A Good Foundation - The Newsletter of CFMT - Winter 2021

A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE

W INT E R • 2 02 1

THOSE WE HAVE LOST

IN THIS ISSUE

At CFMT, we’re perpetuating the legacies of loved ones gone, but far from forgotten

Remembering Those We Have Lost

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Iris Buhl: Champion for LGBTQ Community

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Remembering Those We Have Lost (cont.)

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Tia Barbour-Hale: The Queen of Hearts

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Lonnie Norman's Legacy of Kindness

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A number of our cherished fundholders passed away during the past tumultuous year or two. A few of them succumbed to the deadly coronavirus. Others died several years ago and have been recently honored with funds. Two are past Fulbright scholars. They include community activists in education, medicine, music and sports.

Leaving A Charitabe Legacy

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Remembering Those We Have Lost (cont.)

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Staff Spotlight

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Like George Bailey, each made a lasting difference.

CFMT Highlights

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Board Spotlight

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The Big Payback Registration

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ChildcareTennessee Grant Opportunity

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Imagine what the world would be like if you were never born.

That was George Bailey’s misbegotten wish that his angel Clarence grants in the classic holiday movie, “It’s a Wonderful Life.” The point that one person can make such a difference is equally relatable to many of the funds administered that The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee honor.

For instance, if not for Iris Buhl, we would not have had such an early champion for LGBTQ rights and such a devotee of the arts. Iris was integral in The Brooks Fund at The Community Foundation and chaired its History Project committee.

And if not for Lonnie Norman, the longtime mayor of Manchester, Tennessee, we would not have had a local government official so passionate about the Bonnaroo Works Fund, which is administered by The Community Foundation and has distributed millions of dollars to local nonprofits.

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Within these pages are CFMT fundholders and supporters who are gone but will never be forgotten thanks to the legacies they’ve left, and whose friends and family have helped perpetuate those legacies.

Go to CFMT.org and look near the footer of the website.

IRIS BUHL The Buhl Family Fund After graduation, she worked at the Regional Intervention Program training parents of developmentally disabled children. She was the second president of the auxiliary board of the University School of Nashville, and was a member of the school's Board of Trustees from 1981 to 1985.

In 1987 Iris began volunteering at Nashville CARES, where she eventually became development director and sat on the board of directors twice. In 2007 she was appointed to the Metro Nashville Human Relations Commission by Mayor Bill Purcell.

Her published obituaries and remembrances recount her wide-ranging community impact.

She began familiarizing herself with HIV/AIDS in the 1980s when her son required multiple blood transfusions due to a heart condition, according to her obituary in Out & About Nashville. Her research unexpectedly led to a deeper understanding of the inequities and stigmas associated with the LGBTQ community, which changed the course of her life, and the lives of many others.

Iris attended Donelson High School and George Peabody College, where she earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English and a Master of Arts degree in Special Education. While an undergrad, she participated in the civil rights movement, as well as worked with a project studying changes in racial attitudes.

Iris told Out & About Nashville in 2007, “When I began volunteering with Nashville CARES (in 1987), I had no idea I knew any gay people except, of course, John Bridges … As time passed I became more familiar with what folks have to put up with simply to live as themselves.”

Iris Buhl, who died at age 77 on August 11, 2020, was a passionate, creative, and energetic supporter of dozens of nonprofits throughout her life.

“She went on, in her indomitable way, to become deeply involved in CARES,” Nashville author John Bridges related to Out & About. “All of that led her to learn to love — and to be loved by — gay people.

Iris received many awards, all of them recognizing her dauntless work in support of human rights, voting rights, women’s reproductive rights and the rights guaranteed to us by the Constitution. She was a great, irreplaceable, woman. She was fearless.”

Iris was volunteer chair of The Brooks Fund History Project at The Community Foundation. Established in 1995, The H. Franklin Brooks Philanthropic Fund of The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee encourages the inclusion, acceptance, and recognition of Middle Tennessee’s LGBTQ citizens by supporting a variety of nonprofit programs in Middle Tennessee enhancing the quality of life for the LGBTQ community and by building bridges between all segments of the community.

Her wishes were that should any of her many friends and acquaintances choose to carry on her support of favorite nonprofits, that they contribute through the Buhl Family Fund, which was established at The Community Foundation in 1998.

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION NOW AVAILABLE AT CFMT.ORG APPLY BY MARCH 15, 2021

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MARY CHURCHWELL

KRISHNANATH BHASKAR DESPHANDE

The Robert Sr. and Mary Churchwell Scholarship Fund

Dr. K.B (Kris) Deshpande Family Scholarship Fund

Robert and Mary Churchwell established quite a legacy. The Robert Sr. and Mary Churchwell Scholarship Fund, first established in 2010 and renamed to reflect the death of Mary Churchwell on February 16, 2020, appropriately adds an inspirational figure to both Mary’s family, extended family, and thousands of Nashville public school students through the years.

In renaming the Fund, the family announced: "Mary Elizabeth Buckingham Churchwell was aspirational to hundreds of Middle Tennessee students having taught in Nashville Public Schools for 30 years. She lived for 89 wonderful years as a woman of faith, devoted wife, proud mother of five, and “fun” grandmother/great–grandmother of thirteen. As an Award-Winning teacher who had a love for teaching children to read, like her husband, Robert Churchwell, Sr., she valued education.

As she is fondly reunited with her sweetheart of over 70 years, the family would like to announce the renaming of the Robert Churchwell, Sr. Scholarship Fund to the Robert Sr. and Mary Churchwell Scholarship Fund whose mission is to continue to educate students in the Middle Tennessee area."

