Seventeenth Annual Celebration will showcase Nashville’s Young Professionals
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (June 27, 2024) – The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and YP Nashville announced today the 2024 finalists for the Nashville Emerging Leader Awards (NELA). NELA recognizes Middle Tennessee’s young professionals under the age of 40 for significant accomplishments in their chosen career field, as well as their commitment and contribution to the community.
NELA recognizes up to four finalists and one winner in 17 industry categories: Architecture, Engineering and Construction; Arts, Entertainment and Music Business; Entrepreneurship; Community Service and Nonprofit; Education; Environment and Sustainability; Finance; Government and Public Affairs; Hospitality and Tourism; Human Resources; Legal Services; Medical and Healthcare Services; Public Relations, Advertising and Marketing; Real Estate Services; Wellness; and Technology.
Judges of each industry category are leaders in their respective field who review applications and select the finalists and winner based on each applicant’s answers to essay questions, level of professional achievement, demonstrated leadership and community impact.
NELA winners will be announced during the NELA Ceremony at the Woolworth Theatre on Tuesday, July 23, at 6:00 p.m. with a reception immediately following. YP Nashville is presented by The Jack C. Massey College of Business at Belmont University. The awards are supported by the Nashville Post.
Visit ypnashville.org/nelas for more information.
2024 Nashville Emerging Leader Award Finalists
Advertising, Marketing and Public Relations
Netta Dobbins- Grow with Google, Netta Dobbins Marketing
Emily Little- Circa
Kathryn Swanton- Metkat Marketing
Taniesha Westbrook- Shop Black Fest
Arts, Entertainment and Music Business
Jessica Antonette- Native Manor
Zach Hartley- United Talent Agency
Blair Miller- Chaos Creators Entertainment
Gina Sicilia- Self Employed
Community Service and Nonprofit
Erika Burnett – Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee
Virginia Ezell-Briley Belmont University
Colby Gallahar- CAA Foundation
Allison Quintanilla Plattsmier- Edgehill Neighborhood Partnership
Entrepreneurship
Danielle McGee- Black Business Boom
Jasmine Stokes- The Greater Me Consulting
Delbrita Greene- Premier Funeral & Cremation Services
Jonathan Oye- Oye Coffee Co
Financial Services
Jessica Barrett- LBMC
Jonathan Joyce- Deloitte
Sabrina Miller- Pinnacle Financial Partners
Kristen Pickens- Simmons Bank
Hospitality and Tourism
Taylor Guardino Engle- Nashville Wine Auction
Zach Haisten- PepsiCo Foodservice
Anna Myint- International Market
Charissa Taylor- The Pink Sugar Funnel Cakery
Legal Services
John Adgent- Bass, Berry Sims
Samantha Flener- Polsinelli
Michael Malone- Polsinelli
Jianne McDonald- K&L Gates LLP
Real Estate Services
Jack Gaughan- RE/MAX Choice Properties
Joshua Haston- LDG Development
Headshots of the finalists are available upon request.
Architecture, Engineering and Construction
Asia Allen- Gresham Smith
Margret Anne Byerly- Enterprise Solutions
Suzannah Gills- Turner Construction Company
Beth Ostrowski- KCI Technologies, Inc.
Business Services
Bradyn Hall- Qualfon/ Dialog Direct
Thomas Kelly- Creative Soulz Printing
Leigh Ann Vernich- LBMC
Celisa Webster- Luminary
Education
Lydell Francis- Vanderbilt University
Nikki Healy- MNPS
Colin Hunt- MNPS
Whitney Slovick- MNPS
Environment and Sustainability
Nick Cunningham- TVA
Kristen Hanratty- TennGreen Land Conservancy
Ryan Parr- Nashville Painting Professionals
Government and Public Affairs
Antonio Carroll- Nashville Electric Service
Steven Henry- Jigsaw
Scott Radock- State of Tennessee
Sierra Washington- Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County
Human Resources
Natalie Thibault- Amazon
Elle Benson- Nonprofit Leadership LLC
Kellye O’Connor- Asurion
Artetta West- Nashville Electric Service
Medical and Healthcare Services
Charles Avent- Parallon/ HCA Healthcare
Kelsey Gastineau- Vanderbilt University Medical Center
Dr Kristen Sharp- HCA Healthcare
Anjali Mukherji- The Dava Foundation
Technology
Kelly Brown- EvolveWare
Kristin Churchill- LBMC
Nathan Freeman- S3 Recycling
Elliot Johnson- Instacart
Wellness
Rosa Castano- Workplace Stress Solutions
Kimberly Struglinski- Heart of Wisdom Yoga
Jenna Wolf- The Lotus Room
About YP Nashville
YP Nashville is an initiative of the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce with more than 50 young professional organization partners working to connect, empower, and engage young professionals to actively shape the future of the Nashville region. For more information, visit http://www.ypnashville.org.
About the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Partnership 2030
The Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce is Middle Tennessee’s largest business federation, representing nearly 1,800 member companies. Belong, engage, lead, prosper embodies the Chamber’s focus on creating economic prosperity by facilitating community leadership. Established in 1990 as an economic development and community enhancement initiative of the Chamber, Partnership 2030 is a regional cooperative dedicated to making Middle Tennessee among the nation’s best places to live, work and do business. Partnership 2030 is supported by a diverse group of public and private companies as well as governmental agencies from the organization’s 10-county service area. The work of the Chamber is supported by its members, Partnership 2030 investors and sponsors; the Chamber’s Pivotal Partners (a partnership at the highest level for all Chamber programs and events) are BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, Community Health Systems, Gresham Smith and Regions. For more information, visit www.nashvillechamber.com.
Media contact:
Malick Gaye
Director of Public Relations
Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce
615-743-3111
mgaye@nahsvillechamber.com
