Local gospel and Americana singing great Regina McCrary, a member of the supergroup The McCrary Sisters, sang “Amazing Grace” as an invocation, accompanied by renowned bassist Dave Pomeroy. McCrary participated in last year’s event, which was held virtually from The Bluebird Cafe. This year’s keynote speaker was Tiffany Dufu, a catalyst-at-large in the world of women’s leadership and the author of "Drop the Ball," a memoir and manifesto that shows women how to cultivate the single skill they really need in order to thrive: the ability to let go.
One of Middle Tennessee’s most significant celebrations of women’s philanthropy marked its 25th anniversary in style. The Power of the Purse®, an annual luncheon and silent auction benefiting The Women’s Fund at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, celebrated its 25th edition by saluting the hard-working volunteers who helped Middle Tennessee bloom. Many of the previous co-chairs of the event were honored guests at the luncheon held April 28, 2022, at The Renaissance Nashville Hotel’s Grand Ballroom.
A crowd of about 400 filled the ballroom for the event, which was emceed by Meera Ballal, founder of the Women’s Health Care Initiative and this year’s Chair of The Women’s Fund Advisory Board at CFMT.
THE POWER
Georgette Eftekhari and Melanie Tigrett have been announced as the POP 2023 co-chairs. There were no co-chairs for the 2022 event, as CFMT and The Women’s Fund honored the past co-chairs as the stars of the luncheon.
Introducing Dufu was Renee Drake, Executive Vice President and Commercial Banking Manager for First Horizon Bank, the event’s presenting sponsor.
The Women’s Fund itself was established at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in 1994 by a committee of brave community leaders who wanted to invest in long-term solutions for transforming the lives of women and girls, improving the well-being of our entire community.
1998 Julie Boehm,
A continual highlight of each luncheon is a silent auction of sophisticated purses generously donated by supporters of The Women’s Fund.
1999 Carlene Hunt 2000-01 Margaret Gibson, Peggy Kinnard 2001-02 Lisa Campbell, Sandra Lipman 2003 Patricia Davis, Laura Lee Dobie 2004 Donna Dalton, Lucy Haynes 2005 Carolyn Hannon, Emily Tidwell 2006 Sherry Howell, Linde Pflaum 2007 Sallie Bailey, Sondra Cruickshanks 2008 Colleen Conway-Welch*, Elizabeth Papel 2009 Mary Gambill, Beth Moore 2010 Shannon Barton, Jamie Granbery 2011 Grace Awh, Laura Smith 2012 Elizabeth Broyhill Morris, Susan Tyler 2013 Suann Davis, Coco Kyriopoulos 2014 Barbara Keith Payne, Mary Jo Shankle 2015 Louise Bryan, Ann Kloeppel 2016 Dawn Becker, Lynn Ghertner 2017 Ellen Hoffman, Jody Mattison 2018 Kim Looney, Carla Nelson 2019 Vickie Mertz, Sarah Sperling 2020-21 Angela Bostelman, Leigh Ann Witt *deceased Regina McCrary sings "Amazing Grace" as an invocation, accompanied by bassist Dave Pomeroy.
“These women on stage today remind us why we are here,” Ballal said. “They are leaders. They are mentors. They do not take no for an answer. They are women who do not need validation. They execute with purpose. They invest in women.”
To close the event, members of The Women’s Fund Board welcomed past The Power of the Purse® chairs to the stage for the presentation of custom-designed bee pins from Mclaine Richardson, owner of Margaret Ellis Jewelry. The bee was first adopted as a symbol of philanthropy in 2001 when The Community Foundation celebrated its 10th anniversary.