Dr. Kris Desphande, who died at age 98 on March 31, 2020, lived a long life dedicated to the advancement of underserved minorities through science education. If not for Dr. Desphande, Nashville’s Fisk University would not have had such a commitment to the Civil Rights Movement in the late 1960s.

A Fulbright scholar and renowned chemist and scientist, Dr. Desphande was recruited to Nashville by Civil Rights leader and future Fisk president James Lawson as a full professor of chemistry. As noted in his obituary in The Tennessean, he was one of the first South Asian immigrants to settle in Nashville and was the oldest established member of the Indian-American community here.

Following in the footsteps of Lawson, Dr. Desphande supported students to embrace social protest of racism through the principles of nonviolent resistance established by Mahatma Gandi in India and embraced by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was instrumental in establishing a master’s degree program in the departments of Chemistry and Physics at Fisk. He spent his last years at Fisk working as a senior assistant to President Dr. Rutherford Adkins until retiring in 2002.

Before an award-winning career as a trailblazing journalist at the Nashville Banner, Robert Churchwell, Sr. graduated from Fisk University with an English degree.

Mary earned both her undergraduate and Master of Education degrees from Tennessee State University.

“Both set a living example of how their journey in education helped them achieve their life dreams. It made their emphasizing the importance of getting a quality education easier,” said Robert Churchwell, Jr., a retired Nashville educator. "Our mother was the education architect for all of us, and Daddy supported it. She would look at what academic programs would be best for each of us, and Dad would make sure her plan was put into action.”

CFMT’s scholarship helps carry on Churchwell’s core values of the profession by showing the importance of journalists being representative of the communities they deserve, as well as his belief that regardless of race, gender and generation, it is important everyone participates in the profession.

His parents “would be humbled about this [scholarship] honor,” Robert Jr. said, “and would do whatever they could do to make sure it served the students in our schools.”

LYNN MCKEE ERWIN The Lynn McKee Erwin Memorial Endowment

as

Lynn McKee Erwin, of Columbia, who died January 22, 2019, at age 72, graduated from Middle Tennessee State University and spent her career a kindergarten and elementary school teacher.

She supported her husband of more than 50 years, Ronnie Erwin, as he earned his college degrees.

A high school cheerleader, Lynn never lost her love of cheering and cheerleaders.

Columbia Central High School’s cheerleading program benefits from Lynn McKee Erwin Memorial Endowment opened in December 2019 to honor her legacy.

SALLY ANN FORRESTER The Sally Ann Forrester College Scholarship Fund

JOE DAVIS Little Dugan Coughlan Davis Advised Fund

Nashville native Joe Davis touched countless lives in his career as a businessman and a coach, but his philanthropy and the giving of himself to others may well be his lasting legacy.

The gregarious Davis, who died at age 58 of cancer on December 17, 2020, was involved in the ownership and management of three well-known restaurants through the years: Gold Rush, South Street, and the Boundry. They were well-established neighborhood spots by the time he became involved, and you could find him dining with his family or perched on a barstool hanging out with patrons at each place, on any day of the week.

Joe Davis was what you would call a people person, after all. He was a placekicker on Montgomery Bell Academy’s football team and remained an assistant coach, specializing on the kickers.

Blessed with growing up in an affluent Nashville family, giving of his time and efforts became second nature — particularly when it came to young people needing encouragement and support.

In 2000 Joe founded Backfield in Motion, an East Nashville-based nonprofit that provides academic and athletic opportunities to at-risk young people in Nashville.

The nonprofit serves more than 300 young people annually in its after-school and summer enrichment programs.

A devoted family man, Joe was predeceased by his 2-year-old daughter Dugan.

Her short life is forever memorialized with the Little Dugan Coughlan Davis Advised Fund at The Community Foundation. Established in 2012, the Fund distributes grants to benefit charitable causes that uplift the memory and celebrate the spirit of little Dugan and are generally of interest to young children, including but not limited to youth-oriented activities, child development and safety, and educational and experiential opportunities for young people.

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Sally Ann Forrester, who died on November 19, 1999, was known as the “First Woman of Bluegrass” for her stint with Bill Monroe — considered the Father of Bluegrass Music — and his band the Blue Grass Boys (1943-46).

Born in New Mexico and raised in Oklahoma, the guitarist and singer met and married a fellow 17-year-old, now-legendary Texas fiddle player Howard “Howdy” Forrester, whom Monroe first hired for his band.

Thanks to the Nashville-based IBMA (International Bluegrass Music Association) Foundation, The Sally Ann Forrester College Scholarship Fund was established in June 2020 to be awarded to female bluegrass musicians for studies at the college of their choice in the United States starting in 2022.

DR. EMMA JEAN LAMBERT The Dr. Emma Jean Lambert Memorial Scholarship Fund

Dr. Emma Jean Lambert, who died on June 22, 2020, was a lifelong educator who was passionate about communications, religion and later in life, health. She retired from Fisk University, after having taught there in the communications department. She held a special place in her heart for both the institution and more importantly the students that matriculated and that she could watch blossom year after year into successful leaders.

Dr. Lambert was very active in her church and religion was a cornerstone of strength in her life. She ultimately succumbed to ALS, but through this endowed Scholarship Fund her legacy will live on and honor her wish to see students at Fisk University in the arts, healthcare and religion continually benefit.

WILLIAM DOUGLAS “DOUG” O’REAR

TRISH FRIST Family Matriarch, Former CFMT Board Member Leaves Legacy of Philanthropy

William Douglas “Doug” O’Rear of Ashland City, who died July 30, 2020, of COVID-19, was a longtime friend of The Community Foundation through his work as a financial planner and as a community advocate.

