Annual Breakfast - Neighborhood Health

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Improving the Health of Our Community!

Wednesday, September 25, 2024

7:30 AM to 9:00 AM

1900 Belmont Blvd, Nashville, TN 37212

Located in the Maddox Grand Atrium at Belmont University

Help support your local community by joining us for our annual fundraising breakfast. Guests will have the opportunity to come together, share a delicious meal, and learn more about the remarkable work done by Neighborhood Health. The morning will include inspiring speeches, testimonials from patients who have benefited from the organization’s services, and presentations from key members of Neighborhood Health’s team.

Directions to Belmont

Belmont Parking Map

Special Thanks to Our Esteemed Speakers and Organizations!

Dr. André Churchwell, a native of East Nashville, has made significant contributions that extend well beyond Tennessee. An accomplished physician, advocate, mentor, educator, and artist, he has dedicated his life and career to promoting equity and access by breaking down barriers in clinics, classrooms, and communities. His work has earned national recognition in engineering, medicine, and inclusivity.

As one of the first children to attend newly integrated schools in Nashville during the Civil Rights Era, Dr. Churchwell’s early experiences shaped his dedication to equity. He graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt School of Engineering in 1975, earned his medical degree from Harvard Medical School in 1979, and became the first African American Chief Medical Resident at Grady Memorial Hospital from 1984 to 1985. He completed his internship, residency, and cardiology fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine, where he also served as the inaugural Minority Affairs Officer and was named Most Outstanding House Officer.

In collaboration with colleagues at Emory and Georgia Tech, Dr. Churchwell helped develop the Emory-Georgia Technology Research Center, which later became the Emory-Georgia Technology Biomedical Engineering Program. In 1991, he returned to Nashville and joined the faculty at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, serving in various disciplines, including medicine, radiology, biomedical engineering, and cardiology. He also held positions as Vanderbilt’s Vice Chancellor for Equity, Diversity and Inclusion, and Chief Diversity Officer, among other leadership roles. Most recently, he has served as Senior Advisor to the Chancellor in Outreach and Community Engagement.

Dr. Churchwell’s initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion have been impactful, including launching the Hidden Figures Program and the Underrepresented Portrait Program at VUMC. He has received numerous accolades, such as the Walter R. Murray, Jr. Distinguished Alumnus Award, the 2010 Distinguished Alumnus Award from the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering, and the 2023 Diamond Award from the Not Alone Foundation. Modern Healthcare recognized him as one of its Top 25 Diversity Leaders.

Moreover, Dr. Churchwell has focused on inclusivity in patient care through adaptive education, addressing health literacy—a known predictor of cardiovascular outcomes. Approximately 90 million Americans have limited health literacy, and Dr. Churchwell has worked to improve the suitability and readability of cardiovascular patient education materials.

Continuously committed to service, both locally and nationally, Dr. Churchwell has held significant roles, including the southern representative for the Group on Diversity and Inclusion at the American Association of Medical Colleges and a trustee at Cumberland University. His artistic talents have also played a part in teaching engineering and medical students to utilize both creative and analytic skills to solve complex problems.

Throughout his career, Dr. Churchwell has been consistently recognized as one of the nation’s top cardiologists, receiving accolades such as the Professional Research Consultants’ Five-Star Excellence Award and being named one of the Top 15 Most Influential African American Health Educators. His peers honored him with the American Registry Most Compassionate Doctor Award, further highlighting his exemplary skills in both medicine and education. His ongoing contributions to biomedical engineering led to his induction into the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering in 2016. Dr. Churchwell continues to mentor young minority students aspiring to careers in medicine and science, while still practicing medicine with his trademark excellence.

The 2024 Annual Neighborhood Health Breakfast will honor Second Harvest Food Bank as a priority partner. For the past four years, Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle has partnered with Neighborhood Health to provide Food Pharmacies in 10 of their clinics. Second Harvest is able to provide a healthy mix of foods at each site, including shelf-stable foods, frozen meals, produce, and milk, and each Food Pharmacy follows a client choice model ensuring that patients can receive foods necessary to best meet their needs. This provision of food has a direct and beneficial effect as well as broader implications for the overall health of Neighborhood Health patients.

Second Harvest’s partnership with Neighborhood Health through their Food Pharmacy initiative addresses the intersection of hunger and health through meeting the unique nutritional needs of the patients served through Neighborhood Health’s network health centers. Food insecurity can have negative health implications. The goal is for our neighbors to thrive, the Food Pharmacy initiative bringing together excellent health care and nourishment for all is a step in the right direction to help achieve this.

Meet Nancy Keil, representing Second Harvest Food Bank. As the President & CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee, Nancy orchestrates a symphony of co-creation, radical hospitality, innovation, inclusion, and adaptability that resonates across Middle Tennessee.