CFMT CELEBRATES 25TH EDITION OF THE POWER OF THE PURSE® TO BENEFIT THE WOMEN’S FUND Photos (L to R): Former The Power of the Purse® co-chairs gather on stage to be honored after the 25th annual event; Speaker Tiffany Dufu poses with Meera Ballal, emcee and The Women's Fund Advisory Board chair. OF THE PURSE® EVENT CHAIRS: Mary Follin
CFMT.org • 1 A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE2022•VOLUME 2
Humbly beginning with eight $500 grants, The Women’s Fund grantmaking capacity has grown every year to almost $250,000 annually. The Fund has granted more than $2.3 million to 150 nonprofits in Middle Tennessee. Such philanthropy couldn’t have happened without The Power of the Purse® — affectionately known as POP to its many insiders.
Demetrius then was connected to Westminster Home Connection, the longtime Nashville nonprofit that has led Davidson and Wilson counties in the rebuild and repair construction in the two years since the tornadoes.
Two years and nearly three months after the tornado hit on March 3, and several months after our original interview, we’re once again sitting and chatting in her living room on metal folding chairs brought by her caseworker, an angel on earth named Marie King.
Two-plus years later, Demetrius and her family remain ever-so-thankful they survived the tornado as well as the human vultures who arrived shortly afterward: looters hauling off goods from nearby stricken businesses; rogue contractors preying on the unfortunate; fly-by-night realtors offering to buy her home; a do-gooder neighborhood group that promised longer-term help but failed to follow up. She says she spent about $15,000 to tear down the remainder of the house and to have the debris hauled away. She found out later she could have had it done at no cost to herself.
Demetrius Wide gets a hug from her 4-year-old granddaughter, Annalise, in early June 2022 in front of their soon-to-be-completed home in North Nashville that was heavily damaged by a tornado in March 2020. There’s still some finishing work to be done, as evidenced by the building material in her living room (photo right).
Story by Pat Embry and photos by Morgan Yingling, The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.
When previously we shivered in the midmorning chill of late February, this early June morning we’re thankful that the air conditioning is working, as a delivery truck stops by to drop off her appliances: stove, refrigerator, and microwave. A worker misjudges the countertop space and her new microwave oven falls rattling to the floor.
“I didn’t know who to trust,” she says.
Meanwhile, her grandmother’s heart, despite all the trials and tribulations of the past few years — her father’s death, then the tornado, then the COVID-19 pandemic that claimed the life of her mother — remains as full as her cellphone, which is filled with photos of the devastation in the neighborhood, just north of Jefferson Street.
2 • CFMT.org 25th Celebration of The Power of the Purse® 1 Two-Plus Years After Tornado, Home Nears Completion 2 CFMT Event Highlights 3 Substitute Service Helps Child Care Programs 4 Our Finance Team Grows 4 Outgoing Board Chair Retires 4 Board Spotlight: Lyle Beasley 5 CFMT Welcomes New Board Leadership, Member 5 The Big Payback 2022 Results 6 IN THIS ISSUE TWO YEARS AFTER MIDDLE TENNESSEE TORNADOES, NORTH NASHVILLE WOMAN COUNTS HER BLESSINGS AS REBUILT HOME NEARS COMPLETION
“I later reached out to our Davidson County clients who were homeowners, active and former, to let them know of assistance being provided for property taxes,” recalls Marie, with Demetrius being one of those calls.
Someone in the neighborhood passed out signs that read: I AM NOT SELLING MY PROPERTY. Demetrius Wide planted one in her front yard.
“Then I praised God. I couldn’t believe it … I was so overwhelmed,” she says. "I felt no pain. I had to pinch myself so I knew I wasn’t dreaming.
"I was so happy,” Demetrius recalls, beaming. “I’ve got trouble with my knees, right? But when they told me in the front yard, that they were going to get started, I just took off running. …
As for Demetrius Wide, she remains grateful that she and her family definitely were not forgotten. She wrote her name in the wet concrete of the foundation when it was first poured. This would be her home again, finally. And in her house, the one the father she cared for in the last years of his life, Mr. T, left her. Below her name, as the wet concrete began to set this past winter, she also wrote, “I love you, Daddy.”