A former assistant professor of business at Belmont University, O’Rear opened his own business, Doug O’Rear & Associates, in 1983 and remained a frequent management and financial consultant for various for-profit and nonprofit organizations through the years. A pastor in the United Methodist Church and previously a leader in various Baptist churches, he and his wife, Jane, sold their Chigger Ridge farm and bed and breakfast in Pegram to Cumberland Heights Treatment Center for their Arch Academy.

Doug’s charitable organizations of choice included ARK Community Resource center in Pegram, Bethesda Center in Ashland City, The Help Center in Dickson, Nashville Rescue Mission, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR), Braxton Lee Homestead Foundation, and Kiwanis Eliminate Project.

Known as titans in the health care business, the Frist family has been at the pinnacle of Nashville philanthropic and charitable efforts for generations, with family matriarch Patricia Champion “Trish” Frist front and center.

Trish, who passed away on January 5, 2021, at age 81, always put the needs of family, friends and the community before her own, as her obituary eloquently states.

She moved to Nashville in 1951 as a sixth grader and attended Stokes Elementary School and Hillsboro High School. At Hillsboro, she was a cheerleader and class president and represented Hillsboro while being chosen Miss Nashville High School.

She attended Vanderbilt University from 1957-61 where she was president of her Pi Beta Phi sorority, a cheerleader, and was elected Miss Vanderbilt and was selected Miss National Football Queen in Berkeley, California in 1959.

After graduating from Vanderbilt in 1961 with a BA in English and history, she married Thomas F. Frist, Jr. and taught school in Nashville and St. Louis until 1964.

RICK REGEN Founding Advisory Committee Member of The Sports Fund

Well-known sports and nonprofit activist Rick Regen died at age 67 on November 5, 2020, leaving a legacy of community service.

"Rick was one of those people who was always there willing to help, volunteer, pitch in and support anything that he thought would make our city, and specifically sports in our city, a better place," Nashville Sports Council President and CEO Scott Ramsey was quoted in The Tennessean.

"In the early years of the Sports Council, Rick was never bashful about being vocal about how sports would positively impact our city, and he backed it up with incredible reliability in doing whatever it took — always with a positive attitude.”

A founding Advisory Committee member of The Sports Fund initiative and longtime friend at The Community Foundation, he figured prominently in the push to bring the Tennessee Titans, then the Houston Oilers, to the city as leader of the “Yes for Nashville” effort to pass a public referendum to seal the Titans deal in the mid-1990s.

Rick also served as chair and founding member of the Nashville Sports Council and president of the Nashville Area Athletic Club, chair of the charity Clinic Bowl, president of the Davidson County University of Tennessee Alumni Association and president of the Nashville Big Orange Club.

Through his church, Forest Hills United Methodist Church, Rick worked closely with The Community Foundation on a number of funds and scholarships.

Through their 60-year marriage, Trish was an equal partner in her husband’s endeavors, which included creation of the Hospital Corporation of America (HCA) in 1968 and The HCA Foundation in 1982. She was the first woman to serve on the board of SunTrust Bank in Atlanta and also served on the boards of The Community Foundation, SunTrust Bank Nashville, Ensworth School, and The Frist Foundation.

She served as chair of the Symphony Ball and was on the Nashville Symphony’s executive committee. She received numerous awards, including The United Way’s Women’s Initiative Spirit of Giving Award and Cheekwood’s Swan Ball Award.

Alongside her husband, they were major contributors to the Nashville Zoo, Second Harvest Food Bank, Harvard Business School, Princeton’s Frist Campus Center, Cheekwood’s Frist Learning Center, Ensworth School, Harpeth Hall and Currey Ingram Academy.

Through their efforts, scholarship funds were established at Harvard Business School, Washington University and Currey Ingram Academy.

The Nashville Chamber of Commerce awarded the couple the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2003.

She was instrumental in the founding of the Frist Art Museum, United Way’s Alexis de Tocqueville Society, the Thomas F. Frist Centennial Sportsplex, Frist Capital Partners, the YMCA Frist Teen Center in Green Hills, the Patricia Champion Frist Hall at Vanderbilt University’s School of Nursing, the Dorothy Cate Frist Hall at Harpeth Hall School and the Frist Campus at Ensworth School.

She, her husband and their family have established a host of funds at The Community Foundation, where their generosity will help fulfill the needs of our community for generations to come.

TIA BARBOUR-HALE The Tia Barbour-Hale OGOT Legacy Fund

The Tia Barbour-Hale OGOT Legacy Fund honors the life of Tia Barbour-Hale, a 2006 graduate of Tennessee State University’s Occupational Therapy Program. Professionally, Tia was an occupational therapist dedicated to empowering Nashville’s exceptional needs students and their families to excel personally and intellectually through nonprofits offering customized educational programs and independently ensuring long-term success in life. This Memorial Fund provides grant funding to support the work of occupational therapists serving special education students in Metro Nashville Public Schools.

REMEMBERING THE LIFE, IMPACT OF TIA BARBOUR-HALE — THE QUEEN OF HEARTS What composes a life well-lived?

For the too-short but oh-so-impactful life of Nashville native Tia Barbour-Hale, who died at age 36 on May 18, 2020, life meant above all, being devoted to family, friends, co-workers and church congregation.

For Tia, life meant earning a degree in Occupational Therapy from Tennessee State University and going on to a successful career in the field in the Metro Public Schools System.

