The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and YP Nashville have announced the 2013 winners of the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards (NELAs).
In an effort to highlight the contributions of young professionals (YPs) in the Nashville area, these 15 winners have been recognized for their accomplishments in their respective fields, demonstrated leadership and involvement in community-service activities.
One winner was chosen to represent each of the NELAs’ 15 distinct industry categories.
Another facet of the NELAs is the Impact Award, which honors a community leader who is making an important impact on the young professional demographic in terms of community leadership and professional development of Nashville’s YPs and YP organizations. The 2013 Impact Award winner is John Grady, owner of Nashville-based Crush Music Management.
Grady has served three years as the chairman of the Academy of Country Music and eight years on the executive committee for the CMA board. He has also served on the boards of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation and University School Nashville, and is currently a trustee of the Country Music Hall of Fame. Grady was a driving force in the formation of Young Entertainment Professionals (YEP Nashville), a social networking group for the next generation of up-and-comers in the entertainment industry.
NELA winners are:
- Architecture, engineering and construction – Monica Sartain, branch manager, Patriot Engineering & Environmental, Inc.
- Arts, entertainment and music business – Christopher Mohnani, artistic director, Dance Theater of Tennessee
- Business services – Jessica Bliss, reporter, The Tennessean
- Community service and nonprofit – Cindy Comperry, director of Friends of Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt
- Education – Dannelle F. Walker, general counsel, Tennessee State Board of Education
- Environment and sustainability – Corinne Martin, associate attorney, Stites & Harbison PLLC
- Financial services – Tim Bewley, first vice president – commercial banking, SunTrust Bank
- Government and public affairs – Rachel Beaty Crickmar, senior manager – rural development, Tennessee Valley Authority
- Hospitality and tourism – Joy Smith, group sales manager, Hilton Nashville Downtown Hotel
- Human resources – Shai Rasmussen, senior manager – training, Dollar General Corporation
- Legal services – Matt Potempa, owner, Law Office of Matt Potempa
- Medical and health care services – Dr. Reca D. Barwin, doctor of occupational therapy, TriStar StoneCrest Medical Center
- Public relations, advertising and marketing – Amy Hall Jones, vice president of client services, Seigenthaler Public Relations
- Real estate services – Hagan Stone, affiliate broker, Pilkerton Realtors
- Technology – Evan Owens, CEO, Centresource Interactive Agency
Senior counsel joins Constangy, Brooks & Smith
National labor and employment law firm Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLP has added Sally Ramsey to its Nashville office as senior counsel. She focuses her practice in comprehensive employment law litigation prevention and defense, as well as counseling on discrimination and EEO-related matters.
Ramsey joined Constangy after serving for 11 years as senior trial attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ramsey’s expertise encompasses all areas of anti-discrimination law, including Title VII, ADA, ADEA, GINA, and the EPA. She has successfully defended clients before the EEOC, and has litigated both jury and bench trials in federal court.
A graduate of Touro Law Center, Ramsey earned her Bachelor of Arts degree from the State University of New York at Old Westbury. Prior to law school, she spent 20 years in the private sector, giving her management experience that enhances her perspective of employment law issues.
VUMC’s Byrd is president of echocardiography society
Benjamin Byrd III, M.D., professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, has been named president of the 16,000-member American Society of Echocardiography (ASE) for a one-year term following the society’s 24th Annual Scientific Sessions, which were held recently in Minneapolis.
Byrd will oversee efforts to improve the quality and consistency of cardiovascular ultrasound worldwide, including monitoring and reducing suboptimal echocardiograms, making echo study images transportable with patients, improving consistency across all labs and standardizing echo reporting.
Byrd is board-certified in Cardiovascular Disease and Internal Medicine, and is a fellow of both the American College of Cardiology (FACC) and the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE). He is a well-known speaker on adult congenital heart disease and valvular disease topics.
Byrd introduced transesophageal and stress echocardiography to Vanderbilt, and he was a co-founder of its Adult Congenital Heart Clinic, which he directed for more than a decade. He has been a professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University since 2002.
Hospitalist joins Tristar Summit
TriStar Summit Medical Center has added Saad Khan, M.D., hospitalist, to its medical staff.
Khan is a graduate of DJ Sindh Science College in Karachi, Pakistan, and earned his medical degree from Bagai Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan. He then completed his residency in internal medicine at East Tennessee State University in Johnson City, and his fellowship in infectious diseases at the University at Buffalo in Buffalo, NY.
Dr. Khan is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and the American Board of Infectious Diseases. In his role as a hospitalist at TriStar Summit Medical Center, Dr. Khan will focus on the care of patients specifically during their hospital stay.
UL Workplace names senior vice president
UL Workplace Health and Safety today announced it has named David Libardi senior vice president of sales and marketing. In this role, Libardi will spearhead the development, implementation and management of all sales and marketing efforts as well as oversee the strategy for expanding UL’s client base, increasing customer retention and growing sales.
Libardi joins UL from Emdeon (formerly WebMD), where he served in the top sales leadership role. Prior to Emdeon, he worked for 24 years at Ceridian, where he held the position of senior vice president of field operations.
He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Columbia University and a bachelor’s degree from Williams College.
YWCA announces hiring of Quintero, Phy
Dulce Quintero is the new director of youth services for the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, and Phillip Phy has been named vice president of development.
In her new role, Quintero is responsible for the overall management, program design, implementation of programming, staffing and volunteer management of the Youth Services program, including Girls, Inc.
She holds a degree in sociology from Ohio University and is pursuing a master’s in business administration from Trevecca Nazarene University.
Phy is responsible for directing all fundraising activities and special events.
Prior to joining the YWCA, Phy served as the senior vice president of marketing at First Tennessee Bank.
Avenue Bank adds to Private Client group
Avenue Bank has expanded its Private Client team by three bankers.
Leading the new division is Steve Jaynes, senior vice president and director of Private Client Banking - Medical and Professional Services. Jaynes retired from SunTrust’s Medical Banking group in 2011.
Joining Avenue as private client bankers with the Medical and Professional Services team are senior vice presidents Bob Lawhon and Mike Blanchard. The two are seasoned private-client bankers with 20 and 35 years of experience, respectively.
Other recent additions include Jennifer Shepard as a private-client banker at the Cool Springs location and Deborah Hennessee as a senior vice president, Private Client Banking.
Wood joins Medalogix as senior vice president
Elliott Wood has joined Medalogix, a health care technology company that specializes in evidenced-based analytics, as senior vice president of product management.
In his new role, Wood will conduct industry research, facilitate focus groups, plan and navigate product roadmaps, measure client success and quantify product value. Additionally, Wood will assist Medalogix’s chief technology officer in building and enhancing the company’s predictive models.
Wood brings nearly six years of health care technology product management experience to the Medalogix team. Directly preceding Medalogix, Wood served as the senior director of value strategies and informatics for Airstrip where he managed teams, created data products and managed marketing.
Elliott holds a bachelor’s in psychology with an emphasis in statistics and measurement from Abilene Christian University.
DVL hires associate creative director
DVL Public Relations & Advertising recently announced the addition of Jennifer Rundberg as associate creative director.
Rundberg brings more than 30 years of experience as a designer, illustrator, art director and creative manager. At DVL, she will provide oversight to the creative department and manage its day to day operations.
Rundberg previously served as a vice president and senior designer at GS&F. She graduated from Austin Peay University with a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Advertising Design.