A Nashville native and Maplewood High graduate, Demetrius, age 60 and now retired, had left her job in Memphis at the nonprofit Youth Villages to return to her hometown a few years ago to take care of her father, James “Mr. T” Taylor. Her father was a neighborhood favorite, always smiling, a peddler of herbs and essential oils who for years had owned the North Nashville house as well as two other properties on the block. He died of cancer two years later.
“You can take that right back to the truck,” Demetrius says Surematter-of-factly.enough,thedents are noticeable on the microwave’s frame. It goes back on the truck.
Fast forward to 2022. We’re all sick and tired of Mother Nature’s behavior at this point, weary and anxious and just plain jumpy.
If patience is a virtue, as the saying goes, you will seldom find a person more virtuous than Demetrius Wide.
"Most of the remaining homes had massive damage, but are close to being finished,” Branson says in a recent email.
"It takes a long time for the community to recover from a disaster, and the Long-Term Recovery groups are here to make sure no one is forgotten.”
“I am, too!” says her 4-year-old granddaughter, Annalise Hammond, who shows me her soon-to-new bedroom, which awaits a pink and purple paint job. She calls her grandmother “Mimi.”
It was not until Demetrius received two separate calls from the Disaster Recovery Connection, a help hotline in partnership with UMCOR and employees of the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of The United Methodist Church, did the process of rebuilding her home finally begin.
“It was not until this call that we were able to begin the conversation about rebuilding her home.”
Both UMCOR's Disaster Recovery Connection and Westminster Home Connection are grantees of CFMT's Middle Tennessee Emergency Response Fund.
“I’m packed,” her Mimi says. “I’m like, ‘This is going to storage,’ and, ‘This is going to the house. …
"Two years out from the March 2020 tornadoes and still, Tennesseans hold their collective breath with every unusual rise in temperature, drop of rain, gray cloud, or gust of wind,” says Heather Marriott, Disaster Case Manager for the Tennessee-Western Kentucky United Methodist Church and UMCOR, in an email a few months ago.
Uprooted trees. Businesses flattened. Many have been repaired. Still, a handful of other homeowners are waiting for their relief-filled return.
“Yes — The tornado knocked our house over,” she quickly replies. "I lost all my toys. … I lost my baby bed, too."
It’s telling that in spring 2020 the Disaster Recovery Connection formerly was known as the Tornado Recovery Connection. That was several disasters ago, after all.
Demetrius cradled her granddaughter in her arms while the high winds howled all around them in the dead of night on March 3, 2020. She remains petrified whenever the winds pick up, or the rain empties from dark clouds, fretting that another tornado is going to get them.
In the pitch black, she ventured outside the then-duplex with her husband, daughter and granddaughter. The electricity had been knocked out. People, and dust, were everywhere. News media cameras provided light to see. “Then we got together, and we prayed,” Demetrius says. "We started saying, ’Thank you, Lord. …’ “It’s a blessing that we survived.”
Demetrius Wide has waited this long. She can wait a bit longer for a new microwave. “It all depends on codes,” she says when asked when she expects to finally move back into her home. She and her family have been living in suburban La Vergne since the tornado. There remain a few short stacks of lumber in her new living room. The individual bedrooms and bathrooms are nearly finished but unfurnished. “I’m so excited — overjoyed” to be moving back in, Demetrius says.
“We are truly, truly blessed.”
"I had met so many crooked folks. Then you get a blessing …”
“Do you remember the tornado, Annalise?”
As of the two-and-a half year mark, several homes remain in the building process. Applications for aid from tornado survivors continue to trickle in.
"Survivors are still trying to survive,” she continues. "Those who are still recovering are praying they can recover from the last disaster before they are struck by another. Those who have already recovered are back in a disaster mindset with every weather report.” Says Demetrius, “Even now, when a strong wind blows, we all panic." Her house was finally framed in late January 2022, with the help of more than a dozen volunteers.