“The work that Tia did supported kids' abilities to want to learn, and created really creative approaches

to learning,” says her husband, Courtney Hale. "She oftentimes worked with students who weren’t able to be helped by anyone else in [Metro Nashville] schools.

But through her love and compassion, her efforts created this desire to want to learn for those students."

“Her testimony is truly what inspired me to begin volunteering with the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women campaign in Washington, DC five years ago. And now, with my position, I find myself immersed in all things heart and stroke."

For Tia, life meant keeping up with her TSU Delta Sigma Theta sorority sisters and being active in the Nashville alumnae chapter.

For Tia, life meant receiving a heart transplant on June 4, 2019.

“… Or as anyone blessed to know and love her calls her, our Queen of Hearts,” recalls Erica McIntyre, who first met Tia at the sorority years ago and is now community impact director at the American Heart Association’s Greater Washington Region, in a published post. “A woman with strength, beauty, compassion, class, passion, style, faith and conviction."

For Tia, life meant having a tornado destroy the building where she worked in the early morning hours of March 3, 2020, less than a year after the transplant.

For Tia, life meant being extra cautious through the coronavirus pandemic, given her medical condition, while still making plans to visit with her special-needs children patients via online Zoom meetings.

For Tia, life meant battling heart disease first diagnosed during pregnancy with her daughter.

Ultimately, for the remarkable Tia Barbour-Hale, life meant making it your business to spread love.

“After delivering a healthy baby girl, Ever Grey, Tia eloquently and courageously shared her story to raise awareness and encourage the women in her life to not take matters of our heart health lightly,” Erica says.

And the love came right back to her.

“To know her,” Erica McIntyre says of her late friend, "is truly to love her.”

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LONNIE NORMAN The Late Manchester Mayor Continues Legacy of Kindness Through Bonnaroo Works Fund

“There has always been a charitable component to Bonnaroo,” said Kelsey Dewald, executive director of the Bonnaroo Works Fund (BWF), which is administered by The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, in a recent interview. “The goals to give back and to inspire that give-back mentality with the audience have been elements since the festival’s beginning.”

"Nobody expected Bonnaroo to be successful,” Ashley Capps, co-founder of Bonnaroo and one of the most respected music promoters in the industry, has said of the long-running music and arts festival held in Manchester, Tennessee.

On an episode of “The Road to Now” — a podcast hosted by Dr. Benjamin Sawyer and Bob Crawford, a founding member of the band The Avett Brothers, Capps talked in encyclopedic depth about music festivals and influences for Bonnaroo.

“MerleFest was always an inspiration,” Capps said of the North Carolina-based roots music festival, with an emphasis on “always.”

He ticks off New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival before stating, rather matter-of-factly, “That was some of the inspiration that enabled us to overcome the conventional wisdom that this was a really stupid idea.”

It wasn’t.

For four days out of the year, traditionally on the second weekend in June — it was rescheduled and then canceled in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been scheduled for September 2-5 in 2021 — Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival hosts as many as 70,000 ticket holders and 150 or so music acts. It’s held on 700 acres on a former farm on the outskirts of Manchester, a town an hour southeast of Nashville whose population is otherwise just shy of 11,000.

The festival lost a champion in 2020 in Manchester Mayor Lonnie Norman, who died on October 12 due to complications from COVID-19. He was 79. The festival’s evolution in such a small community could have been problematic. But when you start peeling back the colorful layers of Bonnaroo, you see it isn’t like most festivals. The festival wants to help create a better planet, one partnership at a time.

Since its 2002 inception, Bonnaroo and the BWF have awarded more than $7 million in funding to more than 100 nonprofits and organizations. Each is chosen based on the Fund’s core values — community, creativity, and positive influence, with the main criteria being arts education.

“We like to invest in local project-based initiatives with long-term potential," Dewald said, “like a kiln for a high school or a specific speaker series or field trips.”

The number of grants awarded each year is based on a culmination of ticket sales, an annual silent auction, and other fundraising efforts. The social impact and list of nonprofits the BWF has sponsored remains remarkable.

“We’re not just making it about collecting the money and giving the money,” Dewald said. “We want to be a true partner with the nonprofits we work with.”

Creating a social impact is top priority for the Bonnaroo Works Fund, too, including voter education, encouraging civic duty, and getting people to invest in their communities.

Festival officials say they couldn’t have done it without the support from Manchester officials and in particular Mayor Lonnie Norman.

“You can only say positive things about Lonnie,” said Jeff Cuellar, vice president of AC Entertainment and co-producer of Bonnaroo. “He was a listener — one who could truly empathize with whatever you brought to his attention.”

When Bonnaroo showed up on Manchester’s doorstep, Mayor Norman could not only see the town’s economic benefits, but opportunities for strong public relations.

“Lonnie believed in order to be a good community steward, you had to work together,” Cuellar said.

“Because when Bonnaroo sells more tickets, employs more people, and is efficient, it shines a light on everyone.”

LEAVING YOUR CHARITABLE LEGACY

Cuellar recalled the project Norman was most excited about: a joint partnership between Bonnaroo, the city of Manchester and Coffee County, for an ARC (Appalachian Regional Commission) grant to rebuild a good chunk of the waterline that existed within Manchester but also services people throughout the county.

Bonnaroo provided the bulk of the financial gift, and its grounds would benefit greatly.

“There’s no need to sugarcoat it,” Cuellar recalled, “but it wasn’t an opportunity to just benefit us but also the industrial park, local residents, homes, businesses — you name it. And Mayor Norman and [Coffee County] Mayor Gary Cordell were instrumental in making this happen.”

