Broadcast veteran Deborah A. McDermott, president of Young Broadcasting LLC, has been elected to the board of Nashville Bank & Trust and its holding company, NBT Holdings Inc.

McDermott was elected at the company’s 2011 annual meeting of shareholders, concurrent with the re-election of directors Charles W. Cook, Jr. (chairman), William F. Blaufuss, Jr., W. Lipscomb Davis, Jr., Bruce Dobie, Stanley M. Ezell, Decosta E. Jenkins, Matthew A. King, G.A. Puryear IV, Christopher C. Whitson, and Thomas S. Stumb.

McDermott has been with Young Broadcasting, a top-25 broadcasting company with 10 stations in markets across the United States, since 1986. She served on the company’s board of directors from 2004 to 2009.

She currently serves on the board of directors for the Nashville Sports Council, Ensworth School and Leadership Nashville. She is a member of the Community Foundation Advisory Board. Additionally, she is a member of the Maximum Service Television Board and ABC Affiliate Association Board of Governors, where she served as chair for a two-year term.

McDermott has also served on the boards of the National Association of Broadcasters, National Association of Programming Executives and Television Bureau of Advertising. She has served on the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority board, the Nashville Convention Center board and the CATV special committee.

Additionally she was a member of the Country Music Association board of directors; chaired the United Way Annual Campaign; served as president of Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee; and served on the board of the Nashville Symphony.

She is a graduate of South Dakota State University.

Palliative care group honors VU’s Foster

Terrah Foster, Ph.D., R.N., assistant professor at Vanderbilt University School of Nursing, recently received the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association’s 2011 New Investigator Award at the group’s annual assembly in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.

The New Investigator Award recognizes a hospice or palliative care nurse at the beginning of his or her research career who has performed superior research focused on clinical care, professional development or the advancement of hospital and palliative nursing.

Foster’s research interests include pediatric palliative care, particularly legacy-making and continuing bonds in children living with life-threatening conditions and their families.

Ducey joins Pinnacle as mortgage advisor

Deon Ducey has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a senior vice president and mortgage advisor.

Ducey’s experience in the mortgage industry spans 25 years. Before coming to Pinnacle, she was owner and president of Legends Mortgage for 13 years.

Ducey is based at Pinnacle’s Brentwood office located at 128 Franklin Road.

Four promoted at McNeely Pigott & Fox

McNeely Pigott & Fox Public Relations has promoted four assistant account executives – Stacy Alcala, Matt Griffin, Katherine Liles and Leigh Lindsey – to account executives.

Alcala, a native of Franklin, graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis in public relations and minors in business communication and sociology. Her experience includes grassroots outreach, educational campaigns, event and conference planning, media relations, marketing materials development, and research. Her client list includes the U.S. Department of Labor, the Metropolitan Nashville Airport Authority and the Tennessee District Attorneys General Conference.

Griffin, a native of Munford, is a member of MP&F’s video production team and specializes in materials development, media relations and event planning. He graduated from the University of Memphis with a bachelor’s degree in mass communications with an emphasis in broadcasting and electronic media.

Liles, a Birmingham native, has industry experience including grassroots and educational campaigns, event coordination, media relations, writing and marketing for clients in the health care, environmental, hospitality and government sectors. She also has worked with several local nonprofit organizations, including the Nashville Public Library Foundation, CASA, Inc., the American Diabetes Association, and the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee.

Lindsey is a Columbia native and graduate of Lipscomb University. Since joining McNeely Pigott & Fox, she has worked with clients at the local and national levels including Manheim, Lilly USA, CSX, the U.S. Department of Labor’s Job Corps program, Tennessee Bankers Association and FirstBank. Lindsey’s specialties include event planning and media relations.

Young Leaders Council announces 40 graduates

Young Leaders Council, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization that has trained more than 1,800 men and women to participate on the boards of nonprofit agencies for the past 26 years, has graduated 40 members of “Class 56.”

