Changemakers Summit 2023

Nashville's Changemakers share advice they’d give their younger selves at the First Annual Changemakers Summit.

Changemaker

noun

One who desires change in the world and, by gathering knowledge and resources, makes that change happen.

Speakers

Tony Giarratana (KEYNOTE SPEAKER)

President, Giarratana Development

Tony Giarratana is a renowned developer and true Nashville Changemaker. From The Cumberland, to Viridian, Encore, 505, and more, he has transformed the Skyline and downtown living as we know it. The 505 made history when it opened in 2017 at 45 stories high, and Giarratana will break another state record when his 60-story tower at 1010 Church Street is completed.

Ashley Gatlin

Director of Warranty Group of America, Total Customer Satisfaction, Nissan Group of the Americas
Ashley Gatlin is the Director of Warranty Group of America responsible for vehicle warranty in
the U.S., Canada, and Mexico. She is responsible for assuring warranty service quality for Nissan
and Infiniti. She leads teams of data scientists, auditors, and financial experts, all working
together to assure a smooth end to end warranty process.
Prior to her current role, Ashley was the North American Director of Quality Process
Management, responsible for manufacturing standard processes and finished vehicle quality
assurance evaluations at the Smyrna, TN and Canton, MS Nissan Manufacturing facilities, and
North American vehicle ports of entry and export.
Ashley has worked for Nissan for over 21 years and held many roles including Senior Manager
of Production Quality Inspection, Pre-delivery Repair, Supply Chain Management, Warranty &
Important Process Engineering Manager, and Product Quality Assurance Engineer.
She led the first all-plant initiative in Smyrna to obtain external ISO-9001 certification. She has
overseen the Product Quality Inspection and Pre-delivery Repair teams with over 750
employees under her leadership. She has also managed Nissan design change coordination for
all models produced in the Smyrna, Canton, and Decherd facilities. Since 2016, she’s led the
initiative for North American vehicle recall campaign recurrence prevention and standard
compliance for assembly operation. Areas of expertise include vehicle static and dynamic
performance, quality assurance and standard compliance.
Ashley earned her BE in Mechanical Engineering from Vanderbilt University in 1998. She serves
on the Vanderbilt University School of Engineering External Advisory Committee for the
Department of Mechanical Engineering. She is a board member of the Christ Presbyterian
Academy Institute for Cultural Engagement Inquiry and Design Center, and a board member of
Deacon’s Destiny, a non-profit serving cancer patients. She is a Nashville native.

Brandon Ogles

Former State Representative, Tennessee General Assembly, and Owner, Branch Building Group

Deb Varallo

Owner, Varallo Public Relations

Deborah Varallo is founder of Varallo Public Relations a full-service marketing, social media, public relations, and crisis management firm. VPR provides support to professional firms such as architects, engineers, contractors, and the legal, financial, and healthcare industries. She has been featured in local, regional, and national publications, such as Fortune, Entrepreneurial and Bloomberg magazines.

She is on Wilson Bank & Trust’s Board of Directors, a nine-county, 29 branch community bank and serves on the bank’s finance, investment technology committees and chairs the bank’s marketing committee.

Some of Deborah’s honors include Nashville Post’s InCharge, Nashville Post All-Star Board, Society of Fellows for TEDxNashville, YWCA of Middle Tennessee as Woman of Achievement and Nashville Business Journal as Women of Influence, Donelson-Hermitage Chamber of Commerce Woman Owned Workplace Award, the Women’s Political Collaborative of TN annual award.

Deborah is president-elect of the International Women’s Forum – Tennessee Chapter. She serves on the boards for Nashville State Community College Foundation, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, and Catholic Business League.

Former board chairs/positions include: Leadership Middle Tennessee (LMT), Leadership Nashville Alumni Association, LMT Alumni Board, and Center for Nonprofit Management. Additional boards included: Nashville Rotary Club, The Women’s Fund, Catholic Charities of TN, YWCA of Middle Tennessee, and Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee.

She and her husband, Jim, live in Old Hickory Tennessee.

Johari Matthews

Programs Director, Tennessee Titans Foundation

Johari Matthews serves as the Director of Programs with the Tennessee Titans, overseeing the restructuring and advancement of the Titans Foundation. A role that was recently established by the Titans, this role serves as the primary liaison for community partnerships, neighborhood and community stakeholders and external government affairs. This role focuses heavily on all efforts surrounding the development of community programs and initiatives across Middle TN through a newly launched platform known as ONE Community. Prior to joining the Titans, Johari served as the Executive Director of the Northwest Family YMCA. During her tenure, she was recognized for her collaborative work with The BlueCross BlueShield Foundation as they opened the first of its kind $6.5M state of the art, inclusive BlueCross BlueShield Healthy Place Park on its grounds.
A graduate of Tennessee State University receiving her bachelor’s in psychology, she has spent 18+ years in the nonprofit and community engagement sector. In her personal endeavors she serves on various boards and committees including Corner to Corner, YMCA of Middle TN HBCU Alliance, Rotary Club of Nashville, and The Community Foundation’s Women’s Fund. She is a member of Junior League of Nashville and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. In 2020, she was named by the Nashville Business Journal as one of Nashville’s Top 40 Under 40 and has participated in leadership programs such as New Leaders Council and CEO Connect at Lipscomb University. A Nashville native, she and her husband reside in the historic Bordeaux community with their two amazing kids.