The $1 million project was hailed as a massive achievement and won the John S. Wilder Rebuild Tennessee Award. The partnership was the first of its kind for the state and a fantastic accomplishment of what Norman most championed: working together for the good of the people.

The mayor also loved presenting the guitar-shaped key to his city to each year’s Bonnaroo headliner.

“That was the hardest part of 2020” Dewald said of the festival’s eventual cancellation. “Not knowing if we were doing the festival and trying to conceptualize something virtual—our ideas changed so many times.”

In the end, Bonnaroo held a free three-night live broadcast on their YouTube Channel called Virtual ROO-ALITY, and streamed new live performances along with archived sets. The Bonnaroo Works Fund was able to secure donations, but nothing like usual.

“It was significantly different this year,” Dewald said.

“You try and pivot the best you can, but paths and strategies kept shifting. It was an interesting challenge.”

In lieu of flowers at Norman’s funeral, he had stipulated that donations to be made to the Bonnaroo Works Fund.

“I think, with every bone in his body, Lonnie attempted everything he could to help and help all people,” Cuellar said, “which truly is a testament of the legacy that he is leaving behind.”

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee could not be more eager to present the 27th annual Joe Kraft Humanitarian Award to Susan and Luke Simons, civic and community leaders known for their generous philanthropy in the arts, health care, in Nashville and beyond.

Planned gifts are set up to make the most sense for you and the causes close to your heart.

We work with you to learn about your charitable goals and to offer suggestions for how those goals can be realized through one or more funds within The Community Foundation.

Learn more: www.CFMT.org/legacy

S U S A N A N D LU K E S I M O N S After conferring with Susan and Luke, we will be moving our opportunity to honor them publicly to sometime in 2021 when conditions permit.

Stay tuned!

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WILLIAM SHAWN MICHAEL “SHAWN” STEWART The Shawn Stewart Superhero Tribute Fund for Autism Support

Advocate and entrepreneur Shawn Stewart, who died on September 28, 2020, at age 49 after a five-year battle with colon cancer, left a mark in his profession of psychology. His obituary in The Tennessean reads, “… his wild unceasing creativity, paired with his deep passion inspired his development of programs and work with children, adolescents, and adults dealing with learning and developmental differences as he was a national expert on the study of working with Autism Spectrum Disorders. He made it his mission to eliminate the stigma of the word disorder and to create a world which understood and accepted difference.”

Shawn developed the Nashville Autism Center and was co-developer of Spectrum

by Design, which focused on innovative and technological creations and development of people living with autism. And he co-owned the Stewart-Beavers Institute with his wife, Lisa Beavers, providing psychological and educational services as a clinical and educational psychologist.

KAY SUBHAWONG Kay Subhawong Memorial Mathematics Award Fund

Kay Subhawong, a longtime Clarksville High School math teacher, died at age 64 on October 7, 1999. She taught algebra, precalculus and AP calculus for more than 25 years at Northeast High School and later Clarksville High School as well as coaching the CHS Math Team.

Kay’s students will recall silly mnemonics (Travolta graph of cubic functions) and numerous bovine-themed props (Cow’culus). Outside the classroom, she traveled the world with her late husband of 41 years, Suthun “Foo” Subhawong.

The memorial scholarship in her honor was opened in October 2019 to support one or more annual math awards at Clarksville High School given to a graduating senior and providing a scholarship for their post-high school education.

DAVID WILLIAMS II The David Williams II Scholarship Fund

The David Williams II Scholarship Fund was established in 2019 to honor and perpetuate the legacy of community leader and longtime CFMT board member David Williams II, who died February 8, 2019, at age 71 just days after retiring as vice chancellor for athletics and university affairs and athletics director at Vanderbilt University.

David made an extraordinary impact on Vanderbilt, college athletics and higher education during his 18-year tenure as the university’s vice chancellor.

The first African American vice chancellor at Vanderbilt, he dramatically elevated the student-athlete experience while leading Vanderbilt Athletics. He succeeded in building a program where student-athletes can achieve remarkable academic success while competing in one of the toughest athletics conferences.

Ellen Lehman, president of The Community Foundation, often talks about his impact on the organization and the community through the years.

"The death of David Williams leaves a gaping hole not only throughout Middle Tennessee and Columbus, Ohio, and Detroit, Michigan, but in the hearts of those lucky enough to know him,” Lehman said. "He was a gentle giant with a soft touch and a kind heart.

"He could be a man of few words, in fact I likened him to the old commercials for E.F. Hutton, which portrayed a room full of people pausing from their conversation to hang on to his every word."

He was quiet but left his indelible fingerprints on every endeavor he undertook,” Lehman continued. “When Francis Guess and I asked him to chair The Sports Fund we were creating within The Community Foundation, the three of us spoke about our goals for the endeavor. Mine was to help kids succeed in school and in life.

Francis’ was to give kids an alternative to joining gangs by belonging to teams. But David, in his gentle way, said that his was to save lives … simple as that.

“He once said that he had two paths he could have taken as he grew up … one was to arm himself with a gun to make a statement and the other to arm himself with an education. He chose the latter, deciding to follow in the footsteps of his educator parents.”

RUTH ZIBART The Alan W. and Ruth Grace Zibart Fund for Arts and Letters

KENT WEEKS The Weeks Fund

Kent McCuskey Weeks, who died at age 82 in Nashville on July 30, 2020, left an extended legacy as an attorney, professor and visionary as well as a tireless activist for public education.