After completing more than 30 hours of leadership training, these individuals will serve one-year internships on local nonprofit boards:

Jonathan Allen, Caterpillar Financial; Mary Jo Bean, Vanderbilt Medical Center; Matthew Bissinger of Affinion Benefits Group, LLC; Caroline Chamberlain, eMids Technologies; John Crosslin, Crosslin & Associates, P.C.; Amy Cudabac, Saint Thomas Health Services; Lucas Curfman, Regions Bank; Jessica Files, Caterpillar Financial; Jeff Gibson, Neal & Harwell, PLC; Ashley Harrison, Wells Fargo Bank; Brenton Harrison, Innovative Financial Group; Monica Hayes, KPMG LLP; Justin Hudson, ServiceSource Corp.; Ashford Hughes, Little-Smith Strategies, LLC; Amy Jamison, Byrd, Proctor & Mills, P.C.; Eric Johnson, Firefly Logic; Miranda Kelley, Waller Lansden; Susan Kessler, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools; Christopher LaBorde, C. Works Engineering; Jenny Lee, SunTrust Bank; Sutton Lipman, The Lipman Group Sotheby; Jennifer Matthews, Nashville Academy, Medicine; Ryan McKinney, RoadShow AutoSport; Sheila McNeeley, HCA Healthcare, HealthTrust Purchasing Group; Vanessa Melius, Alive Hospice; Lee Mockmore, Capital Financial Group; Timothy O’Brien, HCA; Durham Pettigrew, Avenue Bank; Matthew Potempa, Law,fice, Matt Potempa, PLLC; Christy Pruitt-Haynes, HR consultant; Stephanie Salter, Genesco, Inc.; Hans Schmidt, Baker Donelson; Kristi Schnell, Greshman Smith & Partners; Jason Smith, IFCO SYSTEMS, N.A.; Kimberly Songy, US Trust, Bank, America, Private Wealth Management; Danielle Spence, Fifth Third Bank; Mohammad Ali Syed, King & Ballow; Brandy Transou, Safe Haven Family Shelter; Allison Wiemer, Stites & Harbison, PLLC; and Nancy Youssef, Genesco, Inc.

Alliance for Progress honors Beasley, Bennett

Tennessee Justice Center staff members Jane Blake Beasley and Susanne Bennett have received awards from the Tennessee Alliance for Progress (TAP).

Beasley was presented the 2011 Long Haul Award from TAP in recognition of her many years of service to vulnerable Tennessee families through her work with the Tennessee Justice Center and the legal services community.

She has worked at the Tennessee Justice Center since 1998 where she has supervised TJC’s paralegal staff while personally advocating for thousands of clients. Prior to joining TJC, Beasley served from 1993 to 1998 as a paralegal and insurance counselor at the Legal Aid Society, where she counseled low-income clients on how to obtain health insurance benefits.

Bennett was recognized with the 2011 Young Leader Award honoring a young “rising star” with a high level of commitment and talent who inspires other young people into action, is a committed organizer, and brings fresh ideas and new approaches. The awards were presented on the evening of May 20 at TAP’s statewide awards celebration in Nashville.

A Nashville native, Bennett travels 40 Middle Tennessee counties, meeting with families and their advocates and presenting information about people’s rights to care under TennCare, CoverKids, and most recently, the Affordable Care Act. She targets her efforts to Spanish-speakers and recent immigrants, children in foster care and their families, families of children with disabilities, and low-income families.

CFF announces 30 Under 30 chairs

The Cystic Fibrosis Foundation of Middle Tennessee has named Tim Bewley and Fiona Haulter the co-chairmen for its third annual “Nashville’s Top 30 Under 30” planning committee.

Bewley, a commercial relationship manager and vice president of SunTrust Bank, was a Top 30 Under 30 honoree in 2009 and a 2010 Nashville Business Journal Top Forty under 40 honoree. A Texas native, he graduated from Harding University, with bachelor’s degrees in management and finance. Bewley is a president of the Nashville Chapter of the Board of Association for Financial Professionals, chairman-elect of the Board of AGAPE Nashville, and a board member of the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce. He is also a participant in Leadership Sumner and serves on local United Way committees.

Haulter, an Indiana native and 2010 Top 30 Under 30 honoree, earned a Bachelor of Science degree in civil engineering from Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and an MBA from Indiana University. She is an associate and registered engineer at Gresham, Smith and Partners. Haulter serves on the board of directors for both the Martha O’Bryan Center and Young Leaders Council. Additionally, she is a new member of the Rotary Club of Nashville and a graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee. She serves on the Urban Land Institute’s Infrastructure Committee and is involved with the NAIOP, currently serving as the Local Developing Leaders Committee chairwoman.

As chairmen for this event, Bewley and Haulter will lead planning for the Sept. 24 event. This year’s event will take place on Sept. 24 from 6 to 10:30 p.m. at The Pinnacle Building in downtown Nashville.