operating officer, leading the organization’s internal processes, events and sponsorships, partnerships and international activities

Lee also served as the public relations and marketing manager at Cross Country Education, a national continuing education company for health care professionals. She was also vice president of sales and marketing for Envision, Inc., a company that produces educational video content for the health care industry.

Clarus expands team with two regional VPs

Clarus has added two regional vice presidents to expand its sales team. Jamie Anderson and John Riley, both experienced health care executives, join Clarus as vice presidents for enterprise development for the Southeast and the Midwest, respectively.

Anderson is responsible for expanding market share within large health systems in the central U.S. He has more than 26 years of experience in various sales leadership roles within health care and other market segments. Most recently he was with Alana Healthcare as the senior sales manager and corporate sales trainer.

Before that role he was a senior marketing executive with LabCorp, ranking fourth in the country out of a sales team of more than 8,000. Anderson graduated from Lipscomb University in 1996 with a degree in Social Work and was a scholarship athlete, playing four years of baseball.

Riley was a partner in Transparency Health, an investment firm specializing in startup and early-stage health care SaaS companies. He served as the chief revenue officer for the firm’s Ntracts company. Before Transparency Health, he was executive vice president of sales and development for TractManager, a two-division company comprised of MediTract, based in Chattanooga, and MD Buyline, based in Dallas.

He is a graduate of Southern Methodist University.

Virsys12 adds to leadership ranks

Virsys12, a Salesforce solution integrator in health care consulting and AppExchange ISV, has hired two new key executives: Peter Schmidt as chief customer officer and Chantal LeBoulch as director of marketing and partnerships.

Schmidt joins Virsys12 from Salesforce, where he most recently served as sales strategy leader for its health insurance division. With over 20 years of experience in CRM for health care, Schmidt has held leadership positions at Deloitte, Oracle and the BlueCross BlueShield Association.

LeBoulch brings extensive experience from marketing and communications agencies across the country to her new role.

Hall Strategies adds media veteran Whittlesey

Hall Strategies, a Nashville-based public relations and government relations firm founded in 2004, has hired Kristin Whittlesey as content manager, a new role for the company. She will support a wide range of clients in the creation of relevant and memorable content and copy that effectively communicate winning messages to diverse audiences.

Whittlesey has more than 30 years of experience in Nashville media and media relations. As director of external relations at Vanderbilt University Blair School of Music, she spent 11 years promoting a busy concert and event schedule (more than 250 events a year), forging strategic partnerships with local arts nonprofits and managing digital strategy including the school’s website and social media channels.

Before that, she spent 20 years as an editor and writer at a range of leading Nashville publications. For 11 years she was a founding editor at The Rage, All The Rage and Metromix, entertainment-oriented publications affiliated with The Tennessean, covering everything from live music, entertainment and dining to home repair and health care. She was subsequently named assistant features editor for The Tennessean, covering similar topics for a wider audience.

She is a graduate of Vanderbilt University.