Kent’s obituary honors a man of great passion: He practiced law in Nashville, where he focused on legal issues affecting higher education. He wrote several books, published many articles, and edited Lex Collegii, a quarterly newsletter for independent colleges. He consulted with colleges throughout the United States and served as general counsel to Africa University in Zimbabwe for more than 20 years. Africa University engages the central and southern regions of Africa, training future leaders for their home countries. His work with Africa University was his greatest professional passion.

For 25 years, he also taught students in public policy, school law and higher education law at Peabody College at Vanderbilt University, where he was awarded the Peabody College Roundtable Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Books never had a better friend in Nashville than Ruth Zibart.

Professor of French at Vanderbilt University and later the first woman elevated to Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, died on December 26, 2020, three days after her 101st birthday.

The Baxter, Tennessee native earned a bachelor’s degree from nearby Tennessee Technological University and a master's from Vanderbilt. Ruth had "many admirers," as she used to say, but remained single until 1969, when she married Alan Zibart, co-owner of Nashville's Zibart Bros. bookstores. He died in 1995.

In lieu of flowers at her memorial service, her family suggested contributions to The Alan W. and Ruth Grace Zibart Fund for Arts and Letters at The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee, established in 1995.

Involved in many community activities, Kent chaired the first elected School Board of Nashville Davidson County. He was later honored for his work in obtaining a settlement of the 28-year desegregation litigation. His three children attended public schools during this time of desegregation.

A Fulbright scholar, Kent earned a law degree from Duke University, where he met his wife, Karen. He also earned a doctorate in political science from Case Western Reserve, a master’s from the University of New Zealand, and a bachelor’s degree from the College of Wooster in Ohio.

Kent loved to travel — especially by bicycle — and handed down the enjoyment of exploring to his children and grandchildren.

The Weeks Fund was first established in 2013 and was renamed in 2020.

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Staff Spotlight

CYNTHIA COPELAND Cynthia Copeland is a Senior Accounting Manager at The Community Foundation.

In addition to supporting the work of the Chief Financial Officer, Cynthia oversees payroll for The Foundation, sits on the Finance and Investment Committee and assists in preparing budgets.

CFMT AWARDS MORE THAN $2.4 MILLION IN GRANTS TO 350 LOCAL NONPROFITS IN 2020 The grants will benefit nonprofit organizations in 29 area counties and will serve a wide range of causes, including: food security, arts and humanities, conservation and preservation, environment, education, employment and training, health and human services, housing, economic welfare, and community development.

For a full list of grant recipients, visit CFMT.org.

You are one of the first people new employees meet at The Community Foundation.

Tell us about being part of the welcome committee, as well as the other work you do as Senior Accounting Manager.

Our organization does not have an official Human Resources department. Because I do payroll for The Foundation, it makes sense for me to assist in onboarding new employees.

I am also part of the Finance and Investment Committee, assist in budget preparation and fund establishment and management, among other accounting functions as part of the Finance Team.

I think of The Community Foundation as a house. When the dishes are dirty, you do them. When there is something that needs to get done, I step in and offer to help. That way the house stays clean and in order.

How did you arrive at The Community Foundation? What were you doing before joining the Bee Team?

A friend of mine saw the job posting on the Center for Nonprofit Management’s website and told me about it. I realized quickly that she was going to keep asking me about it until I applied, so I did. It all happened very fast — I interviewed, was offered the job, and accepted. I was open to change and God placed an opportunity in my path.

Before I worked at The Foundation, I was part of the accounting team for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). My department secured subsidized housing for seniors and people who were mentally and physically challenged.

It was rewarding work and even took me out of town for conferences from time to time.

You are a Marine. What interested you in military service?

After completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Alabama, I returned home.

I was dating a guy who was enlisted in the Marines, and we discussed it a lot. At the same time, I was realizing that I had not seen a whole lot. I began thinking that if something happened to my mother, would I be able to stand on my own two feet? Those two things helped me decide to join the Marines at 27 years old.

I served from 1982-1988. The year I joined was the first year women began training with rifles and pistols, and so I did. I also completed my MBA in Management during my service.

Thank you for your service. What are some things you carry with you today from your time as a Marine?

The Marines teach you many things — discipline, teamwork, perseverance. When I left the service, I carried these and many other lessons with me. My service continues to be a humbling and rewarding experience. Once a Marine, always a Marine.

THE TOMORROW FUND’S GIVING TREE PROJECT SUPPORTS MORE FAMILIES IN NEED THAN EVER The Giving Tree is an annual project of The Tomorrow Fund, an initiative of The Community Foundation, in which volunteers partner with child care centers within Metropolitan Nashville to support low-income families during the holiday season.

Each individual donor or corporate community partner receives one or multiple personalized wish lists from children, then goes on a shopping adventure to fulfill those needs and spread joy.

In 2020, The Tomorrow Fund supported 120 children from four child care facilities: Community Care Fellowship’s Dare to Dream program, Jewell’s Gems, McNeilly Center for Children, and Fannie Battle Day Home.

In the past 13 years, the program has aided more than 995 families, with $99,500 in holiday support.

The Tomorrow Fund and its advisory board members could not have completed such a meaningful holiday project without the support of each individual donor and our corporate community partners. A big THANK YOU to all who participated and to our corporate partners: Wex, Inc.; Ona Skincare Nashville; Ortale Kelley Law Firm; Dell; Learning Matters, Inc.; Nonprofit Software Specialists; The Law Office of Brad Scarbrough; PODS Moving and Storage; and U-Haul.

(Photos L to R) A little holiday jig from Fannie Battle Day Home's Office Coordinator, Joya Russell (right), as she poses with Tomorrow Fund Advisor, Nicole Rose (left), during the delivery of gifts for 33 children in need; Austin Warehime, with new community partner, Ortale Kelley, dropping off gifts and warm clothes for seven children. Austin, a local attorney, is also a member of The Tomorrow Fund board.