It has been more than two years since a tornado destroyed her modest North Nashville home, the one her daddy left her, shaking it off its foundation, ripping through walls and sheering off half the roof, a tree falling where just moments earlier her grown daughter’s head had rested on a pillow. A pile of lumber outside a condominium construction site a block down the street had been plucked skyward and contents dumped in her front yard. Her storage shed had vanished. Her truck was demolished. A washing machine was sitting in her backyard. It wasn’t hers. “I’ll tell you what a tornado sounds like,” Demetrius recalls. “It sounds like an airplane and a train coming at the same time.”
Demetrius’ caseworker Marie King, a Disaster Case Manager and an ordained clergy with The United Methodist Church, explains: Demetrius first turned down assistance. The case temporarily was closed.
Stephen Wilson Jr. and Jeffrey Steele (right) perform onstage at the sold-out Franklin Theatre for the Jeffrey Steele & Friends fundraising concert held March 7. The 15th annual event raised $150,000, with proceeds to support overlooked and at-risk youth in Middle Tennessee and beyond in the memory of Steele’s son Alex LeVasseur, who passed away in 2007. The Alex LaVasseur Advised Fund was established at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee in his memory. Photo credit: Anthony Scarlati
CELEBRATE THE GLOBAL CELEBRATION OF BLACK PHILANTHROPY MONTH THIS AUGUST WITH CFMT’S GIVE BLACK, GIVE BACK. Black Philanthropy Month is the only global Diasporan community coalition and movement to celebrate and empower Black funding in all its forms, from philanthropy to venture and business investment. It was established in 2011 by Jackie Bouvier Copeland, a San Francisco Bay-area social and environmental justice activist. Learn more at BlackGivingBack.com
15TH ANNUAL JEFFREY STEELE & FRIENDS BENEFIT RAISES $150K FOR CFMT FUND
(Top photo) The Spazmatics tear through their high-energy set.
'WE ARE NASHVILLE™' EXHIBIT DEBUTS CFMT.org • 3 Visit ArtoberNashville.com for Ways to Celebrate the Arts
To further support this project, you can make a tax-deductible gift to the We Are Nashville™ Fund at www.cfmt.org/WeAreNashville. from September 27th - October 31st!
Supporters of CFMT's young professionals initiative The Tomorrow Fund brought back the Red, White & Brew charity bash in a big way at W Nashville hotel’s stunning, 10,000-square-foot rooftop WET Deck bar and pool in The Gulch on June 23. After a two-year pandemic hiatus, the American-themed event attracted a crowd of about 150 for an evening of food, cocktails and an exhilarating performance by popular '80s party band The Spazmatics. Proceeds from the event are to benefit The Tomorrow Fund's grantmaking to local nonprofits serving children.
(From left) CFMT Board of Trustees member and former Board Chair Kerry Graham, photojournalist Phillip Holsinger and Don Transeth, co-proprietor of The Brand Hotel, a business planning and marketing strategy company launched with Graham, gather in front of part of Holsinger’s new journalistic initiative, "We Are Nashville™”. The project, initially funded by the late philanthropist and CFMT founder Ben Rechter, was on exhibit to the public from early May through the end of July at Chauvet Arts gallery, 215 Rep. John Lewis Way North in Downtown Nashville. From the WeAreNashville.com website: "We Are Nashville™ is a family portrait of the people who live here, designed to remind us of our common values and the needs of those around us. We believe Nashville has a special character that should be embraced and protected. So with input from every corner of the city, we created Nashville’s House Rules™."
(Photos L-R) Attendees representing event sponsor Simmons Bank include Jalan Bradley (left), Jason Law, Yvonne Rhodes, and Zach Seibold; Dave Milner (left), Austin Warehime (chair of The Tomorrow Fund Advisory Board), and Becca Murray.
RED, WHITE & BREW BASH IS A SPLASH HIT LEAVE CHARITABLEYOURLEGACY When you entrust The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee to connect your generosity with need, we honor your wishes in perpetuity. Artober Nashville is a program of NowPlayingNashville.com.
Substituting with the ChildcareMatters Substitute Service is an ideal part-time work option for many, especially those interested in entering the field of early childhood education. The flexible work schedule is also a good fit for retirees, college students, and mothers or fathers with school-age children.
