Hands On Nashville’s board of directors has elected new officers to its executive committee and several new members to its board.

Brian Copeland has been elected as HON’s new secretary. Copeland, the chief engagement officer at Village Real Estate Services, joined the board in 2010.

Joining Copeland in board leadership positions are:

Meredith Benton, regional director for external affairs for the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation

Amy Smith, vice president and associate counsel, Tennessee Bankers Association

Junaid Adetayo Odubeko, associate, Butler, Snow, O’Mara, Stevens and Cannada, PLLC.

New members of the Hands On Nashville board of directors are:

Chip Blaufuss, assistant vice president, Strategic Resource Group at HCA

Debbie Turner, vice president and general manager, NewsChannel5 Network; executive vice president, Journal Broadcast Group

Mike Cassity, division vice president of human resources, HCA/TriStar Health System

Hands On Nashville’s mission is to meet community needs through volunteerism. For more than 20 years, Hands On Nashville (HON) volunteers have been addressing critical issues facing the Middle Tennessee community such as hunger, homelessness and environmental protection. Information: www.HON.org.

LaLonde, Yeh join Metro’s Office of Innovation

Mayor Karl Dean has announced the creation of a new Office of Innovation to capture the entrepreneurial and creative energy of Nashville to make Metro Government more transparent, efficient and responsive.

To lead the Office of Innovation, Mayor Dean appointed Kristine LaLonde, formerly director of Belmont University’s Leadership Studies Program, and Yiaway Yeh, former mayor of Palo Alto, Calif., as co-chief innovation officers.

Nashville joins local, state and federal government agencies across the country, as well as private sector organizations, that have created offices of innovation in recent years to take advantage of new technology and business practices to improve constituent services and streamline operations.

The office also will work in partnership with the Mayor’s Office of Economic and Community Development on business recruitment and job creation efforts. It will also work with the Mayor’s Office of Neighborhoods to create opportunities for more efficient interdepartmental response to constituent needs.

LaLonde will focus on establishing innovative systems to help individuals and families with social service and economic needs achieve self-sufficiency. She serves as the chair of the Nashville Poverty Council, a collaborative effort of Metro Government and non-profit agencies.

Yeh will focus on developing innovative ways for Metro Government agencies to improve cross-department collaboration. He will also concentrate on partnering with entrepreneurs on new approaches to budget, finance, technology and open government initiatives.

He has experience in both municipal operations and financial management. Prior to his appointment, he was the assistant city auditor of Oakland, Calif., and previous positions include management consultant to the cities of San Francisco and Los Angeles and public finance banker at Morgan Stanley. He also served in the Peace Corps in Burkina Faso.

Yeh recently moved to Nashville after completing his term as mayor of Palo Alto, Calif., which received the Alliance for Innovation’s 2013 Excellence in Local Government Award for its series of community hackathons. Yeh holds a master’s in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

Seigenthaler PR promotes senior team members

Seigenthaler Public Relations, Inc. has promoted two client services professionals:

Philip R. McGowan has been named vice president of client services

Justin H. Wilson has been named director of client services.

Formerly director of client services for SPR, McGowan develops and directs marketing and branding campaigns in his role as vice president.

McGowan joined SPR in 2004 after working as project assistant for the John Seigenthaler Chair of Excellence in First Amendment Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. He earned a master’s degree in mass communication from MTSU and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Auburn University in Auburn, Ala.

As account director, Wilson develops and executes strategic communication programs for SPR clients. Formerly an account supervisor, Wilson specializes in creating strategic media and marketing programs for companies in the professional services, financial and real estate sectors, helping them drive profitability with effective strategies and messages.

Before joining SPR in 2010, Wilson was a senior coordinator for the political affairs and Federation Relations Department of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce in Washington, D.C. He also was the head of internal communication for the Office of the Undersecretary for Public Diplomacy and public affairs at the U.S. Department of State. Wilson received his undergraduate degree in marketing and English from Auburn University.