Under Nancy’s dynamic leadership, and with the dedication and hard work of Second Harvest staff, donors, volunteers, and Partner Agencies, Second Harvest has taken a leading role in meeting the needs of hundreds of thousands of neighbors. Since taking over the role as President & CEO in 2019, Nancy has led Second Harvest through tornadoes, floods, and the pandemic. Nancy emerged as a beacon of resilience as the food bank faced its most challenging years since inception in 1978.

Her impact resonates beyond the Food Bank’s walls. She was recognized by her peers and Nashville Business Journal as a 2023 “Most Admired CEO”, in 2021 she was named a “Woman of Impact” by the Women in Numbers nonpartisan organization, and in 2020 she was recognized in Nfocus magazine’s “Model Behavior” and as one of the “Most Powerful Women”. She is a 2022 Leadership Nashville graduate and a 2019 graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee.

Nancy doesn’t just collect accolades; she plants seeds of change. Her hands are in many parts of our community, some of which include:

Tennessee Food Bank Association Board of Directors, Rotary Club of Nashville, The Table, International Women’s Forum, Belmont Executive Learning Network, Nashville Chamber’s Partnership 2020 and 2030, Secretary for Feeding America’s Southeast Region Food Bank Association, Steering Committee for Tennessee Alliance for Economic Mobility, Executive Committee of the Nashville Voluntary Organization Active in Disaster (VOAD), Tennessee VOAD member, Leader of Metro Nashville and Mayor John Cooper’s Food Security Working Group, Advisory Board for the Thomas F. Frist, Jr College of Medicine at Belmont University, Center of Nonprofit Management’s Board of Directors, US Global Leadership Coalition Advisory Committee, National Anti-Hunger Policy, and Nashville COVID-19 Response Steering Committee.

Before beginning her Food Banking and Nonprofit career, Nancy used her innovation and excellence in senior executive positions nationally and globally in the real estate and hospitality realms. Armed with an Executive MBA from Rockhurst University and a Bachelor’s from the University of Arkansas, she’s a force to be reckoned with.

Nancy is a seasoned adventurer, avid traveler, and loves to venture past her physical boundaries while enjoying the journey. She has lived in 8 states and South Korea; now living in Nashville, you can find her exploring our local parks.

Leisa Byars is a successful entrepreneur and an engaged community leader in Metro Nashville.

Leisa is a proven leader in the Early Childhood Education field and the proud Franchise Owner of five (5) Goddard Schools in the Nashville market, The Goddard School of Indian Lake Village, located in Hendersonville, TN, The Goddard School of Gallatin, TN located in Kennesaw Farms, The Goddard School of Murfreesboro, The Goddard School of Maryland Farms in Brentwood, and The Goddard School of Nashville Yards, located downtown Nashville are all owned by Leisa and her husband Del.

Under Leisa’s leadership, The Goddard School of Hendersonville has become one of the leading Goddard Schools in the country. While there are over 630 Goddard Schools in the US, the Hendersonville location has been an award-winning school. Representing the top 10% of Goddard’s across the country with winning the franchise Circle of Excellence Award multiple times. The award recognizes the top franchisees in the country for excellence in quality, financial success, and business acumen.

In addition, Leisa has won the Phillip Schumacher Award (Franchisee of the Year) and has twice won the Humanitarian of the Year Award from Goddard Systems.

Leisa is committed to bettering her community and currently serves on the Board of Directors for numerous non-profits including Leadership Middle TN Board (Chair-Elect), Goodwill Industries of Middle TN, and Volunteer State Community College Board Trustee.

In the past, Leisa has served as the Board Chair for United Way of Sumner County, the Hendersonville Chamber of Commerce, the Hendersonville Chamber Foundation, Nashville Rescue Mission, and Children Are People.

Leisa earned an MBA from The Wharton School of Business at The University of Pennsylvania (’95), where she majored in Marketing & Entrepreneurial Management. In addition, Leisa holds a MPP (Masters in Public Policy), from The University of Michigan (’93) and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics (1990) from Oberlin College.

Leisa’s professional career includes 9 years of experience as a Marketing Executive with Ford Motor Company in Dearborn, MI where she served as the Global Marketing Director for Ford Trucks & SUVs. Leisa and her family relocated to Brentwood, TN in 2004 when she accepted the position of Vice President of Marketing & Artist Development for EMI Christian Music Group (Capitol Records) located in Brentwood, TN. As the Vice President of Marketing, Leisa worked with industry leading artists including TobyMac, Chris Tomlin, Amy Grant, and Steven Curtis Chapman.

Leisa has been married to her husband, Del, for more than 30 years and they are the proud parents of Del Jr and Lauryn. The family has resided in Brentwood, TN since 2004 and are members of Mt. Zion Baptist Church in Nashville, TN.