Since its inception, other organizations with similar needs reached out to ChildcareMatters about the substitute service mobile platform.
FILLING THE GAP: SUBSTITUTE SERVICE HELPS CHILD CARE PROGRAMS
A native New Yorker, Whittaker began substituting with the Service since it launched six years ago. That kind of longevity and experience means she has a unique perspective on the benefits of early childhood education, as well as a front-row seat to the challenges the industry is facing.
Whittaker also substitutes for Metro Nashville Public Schools.
Isabella Palmeri Day, Financial Analyist Isabella Day works in The Community Foundation’s finance department on investments, grants, donations, The Big Payback, and ad hoc projects. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Entrepreneurship from Belmont University, where she also completed her Master of Education degree in Nonprofit Leadership. Isabella previously worked at Vanderbilt University. Outside of the office, Isabella teaches yoga and loves to explore Nashville for great vegan restaurants. She also loves to spend time at The Bookshop in East Nashville, and you can find her rereading "Pride and Prejudice" every summer.
Yan-xia Zhong, Financial Assistant Yan-xia works at The Community Foundation as a Financial Assistant. She processes Accounts Payable, performs the organization’s banking activities, facilitates and maintains vendors, and updates the financial database. Originally from China, Yan-xia previously worked at Vanderbilt University as a Library Assistant. She earned a bachelor’s degree in English Language and Literature from Xiamen University in China, and a master’s degree in Education from the University of Denver in Colorado. Outside of her work, Yan-xia loves Zumba dance, running and hiking. She also enjoys reading, cooking, baking and gardening.
(Photos L to R) Decosta Jenkins thanks the crowd at his retirement party; Decosta hugs CFMT Senior Accountant Cynthia Copeland (left) and CFMT Chief Financial Officer Melisa Currey; Decosta greets former CFMT Board Chair Aubrey Harwell; Decosta embraces CFMT President Ellen Lehman.
Shirley Dunn, Staff Accountant Shirley brings her experience working for other nonprofits in accounting with her. She supports the CFO in a variety of functions, including financial reporting, budget preparation and investment oversight and fund establishment and maintenance. A U.S. Navy veteran, Shirley earned her degree in accounting after leaving the military. Originally from the West Coast, she and her family have made their way across America and landed in Nashville. Since arriving, she, her husband and her three sons spend as much time as possible exploring all the area has to offer.
(Photo by Canaan Kagay of Details Nashville)
Decosta Jenkins, outgoing The Community Foundation Board Chair and longtime Finance Committee Chair, greeted a considerable crowd of well-wishers at his recent retirement celebration from Nashville Electric Service, held under a nearby tent in The Gulch. The North Nashville native joined NES as its Chief Financial Officer in 1991 and was promoted to president and CEO in 2003.
The Community Foundation team continues to grow, including its finance team, which expertly crunches numbers on the first floor at 3833 Cleghorn Avenue. (Go to www.cfmt.org/team for photos and biographical information on each CFMT team member.)
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To become a substitute teacher with ChildcareMatters Middle Tennessee Substitute Service, visit TeachChildrenToday.com. For more information, visit: www.CFMT.org/childcare-matters-substitute-service
“When I’m subbing — even in middle school — I’m seeing things that students had from the outset, they’d be better prepared: behavior-wise, academically and socially,” said Whittaker, a former employee of the Internal Revenue Service. She confirms what many already know about the need for early childhood education professionals — substitute teachers are no different.
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Currently, organizations in four states are using the Service. More organizations across the country are working with ChildcareMatters to adopt the platform. Through sharing the platform with others, ChildcareMatters is able to share development costs as well.
“Having qualified and trained substitutes ready to step into a program as needed gives educators and directors peace of mind that children will be taken care of and educated according to the program’s standards,” said Gina Tek, ChildcareMatters senior manager.
CONGRATULATIONS, DECOSTA JENKINS, ON 30+ YEARS AT NES
Also, as a continuation of ChildcareTennessee’s partnership with the Tennessee Department of Human Services, the substitute service is expanding statewide.