Kendrick joins Pinnacle as financial advisor

Longtime financial services professional Lynn Lassiter Kendrick has joined Pinnacle Financial Partners as a senior vice president and financial advisor in Nashville.

Kendrick has 29 years of financial services experience, 27 of which were spent with SunTrust Bank, where she most recently served as a client advisor for its Private Wealth Management group.

Lassiter Kendrick holds Series 7 and 65 licenses, is licensed in life and health insurance and is a certified cash manager. She earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from The University of Georgia and an MBA with a concentration in finance from Georgia State University.

Ryan Search & Consulting expands health care group

Ryan Search & Consulting, a Franklin talent acquisition and development firm, has expanded its health care division. To help facilitate the expansion, Marianne Blackwell, a consultant with Ryan Search since 2012, has been named market leader of the firm’s health care practice.

A 25-year veteran of the human resources and health care fields, Blackwell’s focus will be to partner with companies to better identify their leadership needs and the right candidates that can fill them. She has served her entire career in recruitment and leadership positions with Vanderbilt University, Rehability Health Services and Vanderbilt University Medical Center. She also owns and manages a Hereford beef cattle operation on a multi-generational family farm in Rutherford County.

Blackwell is a graduate of Rhodes College, has a master’s of education in human resource development from Vanderbilt University and has completed additional coursework toward an MBA from the Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt.

Other members of the Ryan Search team who will be supporting the healthcare expansion include Michelle Christy, retained executive search manager, Sarah Munsell, consultant, and Kevin Weimer, consultant.

Magna selects Sinclair to lead Midstate team

Magna Bank today announced it has selected Laura Sinclair as senior vice president and Middle Tennessee production manager. As a regional manager, Sinclair will oversee mortgage production and operation for the Nashville area.

Sinclair’s responsibilities will include a combination of managing loan origination and broadening Magna’s presence in Nashville and the surrounding communities. Magna’s mortgage division offers local underwriting, processing and validation, which makes the closing process for customers quicker and easier.

Before joining Magna, Sinclair was chief program officer for the Tennessee Housing Development Agency. Sinclair has 28 years of experience working with mortgage banking, the Housing Finance Agency and commercial property management.

Lebanon’s Remar, Inc. appoints IT director

Remar, Inc. has appointed Denise Hanley as director of information technology. Hanley had previously served as the chief data officer of the National Association of State Boards of Accountancy, a professional association that helps preserve the public trust through effective regulation of the accounting profession and the nation’s 55 state boards of accountancy.

Hanley was with NASBA for more than 15 years.

At Remar, Hanley will oversee the Information Technology department with a focus on aligning the company’s technology with its growth, strategic direction and operating requirements. She is responsible for all aspects of Remar’s secure information systems, network infrastructure and system administration, strategic planning and day-to-day IT operations, and will build and maintain processes and procedures to support current and future business needs.

Aegis Sciences adds to leadership team

Aegis Sciences Corporation, a national operator of forensic toxicology and health care sciences laboratories, has added to its senior leadership team. Joel Galanter has joined the company as chief legal officer and general counsel, and Aegis veteran Regina Sweeney has been promoted to vice president of client relations.

Galanter, formerly a partner in the litigation group at Adams and Reese LLP, has worked closely with Aegis on legal matters for several years. As chief legal officer, he will manage all of Aegis’ legal and regulatory operations.

He joined Adams and Reese in 1998 and served a diverse group of clients across the country in cases before federal and state courts and regulatory agencies.

A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Galanter’s litigation practice has had a strong focus on intellectual property and business disputes.As vice president of client relations,

Sweeney will oversee Aegis’ client services, collection logistics, forensic records and clinical pharmacist teams.

She joined Aegis in 1995 and has served in a variety of roles. Most recently director of client relations, Sweeney has worked closely with Aegis leadership in client development, especially during the last six years of exponential success and growth for the company.