Latin American Chamber announces new board

Friday, May 29, 2015, Vol. 39, No. 22

The Tennessee Latin American Chamber of Commerce has selected five new board members, as well as a new team of executive leadership, led by chairman of the board and TLACC President Marcela Gómez.

Joining the board are Delfine Fox, Jessie Barrera, Carol Cubillos-Seals, Tony Marks and Collin Luibl.

Fox is a partner for the Melo Risk Advisors. She specializes in employee benefits implementation, workforce compliance, and diversity and inclusion training, focusing on education, communication and best practices in the multi-cultural workplace. Previously worked in the Consumer Advocate and Protection Division with the Attorney General’s Office legal department.

Barrera is the owner of Barrera Health Solutions and is a health and marketing consultant for Align Health and Wellness.

Cubillos-Seals is the executive program director for the YMCA of Middle Tennessee, overseeing program’s execution and development.

Marks is the director of communications and public relations for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

Luibl is the market leader for BB&T Bank in Nashville.

Waller adds five attorneys in Nashville

Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP has hired five attorneys for its Nashville office: Meredith L. Toole, Nicolo Davidson, Jennifer L. Johnson, Robert R. Campbell III and David G. Marks.

Toole joins Waller from the U.S. Department of Justice, where she spent over four years investigating and prosecuting False Claims Act, Anti-Kickback and Stark cases jointly with U.S. Attorney’s offices and government agencies throughout the country. Toole entered the DOJ through its honors program after earning her J.D. from Duke University School of Law. She also is a 2007 graduate of Vanderbilt University.

Davidson is a registered patent attorney who advises clients ranging from research institutions to individual inventors. He earned his J.D. from Lewis & Clark Law School and a degree in chemical engineering from the University of Washington. Additionally, Davidson is pursuing an M.S. in biotechnology from Johns Hopkins University.

Johnson assists real estate developers, investors and owner-operators in the multifamily real estate sector in transactional matters including acquisitions, dispositions and finance matters. She earned her J.D. from the Nashville School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Lipscomb University.

Campbell assists health care providers and other companies in corporate and commercial transactions, including acquisitions, dispositions and joint ventures. Campbell earned his J.D. from the University of Georgia School of Law. He also holds a degree in political science from Wake Forest University.

Marks works closely with corporate executives, investors, specialty lenders, financial advisors and investment bankers on corporate transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, divestitures and debt and equity financings. Prior to joining Waller, David was an associate with Jones Day in New York. He earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School after earning degrees in government (international relations) and geography from Dartmouth College.

Entrepreneur Center taps Polk as program officer

Julia Polk will be the Nashville Entrepreneur Center’s new chief program officer.

In this new role, Polk will focus on growing the Center’s alumni, mentor and educational programs. In addition, she will continue to serve as an active mentor to entrepreneurs and management teams that participate in the Center’s accelerators. The Nashville Entrepreneur Center has over 200 alumni and over 500 mentors in its network and will be on track to run 4-6 accelerators per year.

The EC was founded as an economic development initiative of the Nashville business community. Its mission is to raise the quality of resources available to the Nashville entrepreneurial and small business communities.

First Freedom Bank promotes Marsh, Rabe

First Freedom Bank recently announced the promotion of two employees to officer-level positions. Debbie Marsh was promoted to mortgage administration officer, and Christen Rabe was promoted to mortgage origination officer. Previously, both employees were mortgage specialists within the department.

Marsh will oversee mortgage processing operations at the bank, while also working more closely with the bank’s mortgage investors. She has been with First Freedom for almost three years and has more than 20 years of experience in the mortgage industry.

Rabe will be responsible for all mortgage origination activities for the bank, and is charged with maintaining the mortgage investor relationships.

Rabe has been with First Freedom since February of 2014 and has more than five years of experience in mortgage and real estate closing transactions.

DVL Seigenthaler adds Brawner, Orne to team

DVL Seigenthaler has added two to its team: Sarah I. Brawner as an account supervisor, and Karen Higbee Orne as an account executive.

Brawner was previously with the International Food Policy Institute in Washington, D.C., where she was an outreach communications specialist responsible for coordinating media relations for research organizations in seven international cities. She also managed a multifaceted outreach campaign for major institute-wide communications events. Brawner is a graduate of American University, where she majored in International Studies with a minor in Spanish.

Orne was formerly with Kaleidoscope Media in Nashville, where she was a media relations specialist and publicist. Prior to working at Kaleidoscope, Orne was a reporter for WKRN-TV News 2 in Nashville. She also was a news producer for the station. Orne holds a bachelor’s degree in electronic media communications from Middle Tennessee State University.