MAKE WELCOME ADDITIONS TO CFMT FINANCE TEAM
“There is an immense need,” she said, for more substitute teachers.
Interested applicants must be at least 18 years old and have a high school diploma. The Service provides the rest of the relevant training during onboarding.
“The directors and their staff will support you,” Whittaker said. “There really isn’t a lot that is unknown when you’re subbing.”
“Knowing staffing is covered provides peace of mind for any business,” said Betty Witt, assistant director at McKendree United Methodist Church Daycare. “Being able to visit the ChildcareMatters Substitute Service website and have a substitute teacher at your fingertips is Tocomforting.”takejobassignments, substitutes are notified via text message when a child care program has an opening for a substitute. After reviewing the assignment and their own availability, the substitute chooses whether to take the job assignment.
Child care teachers need a break. That’s exactly what substitute teachers such as Rosalind Whittaker give them by substituting with ChildcareMatters Middle Tennessee Substitute Service, an initiative of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. The Service provides a pool of substitute teachers from which child care program directors can choose. And they need more of them.
Q: You’re a Nashville native, born and bred. Where did you grow up, and what was your childhood like? I grew up in Green Hills on Wilson Boulevard next door to Woodmont Elementary School (now Woodmont Park), which I attended from first through sixth grades. I had an idyllic childhood with loving parents, two beautiful younger sisters, and I could literally walk across the street to my elementary school and to the athletic fields where everyone in the neighborhood came to play. When my wife and I moved back home to Nashville in 1995 from New York City to start our family, the first home we purchased was on this same street, located just six houses down from the house where I grew up.
BOARD SPOTLIGHT LYLE BEASLEY
CFMT.org • 5
Lyle Beasley, incoming Board Chair of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, is managing partner of West End Holdings, a private equity partnership focused on acquiring and repositioning non-strategic assets that are undernourished from either a capital or leadership perspective. He is a lifelong Nashvillian — graduating from Montgomery Bell Academy, Vanderbilt University, and Vanderbilt’s Owen Graduate School of Management — and has focused on a diverse range of entrepreneurial activities. He and his wife, Lisa, have two children, Chandler (26 years old) and Will (24). Prior to co-founding West End Holdings, he served in multiple finance and operating roles before acquiring his first business, IXT Solutions, which was repositioned, grown and sold to Change Healthcare. He has served numerous for-profit boards, including Biopage, IXT Solutions, Medical Reimbursements of America, nSight, WPC Healthcare, American Hometown Publishing, Revecore, and Courseflow. Beyond CFMT, he has served on several not-for-profit boards, including the Nashville Symphony, Vanderbilt Public Policy Institute, Saint Thomas Hospital Young Leaders, Harding Academy, and Friends of Warner Parks.
The great news for CFMT is that it is an incredibly healthy business heading in the right direction, and the amount of "good" we create is well-positioned to grow and compound over the decades to come.
Partners a few years ago. Upon this sale, Bobby immediately switched paths and agreed to serve Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, and later current Gov. Bill Lee, as our state's Director of Economic Development, and I continued in my role of seeking special situations needing help from a capital and/or management perspective. The most exciting recent news for me is that Bobby has recently "retired" from his service to the state of Tennessee, and we are ramping up West End Holdings more aggressively, seeking opportunities to help other struggling businesses in need of our expertise.
Q: Tell us about how you became involved in nonprofit board work and most specifically The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. What’s your philosophy on public service, and what’s your sense of the health of area nonprofits overall? My next-door neighbor, Kerry Graham, was a prior Board Chair of CFMT and knew I was looking to give back to the community. He was kind enough to nominate me to serve, and I began by serving on the Finance Committee a few years ago. I immediately fell in love with the power and influence this organization has to improve the lives of those in the communities we serve. I also fell in love with the entrepreneurial way that this organization was literally "created from scratch" by Ellen Lehman, the ultimate social entrepreneur, in her garage more than 30 years ago. Ellen's singular purpose and sheer will and determination has resulted in an entrepreneurial not-for-profit organization that has already given away more than $1,000,000,000 (yes, 1 billion) to deserving recipients in our community, and it is positioned to do much more in the future as the organization best positioned to connect generosity with need in the 40-county area that we serve.
