The Arts & Business Council of Greater Nashville (ABC) is thrilled to welcome seven new members to its board of directors. The new directors are Nolan Corder, Ely Jones, Dr. Megan Jordan, Leah Lowe, Trey McClarnon, Dana Sanders, and Leon Scioscia. Each will serve a three-year term beginning November 1, 2024. We’re also excited to welcome Brady Shipman with us this year as our Young Leaders Council (YLC) Board intern.
ABC fills an important and unique niche in Nashville’s cultural community as the first and only private sector organization dedicated to providing direct services, key opportunities, and education to help organizations and creatives of all artistic disciplines at all career stages. The full list of the Arts & Business Council board of directors can be found here.
LEARN MORE ABOUT ABC’S NEWEST BOARD MEMBERS:
Nolan Corder is Director of Economic Development at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce. In his role, he works with industrial companies looking to relocate or expand in the Middle Tennessee region. Nolan recently moved to Nashville from Richmond, Virginia, where he worked with the Greater Richmond Partnership. Before diving into the exciting world of economic development, Nolan pursued an acting career for several years in New York City. He graduated from the University of Alabama with a B.A. in Theatre and Psychology.
Nolan is originally from Huntsville, Alabama. In his free time, he enjoys spending time with friends and family as well as all things music, movies, and TV shows. He is a people person that loves laughing and engaging in conversations of any topic with people of all walks of life. He is also an avid poet.
Ely Jones is the Portfolio Strategy Manager at MARS for the Global M&M’S Ecosystem business unit and has over 10 years of experience in Project Management and Strategy. Outside of his professional career, he is a community leader serving and supporting various non-profit and young professional organizations, most prominently the Nashville Junior Chamber. A member since 2017, board member, and President, Ely has implemented various long-lasting initiatives for the organization such as Network Nashville, Social at Six, defining organization values, and implementing DE&I board chair and practices.
Originally from Birmingham, Alabama, Ely has a Bachelor of Science in Operations Management and a Master of Business Administration, both from the University of Alabama. Having lived in Nashville since 2014, he was a graduate of the Young Leaders Council in 2020, 2023 ambassador of Men Wear Pink, and board member of Family & Children’s Services. In 2022, Ely was selected to the 46th class of Leadership Nashville. Leadership Nashville is an independent executive program that strengthens Nashville through deep connections formed among diverse leaders while experiencing a three-dimensional view of the city. He served as part of the leadership team for the following class. His most recent accomplishment was being honored as the Nashville Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 for 2024.
Dr. Megan Jordan, PhD is a multidisciplinary artist and social scientist based in Nashville, TN. Through her paintings, murals, and textiles, she seeks to make complex, contentious topics more accessible to bridge social divides. Dr. Jordan has exhibited her artwork for the United Nations COP27 in Egypt, Nashville International Airport (BNA), National Museum of African American Music (NMAAM), Black Lives Matter Nashville (2020), and Planned Parenthood of Tennessee (2021), among others.
Since officially starting her artistic career in 2016, Jordan has exhibited her artwork in 40+ exhibitions and has served as an artist-in-residence for 6 organizations, including PolicyLink in Oakland, CA (2019), Vanderbilt Divinity School (2018 & 2022), among others. Jordan has been commissioned by major technology and entertainment companies including Amazon Music and Atlantic Records. In addition, Jordan is a community-engaged artist who has created 10 public artworks (murals and sculptures). Most notably, she served as a lead artist for the Nashville Black Lives Matter Street Mural on Woodland Street (2020) and as a lead artist assistant for a permanent installation at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport (2022). Jordan’s overarching goals are to create artwork that responds to this precarious time we find ourselves in, spotlight stories of hope, and make art accessible. Foundations have awarded her for her value-based artistic endeavors. Dr. Jordan is a 2021 national award-winning artist of the Tanne Foundation, a 2023 W.K. Kellogg Foundation fellow, and a 2022 fellow of the Soho House Creative Futures Collective.
