Nashville Metropolitan Chief Public Defender Martesha L. Johnson has been named 2022 president of the Nashville Bar Association. The Nashville native has served as assistant public defender for nine years before becoming the first African American and second woman to be elected to her current role, where she has been for three years.
Johnson was honored as a member of Tennessee State University’s 2019 40 under 40 class and The University of Tennessee’s 2021 inaugural Volunteer 40 under 40 class. She has also taught at Volunteer State community college, coached high school mock trial, participated in numerous community “Know Your Rights” and expungement clinics and teaches trial advocacy at Vanderbilt Law School.
Also from the Bar, The John C. Tune Public Service Award has been awarded to Charles Grant of Baker Donelson. The award recognizes members who make outstanding contributions to the Nashville area community while distinguishing themselves as practicing attorneys.
The following officers and new board of director members were elected for 2022:
• Martesha L. Johnson, president
• Judge Melissa Blackburn, first vice president
• Liz Sitgreaves, second vice president
• Gulam Zade, president-elect
• Lora Fox, first vice president-elect
• Marlene Moses, second vice president-elect
• Charity Williams, secretary
• Flynne Dowdy, Treasurer
• Jeremy Oliver, YLD president
• Lela M. Hollabaugh, general counsel
Newly elected board of director members for 2022:
• Christen Blackburn, Lewis Thomason
• Erin Coleman, Law Office of Erin Coleman
• Mandy Floyd, Spencer Fane Bone McAllester
• Elizabeth Foy, Tennessee Department of Health
• Joseph Hubbard, Kay Griffin
• Marie Scott, Neal & Harwell
Bradley welcomes Garrison to economic development group
Erica Garrison has joined Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP as a partner in the economic development practice group.
Garrison concentrates her practice on assisting clients involved in transactions with the Metropolitan Government of Nashville and other local governments. She also works on land use and zoning issues and permitting projects associated with complex projects and identifies and obtains state and local incentives for businesses looking to relocate to Tennessee.
Her background includes working as an associate with the Metropolitan Department of Law in Nashville.
She earned her J.D. from the University of Notre Dame and her B.A. from DePauw University.
Leadership Tennessee announces next class
Leadership Tennessee has announced its fourth class of Leadership Tennessee NEXT, a program offering Tennessee’s early and mid-career professionals personal and professional development while fostering a greater understanding of Tennessee and its resources.
The fourth class consists of 30 professionals who represent the diversity of the regions and industries across the state.
The class will meet four times during the program year, conducting sessions in Fall Creek Falls, Greeneville, Memphis and Nashville. The goal is to grow their professional skills and connect to a cross-generational network of state leaders while participating in collaborative, non-partisan dialogue on issues of state importance.
Participants are:
• Kevin Adelsberger, founder and managing partner, Adelsberger Marketing (Jackson)
• Antwane Bohanon, configuration operations supervisor, Ingram Micro (Munford)
• Lauren Brown, executive director, Athens Area Council for the Arts
• Heather Carbajal, executive director, American Red Cross of Northeast Tennessee (Johnson City)
• Austin Corcoran, director of talent engagement, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce
• De’Ossie Dingus, executive director, Alliance House Community Coalition (Knoxville)
• Samantha Edwards Lacy, director, strategic partnerships & initiatives, Leadership Knoxville
• Diego Eguiarte, director of performance management, Metro Government Nashville and Davidson County
• Jermaine Freeman, senior adviser, city of Chattanooga
• Sheena Freeman, practice manager II, Regional One Health (Cordova)
• Benjamin Friedlander, research manager, Memphis Education Fund
• Kathleen Gibi, executive director, Keep the Tennessee River Beautiful (Knoxville)
• Cory Howard, chief operating officer, Cempa Community Care (Chattanooga)
• Wesley Idlette, educator & coach, Kingsport City Schools
• Toccora Johnson-Petersen, chief executive officer, Girls Incorporated of Chattanooga
• Geoff Millener, chief operating officer, The Enterprise Center (Chattanooga)
• Vonesha Mitchell, executive director, Women’s Business Center South (Memphis)
• Sean Ochsenbein, attending physician, Ballad Health (Johnson City)
• Ruby Powell-Dennis, founder and executive director, Elect Black Women PAC (Cordova)
• Dominique Primer, director of innovation and community engagement, Junior Achievement of Memphis and the Mid-South
• Damon Rawls, principal strategist, The Innovation Digital Agency (Knoxville)
• Jada Russell, director of student services, College of Nursing (Knoxville)
• Angie Sanders, general counsel, Tennessee State Board of Education (Brentwood)
• Evetty Satterfield, CEO, Advancing Lives, LLC (Knoxville)
• Callon Schmid, government relations adviser, Butler Snow (Nashville)
• Yvette Stewart, Director, elementary teaching and learning, Hamilton County Schools
• Derek Voiles, assistant principal, Hamblen County Schools (Morristown)
• Ashley Warrington, director of advocacy, Tennessee SCORE (Nashville)
• Nicholas Weaver, community relations coordinator, Baptist Memorial Health Care (Memphis)
Nashville Emerging Leaders announces class of 2022
Nashville Emerging Leaders has announced its Class of 2022, a group that includes 30 professionals from public, private and entrepreneurial sectors representing industries including education, health care, nonprofit, communications and more.
The 11-week personal and professional leadership training program includes interactive exercises, issue exploration, self-assessments, community participation, group projects and in-depth discussions with Middle Tennessee’s top community and business leaders.
Class members are:
• Alaire Brown, Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development
• Alice Hudson Pell, TennGreen Land Conservancy
• Angela Chan, Schneider Electric and Hackathons International
• Ann Dee McClane, Andrew Jackson Found.
• Anna Lea Cothron, Division of Tenncare
• Brittany Middlebrooks, KIPP Nashville
• Chanel Lake, Office of Mayor John Cooper
• Cheyenne Peter, Conexión Américas
• Clark Buckner, co-founder and partner, Relationary Marketing
• Colin Ferguson, Dickinson Wright PLLC
• Corey Alexander, Ross Behavioral Group
• Courtney Hissa, HCA Healthcare
• Erin Day Malone-Smolla, Bradley
• Ertha E Luma
• Haley Zapolski, Nashville Software School
• Hillary Prim, FINN Partners
• Holly Fletcher, VUMC
• Imani Copeland, United Health Care
• Jafar Ware, Town of Nolensville
• Kasey Cleckler, Cape + Anchor
• Kayla Rowser Tazik, Rejoice School of Ballet
• Kelly Blankenship, GOAL Collective
• Kevin Coffey, Country Music Association
• Marina Mamazova, UBS
• Melissa Poole, HORNE
• Natalie M. Flammia, Nashville Public Library
• Nate West, FINN Partners
• Nathaniel Peete, Cafe Coco/Cocos Italian and Cafe
• Rochelle Carpenter, Nashville Dept. of Transportation and Multimodal Infrastructure
• Sam Warlick, Greenlight Media Strategies