I have always enjoyed working hard in an entrepreneurial way, including founding a couple of small businesses that helped pay my way through school. My first job after college was in sales and marketing for a large, Fortune 500 corporation, where I quickly learned that I enjoyed the risks of financial entrepreneurship more than the financial security of working for a large company. My career path evolved from there into financial services, where I worked as a financial advisor and Certified Financial Planner in my 20s. I transitioned into an operational role in my early 30s working with Ambassador Joe Rodgers in Budapest, Hungary, Princeton, N.J., and then New York City before returning to Nashville in an institutional equity sales role covering NYC for J.C. Bradford & Co. in my mid-30s. I left Bradford to start an internet business at the top of the dot com craze with a close friend in my late 30s, and in spite of the business failing, I gained valuable experience and the confidence to work entrepreneurially ever since.
Andy May replaces Lyle Beasley as Treasurer of The Community Foundation Board of Directors. He has served as president and Chief Financial Officer of Truxton Trust, a Nashville wealth management company, since 2016. Sara Finley, newly appointed Secretary of the CFMT Board, is Principal of Threshold Corporate Consulting in Nashville. Joining the CFMT Board of Directors is philanthropist R. Milton Johnson, who retired at the end of 2018 as Chairman and CEO of Hospital Corporation of America (HCA).
Q: You’re a financial executive and entrepreneur. When did you decide your career path, and was there a teacher or teachers along the way who helped influence that decision?
The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s Board of Directors has elected Lyle Beasley as its new Chair, succeeding outgoing Chair Decosta Jenkins, recently retired CEO of Nashville Electric Service, who joins CFMT’s Board of Trustees. Joining Beasley in CFMT board leadership are: Christine Karbowiak Vanek, newly appointed Vice-Chair of the CFMT Board, retired from her roles as Chief Administrative Officer, Chief Risk Officer and Executive Vice President of Bridgestone Corporation in January 2021.
My philosophy on how to best serve the nonprofit community is to think about each not-for-profit through the lens of managing a business. I believe that nonprofits are in the business of "doing good," and I want to do whatever I can to help their business grow.
Q: What does Lyle Beasley like to do in his spare time? I love to spend time with my wife, children and friends outdoors, particularly fly fishing, hiking, biking and bird hunting, and I have recently taken a couple of golf lessons for the first time. Travel remains a high priority. I also enjoy investing time with young people early in their careers, helping connect them with opportunities well-suited for their particular strengths.
CFMT BOARD ELECTS NEW LEADERSHIP, WELCOMES BOARD MEMBER JOHNSON
One of my proudest moments was when Metro Nashville Public School Board decided to dedicate the Metro Student Transportation Building in his honor. I think about him every day, and make most decisions by simply asking, "What would Carlisle do?"