You were born and raised in Anniston, Alabama, and attended the University of Alabama when Bear Bryant was coaching. It’s no surprise that you’re a fan of the Crimson Tide. Do you ever get tired of winning?

I do. If you don’t lose some, then you don’t appreciate the winning as much. It’s all about gratitude.

Speaking of gratitude, I am very appreciative of the opportunities I have at The Community Foundation. Especially this year when so many people have endured hardships. God continues to bless me in this and every other way.

Did your service as a Marine ignite your love of travel or have you always had wanderlust?

Actually, when I was serving in the Marines, I was stationed at Camp Lejeune [in North Carolina] and didn’t move around much at all. It was when I was working at HUD and attended a conference in San Francisco for a conference that the travel bug really bit me.

I saw those cable cars going up and down the street just like in my childhood textbooks, and I made up my mind to travel more.

While the pandemic has put a freeze on non-essential travel, post-COVID what is the next trip you are looking forward to?

My goal is to go visit all seven continents, and I have been to six, including Antarctica.

Australia is my last one. Once the pandemic is over, I’ll board a cruise ship that will take me to New Zealand and Australia. Then I’ll have met my goal of setting foot on all seven continents!

6 • CFMT.org

THE WOMEN'S FUND VIRTUAL FORUM The Women’s Fund Forum was held virtually on November 17, 2020.

The event titled, “The Reality of Sexual Assault: College Campus Edition,” was the second in a two-part series on sexual assault held by The Women’s Fund, an initiative of The Community Foundation. To learn more, visit the online resource library at www.CFMT.org/forum.

(Above Photo) The Women’s Fund Forum 2020 panelists address issues in a virtual event titled “The Reality of Sexual Assault: College Campus Edition."

Moderator Meera Ballal, J.D., M.Ed., Founder of Women’s Healthcare Initiative, joined Cara Tuttle Bell, Director of Project Safe Center at Vanderbilt and Jordan Owens, Sexual Assault Center Statewide Training Specialist for a conversation focused on the most at-risk population for sexual assault, young women ages 18-24.

Board Spotlight

JIM GINGRICH

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE NASHVILLE NEIGHBORS FUND Throughout a tumultuous year, Nashville’s residents continue to show up to support one another — making the phrase “Neighbors Helping Neighbors” ring true for this Middle Tennessee community.

In the wake of the explosion in downtown Nashville's Historic Second Avenue on December 25 that injured several people (killing the suspected bomber), damaged scores of buildings and caused widespread telecommunication woes, The Community Foundation established the Nashville Neighbors Fund, in partnership with WTVF-NewsChannel5, to support those impacted.

Grants from the Fund will be made to nonprofits providing services for both the immediate- and long-term needs arising from the explosion.

Gifts can be made at www.CFMT.org/neighbors Photo credit: Ray Di Pietro

Jim Gingrich is former Chief Operating Officer of investment management firm AllianceBernstein and was responsible for overseeing the relocation of the firm’s headquarters to Nashville from New York City’s Wall Street. He first joined the firm in 1999 as a senior research analyst and then served as its global director of research from 2003-2006 before being named COO in 2011.

He holds a bachelor of science degree operations research and industrial engineering, a master’s degree in operations research and an MBA from Cornell University. He joined The Community Foundation board in 2019.

You’re from Kansas City, Mo., hometown of Walt Disney and the reigning Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. In what neighborhood did you grow up, and what was your childhood like?

While I was born in Kansas City, we moved when I was all of three weeks old to St. Louis!

We moved quite a bit when I was growing up, as my dad worked for Kroger overseeing store construction throughout the Midwest. After St. Louis, I lived in Madison and Milwaukee, Wisconsin … where it snowed so much that we put handkerchiefs on the car antennas during the winter so we could see approaching cars at intersections. We then moved to Cincinnati for a number of years before we returned to Kansas City, where I attended high school. (One of my classmates was the son of Hank Stram, who coached the Chiefs to their first Super Bowl victory!)

One of my fondest childhood memories was that we would take off for three weeks every summer to camp and hike someplace along the Appalachian Trail. We would be completely cut off from all news during that time … if only we could do that in today’s world of cellphones and email.

You have an engineering degree and spent your career as financial analyst before going into management. What prompted you to pursue those career paths?

Engineering was a natural choice — my dad was an engineer, and I was always good at math and science. More importantly, it was the one major that allowed me to avoid a foreign language requirement, which I was terrible at.

Coming out of school, I went to work at the management consulting firm, Booz Allen and Hamilton, initially in Chicago, then Brazil, then NYC. While in consulting, I worked primarily with consumer goods and retailing companies. It was complete happenstance that I then switched careers after 17 years to work in the financial industry, and found myself at AllianceBernstein. Life is rarely linear, and I am a good example.

HEROIC ’NASHVILLE 6’ HONORED WITH $100K DONATION TO NASHVILLE POLICE SUPPORT FUND On Christmas morning, in the hectic moments prior to the RV explosion that rocked Historic Second Avenue and downtown, six midnight-shift officers from the Metro Nashville Police Department's Central Precinct (aka the Nashville 6) worked feverishly to warn and to evacuate Second Avenue residents as announcements were made from a parked RV indicating that a blast was imminent.

Officer Brenna Hosey is one of the Nashville 6. She knocked on the door of the Callen family Christmas morning, explained the urgency, and worked with Traci Callen to get her four children to safety. Traci would later send this message to the MNPD: Dear Nashville PD, Here is our family, here are some of the faces you saved Christmas morning. Yes, Brenna, you scared the “Bejesus” out of me as I had to get all of these cuties to safety. I still feel a lump in my throat when I think of you.