Leah Lowe moved to Nashville in 2011 when she joined the Vanderbilt University faculty as the chair of the theatre department. Since then, she’s become a well-known director within Nashville’s rapidly expanding theatre community. Her artistic interests, on and off campus, include contemporary drama, new play development, community-based theatre, and performance that addresses issues of social justice. She was a co-collaborator and directed the world premiere of Sloppy Bonnie: A Roadkill Musical for the Modern Chick at OZ Arts Nashville in spring 2021. She has directed several plays for Actors Bridge Ensemble and was named “Nashville’s Best Stage Director” by the Nashville Scene in 2022 for ABE’s production of Tiny Beautiful Things. She staged the Nashville Shakespeare Festival’s 2022 production of Cymbeline.
In 2021, Lowe became the director of Vanderbilt’s Curb Center for Art, Enterprise, and Public Policy. In this role, she has spearheaded several interdisciplinary projects, including the Vanderbilt Eco-Grief Initiative which explores the emotional landscape of living with a changing climate through the visual and performing arts. At the Curb Center, Lowe, working with Dr. Jyoti Gupta and Curb Center Program Manager Rachel Thompson, has initiated the Arts+Urban Futures program, a series of workshops and discussions for arts administrators and leaders aimed at creating a sustainable eco-system for the arts in our city.
Trey McClarnon is a writer, producer, and filmmaker. Trey is also a seasoned legal expert with over 10 years of experience as a litigation attorney. Trey co-founded Best Part Productions with his brother, Chad, in Nashville in 2010. During that time, he’s co-written and produced six short films and the upcoming feature horror film The Other People. He is passionate about developing and supporting the film community in Nashville. He serves on the Nashville Music, Film, and Entertainment Commission, and has been an artist liaison for the Arts and Business Council of Nashville.
Dana Sanders serves as Pinnacle’s chief audit executive. She is based at the firm’s downtown Nashville office at Symphony Place.
Sanders, a member of Pinnacle’s Senior Leadership Team, began her career in financial services in 2002. She worked for KPMG LLP, where she was a senior audit manager until joining Pinnacle in 2009. She served as Pinnacle’s principal accounting officer prior to transitioning to her role as chief audit executive in 2020. Since becoming chief audit executive, she has built out a team of eleven auditing and banking professionals responsible for the internal audit function at Pinnacle. This team is charged with ensuring compliance with internal and regulatory expectations and also looking for process improvements to build a better bank for all.
Sanders earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Middle Tennessee State University, where she graduated magna cum laude. She is a Certified Public Accountant in the state of Tennessee and holds memberships in the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants and the Tennessee Society of Certified Public Accountants. Sanders served on the board of the Sexual Assault Center, is a member of Impact Nashville and was a member of the 2020 class of Leadership Nashville. A native Tennessean, Sanders and her family reside in Brentwood.
Leon Scioscia is the Vice President, Operations for the Tennessee Performing Arts Center. He provides leadership, and strategic direction, for the Operations Department which is tasked with the planning and execution of all Broadway, resident artistic partners, and rental performances in all TPAC performance spaces. He is directly responsible for: Technical/Production Services, Event Management; Security & Safety, Facilities and Food/Beverage, as well as being a part of the senior leadership team focusing on TPAC’s new performance home.
During the course of his career, he has worked with: Arena Stage, Herberger Theatre Center, John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, Library of Congress, Phoenix Theatre, Playhouse Square Foundation, Roundabout Theatre, Spoleto Festival, Strathmore Hall Foundation, Trust for the National Mall, and Workhouse Arts Center. His various executive roles, with these organizations, have allowed him to participate in signature events, such as the Kennedy Center Honors, and the Mark Twain Awards, as well as working on the Broadway, and off-Broadway productions, of Beyond Therapy, Isn’t It Romantic, K2, and Footloose.
Leon has a B.A. in English, from the University of Tennessee at Martin, a M.A. in Dramatic Arts, from the University of Iowa, and licenses. and/or certificates, from: Harvard Business School, George Washington University Law School, Leadership Montgomery’s Racial Equity Institute, and Leadership Maryland.
Always wanting to give back to the community, Leon has served on numerous local, state and national arts commissions, and panels, as well as serving on the board of directors for visitor and convention bureaus.
Brady Shipman (YLC Intern) is an administrative, learning, & communications specialist with 9 years of experience generating, launching, and maintaining high-impact initiatives and standards across artistic, community service, and manufacturing organizations within both non-profit and for-profit models.
Brady is an Office Manager at the Community Resource Center, and is part of the YLC Autumn 2024 Cohort.