Frost Brown Todd is expanding its health care innovation team with the addition of partner Barbara Bennett. Her practice focuses on the intersection of technology and health care, including artificial intelligence. She previously served as a partner of a top 10 global law firm and has more than a decade of in-house legal experience, including as general counsel.
A graduate of Vanderbilt Law School, Bennett is a longtime member of the International Women’s Forum and a former member of Nashville CARES board of directors. She was editor-in-chief of a large BNA treatise on internet health business and transactional law.
Bradley Partner appointed to ABA leadership role
Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP Junaid Odubeko has been reappointed to a leadership roles within the American Bar Association’s Litigation Section for the 2023-24 bar year.
The ABA’s Litigation Section is chaired by Bradley partner Anne Marie Seibel for the 2023-24 term. The mission of the section is to provide litigators of all practice areas with the resources needed to become successful and experienced advocates.
Odubeko has been reappointed to a second consecutive term as co-chair of the Privacy & Data Security Committee. He regularly advises and represents clients in complex commercial and business disputes as well as real estate litigation. Odubeko is designated as an ANSI Certified Information Privacy Professional by the International Association of Privacy Professionals.
Clarus welcomes VP of engineering
Rishi Srivastava has joined Clarus, an SaaS patient call management platform that serves the health care industry, as vice president of engineering.
Srivastava previously was senior director of engineering at Change Healthcare (now Optum), where he helped guide the company from incubation to 1.8 billion API transactions annually, serving payers, providers, patients and partners.
Before joining Change, Srivastava worked with several startups in Silicon Valley and the greater San Francisco Bay Area. He was director of engineering at Advisor Software and held a key technology role in financial services at Quantal.
Physicians graduate from Ingram Institute
The 2023 John Ingram Institute for Physician Leadership concluded recently with 19 new graduates. Physicians from across the state enrolled in the Tennessee Medical Association’s 2023 Leadership Lab and Immersion program classes.
Leadership Immersion graduates are: Barbara Dentz, M.D., Lauren Havrilla, DO, Jonathan Hughes, M.D., Dontal Johnson, M.D., Trey Lee, M.D., Ana Nobis, M.D., Dominic Papa, M.D., Michael Riker, M.D., Leslie Treece, M.D. and Nathaniel Whaley, M.D.
The 2023 Leadership Lab graduates are: Chetan Aher, M.D., Kanika Bagai, M.D., Sarah Essary, M.D., Lara Harvey, M.D., Harish Manyam, M.D., Pamela Sanders, M.D., Daniel Sherwood, M.D. and Allison Umfress, M.D.
The JII’s two programs offer the chance for Tennessee physicians to develop into well-rounded leaders.
The Lab program helps physicians acquire the skills needed to become quality leaders in team care by undertaking a course project. The Immersion program, meanwhile, offers physicians foundational training and skill development which helps them excel in leadership positions. The institute, sponsored by The Physicians Foundation, is accepting applications from TMA members for its 2024 programs at tnmed.org/leadership.
Landscape architect joins Baker Barrios
Julian Bernal has joined Baker Barrios Architects, Inc., as a project manager in the Nashville office.
Bernal is a landscape architect with 10 years of experience. He previously was a team lead landscape architect and land planner at ESP Associates, Inc. He spent nearly three years as a project manager at Southern Land Company, where he worked on projects such as Westhaven in Franklin.
Bernal has been a landscape architect on projects in Philadelphia, Charleston, Boulder, Dallas, Charlotte and Miami at various points in his career.
He is a graduate of Florida International University with a degree in landscape architecture. Bernal is a member of ASLA and is a Tennessee registered landscape architect. He volunteers with the Cumberland River Compact, Tennessee State Parks and Metro Parks.
Schneider Electric selects senior vice president
Schneider Electric, a provider of digital transformation of energy management and automation, has appointed Antonio Di Vaira as the new senior vice president of its Power Products division for the North American hub.
He has 20 years of leadership experience on the global and regional levels, with accomplishments in sectors ranging from R&D and product management to M&A and supply chain management.
Rodefer Moss names new principal leader
The Nashville office head of two-state accounting firm Rodefer Moss has been named one of the six principal leaders of the firm.
Tim Van Cleve, a tax specialist and partner in the firm, has headed the Rodefer Moss Nashville office since its opening in 2008. Van Cleve has been named to the six-member executive committee that will guide Rodefer Moss, which has six offices in Tennessee and Virginia. The company serves clients in construction, nonprofit, government, manufacturing, tax and multiple other fields.
Van Cleve, a University of Kentucky graduate, joined Rodefer Moss’s Greeneville office in 1997 and moved to the firm’s Knoxville office a few years later. He relocated to Nashville when the firm’s office opened in 2008.
Communities In Schools appoints new CEO
Communities In Schools of Tennessee, a nonprofit that works inside 41 schools across the state to ensure that every student has what they need to succeed in school and beyond, has named Meredith Benton its new CEO.
Before joining CIS, Benton held leadership roles with two private health foundations where she led teams that supported more than 100 organizations each year in their respective service areas through grantmaking, advocacy and technical assistance. She also has more than 15 years of public sector experience, including work with the U.S. Green Building Council, The Carter Center, and the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation.
Benton, a Middle Tennessee native, is a past chair of the Middle Tennessee Donors Forum board of directors and served on the Southeastern Council on Foundations public policy committee.
She is a graduate of Pepperdine University with a degree in international studies and earned her Master of Public Administration from the Middlebury Institute for International Studies. Benton has taught classes on nonprofit management and communications at Pepperdine and Lipscomb University.
Pierce Public Relations announces pair of hires
Pierce Public Relations, a Nashville-based B2B-focused public relations firm, has hired Emma Raby as account manager and Olivia Toliver as account coordinator.
Before joining Pierce PR, Raby served as a senior account executive at The Bulleit Group, a tech-focused public relations and communications agency, where she developed strategic recommendations, oversaw and conducted media outreach, and executed PR campaigns for global startups. She holds a degree in public relations from Auburn University.
Toliver previously served as a publicity coordinator and asset manager at Scott Brothers Global, a lifestyle brand and entertainment company. She graduated from Belmont University with a degree in public relations and entertainment industry studies.