I remember gathering my family and waiting to board the elevator that would take us to our minivan. Before we entered the elevator, I said, “Thank you for your service.” I knew you didn’t know how big that bomb was and yet you were still standing there just trying to assist my family, to make sure we made it to safety. You wanted to protect us and it seemed you had never even thought about yourself. You and the other 5 officers did such selfless, wonderful things that day. You saved lives. We love you, we pray for you and we will never forget you. I will try to raise my children to be more like you. Thank you for your service.

Hugs, Traci Callen and the rest of the Callen bunch On January 10, the Nashville 6 officers were honored as the collective 12th Titan just before kickoff of the Tennessee Titans-Baltimore Ravens playoff game at Nissan Stadium, but the real surprise came at the beginning of the second quarter. The Callen family presented officer Hosey with a $100,000 check for the Nashville Police Support Fund, housed within The Community Foundation, in honor of her and her MNPD colleagues.

Upon your arrival, AllianceBernstein quickly became involved in the Nashville community, such as supporting the Nashville Public Library Foundation’s summer reading program, Martha O’Bryan Center’s student educational coaching, and the United Way of Metropolitan Nashville’s ongoing third grade literacy program.

Tell us your philosophy on public service, as well as your own view on the health of Nashville’s nonprofits.

One of the things that attracted AB to Nashville was its spirit of collaboration and helping others. This is certainly exemplified by the city’s commitment to philanthropy, but also in so many other ways — neighbors helping neighbors, disparate leaders working together to solve problems, and people just saying “hello” and smiling on the street. It truly is something unique and special, and I hope that is never lost. It is why our nonprofit community here is so strong and vibrant.

AB and its people got involved because it fits our values. We want to see Nashville continue to thrive and to be a better place for everyone, including those that may need a helping hand.

In addition, being involved is just smart business — AB will be successful if Nashville is a great city that maximizes its talent and is a place where talented people want to be.

You could serve on any number of nonprofit boards. Why The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee among them?

I liked being involved with great organizations doing important things, and being around talented and knowledgeable people that I can learn from — that precisely describes CFMT. Your company announced your impending retirement some time ago. Tell us the latest on the transition.

I retired from AB at the end of 2020 after 21 years. I am sort of a workaholic, so we will see how successful I prove to be at “retiring.”

What does Jim Gingrich like to do in his spare time?

I am an avid cyclist. I actually was first introduced to Nashville after cycling the Natchez Trace from the start in Natchez, Mississippi. I also love the outdoors, so you can find me hiking, fishing, canoeing and just about anything else that involves getting out into the woods and mountains.

(Above Photo) Metro Nashville Police officers, from left: Brenna Hosey, Amanda Topping, James Wells, Sgt. Timothy Miller, Michael Sipos, and James Luellen gather with Titans mascot T-Rac. Photo credit: Metro Nashville Police Department CFMT.org • 7

A GOOD FOUNDATION THE NEWSLETTER OF THE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION OF MIDDLE TENNESSEE

W INT E R • 2 02 1

Nonprofit Organization U.S. Postage Paid Nashville, TN Permit No. 2065

The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee 3833 Cleghorn Avenue | Nashville, Tennessee 37215 615-321-4939 | 888-540-5200 | CFMT.org OFFICERS Decosta E. Jenkins, Chairman Jack B. Turner, Secretary Lyle Beasley, Treasurer Ellen E. Lehman, President BOARD OF DIRECTORS Will Alexander Hugh Atkinson Jamie Cheek Waverly D. Crenshaw, Jr. Beth DeBauche Shari Dennis Sara Finley Julie Frist Herb Fritch Eddie George Jim Gingrich Max Goldberg Ray Guzman Christine Karbowiak Cary Mack Andrew May Will Morrow Turner Nashe, Jr. Larry Papel Dee Patel Wayne Smith Paul Stumb Holly Sullivan Gail C. Williams Jay Williams Alan Young

BOARD OF TRUSTEES Judy Liff Barker Jack O. Bovender, Jr. Charles W. Cook, Jr. Ronald L. Corbin Bob Corker Jana Davis Mark Emkes Richard J. Eskind Farzin Ferdowsi John D. Ferguson Stephen F. Flatt Ben G. Freeland Thomas F. Frist, Jr. Alberto R. Gonzales José D. González Joel C. Gordon Kerry Graham Carl T. Haley Aubrey B. Harwell, Jr. Carol O. Hudler Catherine Jackson William C. Koch, Jr. Kevin P. Lavender Robert S. Lipman Bert Mathews Ralph W. Mosley Donna D. Nicely Ben R. Rechter Susan W. Simons Deborah Taylor Tate Charles A. Trost Deborah F. Turner Steve Underwood Betsy Walkup Jerry B. Williams

Do you know a child care program that could put $4,000 to good use?

24 HOURS TO LIFT UP OUR COMMUNITY

THE CLOCK STARTS TICKING ON MAY 5 AT 6 P.M.

Registration Now Open for Nonprofit, School, and Faith-Based Organizations

(*$5,000 in economically distressed counties)

Child care centers and family child care programs are eligible.

APPLICATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL SEPTEMBER 1, 2021.

Directors can learn more and apply at ChildcareTennessee.com.

To learn more, visit SUBSTITUTE SERVICE This project is funded through a grant with the Tennessee Department of Human Services and The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.

Visit The Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee online at www.CFMT.org.