Soon after closing the business, I purchased a struggling fulfillment business with investment help from a business school classmate, Bobby Rolfe. We successfully repositioned the business into the leading patient billing and payments platform for the healthcare industry and sold it to Change Healthcare. Following that exit, Bobby and I formally partnered and launched West End Holdings to identify and recapitalize similarly struggling businesses. Our initial recapitalization was Medical Reimbursements of America, where we both took full-time operating roles until selling it to Riverside
Q: Your late father, Carlisle Beasley Jr., was the legendary director of Metro Nashville Public Schools bus service for more than 30 years and implemented one of the nation’s earliest desegregation plans. How did your father's experiences help shape your view of Nashville and the world? My father is my largest hero. He was a loving husband, father, and friend to many. He passed away three years ago, and the stories I heard posthumously from people I had never met further cemented his legacy in my mind. He worked hard. He treated everyone equally, regardless of their status, and he often went out of his way to help people he had never met. He was selfless in his approach to giving, as he made others feel they had done him a favor by taking something off his hands. He was also selfless in his career, choosing a career in public service instead of going into private business, where I'm confident he would have thrived. My dad was recruited to lead Metro Nashville's School Transportation department after Avon Williams desegregation lawsuit victory was expanded to include mandatory school busing in the early 1970s. As a result of a lawsuit argued by attorney (and later judge) Richard Dinkins, Judge L. Clure Morton furthered the enforcement of Tennessee's desegregation laws by rezoning Nashville's entire school system beginning in 1971. Nashville was one of the first cities in the country to mandate school busing, and my dad was asked to manage the complex logistical challenges of integrating an entire student population, increasing from 3 million school bus miles driven to 6 million miles driven in the first year alone. He had to acquire new buses, hire and train the school bus drivers to safely operate them, and execute Judge Morton's plan in a rapid time frame without any of the advantages of today's technology. He also had to manage the political and racial tension that resulted from this integration plan. There are multiple stories of him arriving at schools early in the morning before school buses arrived so he could walk new students to their classroom in the face of unwelcoming protests. His unflappable demeanor de-escalated tensions at a very difficult time in Nashville, and he was instrumental in resolving potentially dangerous conflict before it ever happened. His courage to do the right thing and stand up for those young children on their first days in a new school went a long way to easing racial tensions in our city.
The Community Foundation is dedicated to enriching the quality of life in Middle Tennessee. Visit The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee online at CFMT.org U.S.OrganizationNonprofitPostagePaidNashville,TNPermitNo.2065 OFFICERS Lyle Beasley, Chair Christine Karbowiak Vanek, Vice-Chair Sara Finley, Secretary Andrew May, Treasurer Ellen E. Lehman, President BOARD OF DIRECTORS Will WaverlyJamieHughAlexanderAtkinsonCheekD.Crenshaw, Jr. Beth DeBauche Shari Dennis Julie Frist Herb AlanJayGailHollyPaulWayneDeeLarryTurnerWillCaryR.RayMaxJimEddieFritchGeorgeGingrichGoldbergGuzmanMiltonJohnsonMackMorrowNashe,Jr.PapelPatelSmithStumbSullivanC.WilliamsWilliamsYoung BOARD OF TRUSTEES Judy Liff Barker Jack O. Bovender, Jr. Charles W. Cook, Jr. Ronald L. Corbin Bob JerryBetsySteveJackDeborahCharlesDeborahSusanDonnaBertRobertKevinWilliamDecostaCatherineCarolAubreyCarlKerryJoelJoséAlbertoThomasBenStephenJohnFarzinRichardMarkJanaCorkerDavisEmkesJ.EskindFerdowsiD.FergusonF.FlattG.FreelandF.Frist,Jr.R.GonzalesD.GonzálezC.GordonGrahamT.HaleyB.Harwell,Jr.O.HudlerJacksonE.JenkinsC.Koch,Jr.P.LavenderS.LipmanMathewsD.NicelyW.SimonsTaylorTateA.TrostF.TurnerTurnerUnderwoodWalkupB.Williams The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee 3833 Cleghorn Avenue | Nashville, Tennessee 37215 615-321-4939 | 888-540-5200 | CFMT.org Participating36Counties 1,004 LocalParticipatingNonprofits$3,957,365 Total Dollars Raised The generosity of thousands of donors and local partners during this year’s 24 hour online day of giving, The Big Payback, resulted in 25,755 gifts totaling more than $3.95 million to local nonprofits. This could not have been done without the compassion of the Middle Tennessee community, and we appreciate your commitment to helping us connect generosity with need. The team at The Community Foundation expresses with much gratitude, “Thank you!” $146.38 Average Gift Amount $247,300 in Prizes $10 - $60,000 Range of Gifts Made 6,487 Gifts were made by first time donors to an organization 25,755TotalGifts 3.2% 12.7%25.1%7.2% 12.2% 10% 13.9%8.5% 5.2% 2.1% A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE2022•VOLUME 2