Dr. José D. González, DBA

Professor Management & Entrepreneurship, Belmont University

Co-Founder, Conexion Americas

I'm a man of many hats. I like it that way. Life is short, I like to stay busy and engaged.

At Belmont University, I love to teach and help aspiring entrepreneurship students make the dreams for their ventures come to life. Whether it's assessing the opportunity to launch a new business idea, or building a financial forecast for a possible social enterprise, you'll find me working with students in the Massey School of Business. WIth my students, I often lead international programs to study the intersection of economic development and entrepreneurship.

I am also one of the co-founders of Conexión Américas, a Nashville-based nonprofit organization dedicated to building a welcoming community and creating opportunities where Latino families can belong, contribute, and succeed. I was instrumental in the building of Casa Azafrán, the nonprofit collaborative at the gateway to Nashville's International District that houses Conexión Américas and nine other partners.

Liz Gatlin

Owner, Southern Athena

Liz Gatlin is a trusted Real Estate advisor, friend, and thought leader. She brings a wealth of knowledge to every aspect of Real Estate, Investing and Design.

As a Nashville Native, Liz started her career right out of college. Graduating a semester early as the Top Graduate from UTK’s school of Architecture, Liz purchased her 1st investment property at age 23 in the heart of East Nashville’s 5 Points district and it is now a bar!

Liz quickly fell in love with Real Estate and pursued her license. She began door knocking in Commercial Real Estate Sales. During her first year in business, she single-handedly completed 18 projects worth over $5 Million dollars, totalling 17,000 square feet of residential and commercial space.

Shortly after she founded her own boutique Real Estate development company - Southern Athena and today, she is TN’s only licensed Architect & Broker. Year over year, Liz has consistently doubled her production and now leads a growing team of Realtors, designers, contractors and builders on projects ranging from residential remodels and sales to commercial 500 plus unit mixed-use developments.

Liz serves as a leader in her local community and she loves helping people build wealth with Real Estate. You can find her having fun with her sweet son JT, matchmaking (yes she loves hooking people up), enjoying coffee, brunch, and margaritas with friends. Liz loves working with her middle school sweetheart and husband of 11 years towards her mission of “Building A Beautiful South”.

Matt White

The Culture Index

Are you confident that you are receiving maximum ROI out of your payroll? Do you have a human capital strategy to execute your business strategy? Culture Index teaches leaders how to architect a people strategy and activate the individuals who impact your success. We show you how to use practical tools that identify the “strengths” people bring to an organization and how to best use those talents to achieve your personal and business goals. To learn more, contact Matt White, mwhite@cultureindex.com

Meg Epstein

Founder & CEO, CA South Development

Meg Epstein is the founder and CEO of CA South, a commercial real estate development company with over a billion dollars under management. Born in California, but today calls Nashville home, Meg has over a decade of experience creating efficient, modern lifestyles for people where it matters most: their homes and neighborhoods. Developing and establishing spaces that support whole living and simplify home and work life for individuals is a personal passion of hers.

Tom Morales

CEO, TomKats Hospitality

Owner, The Southern Steak & Oyster, and Acme Feed & Seed

A Tennessee native, Tom Morales is the founder of the TomKats Hospitality. His love for the city and dedication to its continued growth has led to a number of nationally-acclaimed restaurants, including The Southern Steak & Oyster, Acme Feed & Seed, and Southernaire Market.

Growing up in Madison, TN with nine brothers and sisters, Morales learned to cook for a lot of people at young age. His passion for Music City was cemented from childhood when the whole family would pack into his dad's station wagon and drive from Madison to patronize the downtown Nashville businesses. Morales recalls the rounds including a stop at the longtime farm supply store the Acme where their three German Shepherds would get a free flea dip. And if the kids were good, a trip to the Woolworths for a milkshake before heading home.

After attending Auburn University, Morales opened a small barbecue joint in South Carolina where he gained invaluable lessons about food costs. He later moved to Destin, FL, to help a friend open seafood restaurant Harbor Docks, learning the ins and outs of the complex seafood industry.

In 1986, Morales founded TomKats as he recognized a gap in the market for on-location catering for artists and crews that provided healthy food made from scratch. As an early pioneer of the "farm to table" movement, Morales was locally sourcing ingredients and tailoring menus for on-location catering long before the concepts were culinary buzzwords. He began as a concert caterer for Nashville venue Starwood Amphitheatre, which he parlayed into movie set on-location catering. He has catered to the special dietary needs of everyone from Tom Hanks to Sandra Bullock, and his dedication to hospitality leads A-list celebrities, directors and producers to consistently request TomKats catering on-set.

Following whirlwind years of travelling the globe from set to set, Morales turned his attention to his home in Franklin, TN and opened the award-winning Saffire Restaurant, providing a respite for his road-weary crews, a training ground for new chefs and an award-winning culinary experience for locals. In 2003, Morales and a group of partners saved the iconic Loveless Café from being torn down. Morales led the charge in the revamp and rebranding of the restaurant that opened again 2004. The next project took Morales to Nashville’s SoBro District where he opened The Southern Steak & Oyster in 2012 to much critical acclaim. Applying his well-traveled lessons to his next venture, Morales opened the Acme Feed & Seed, a modern iteration of the classic Nashville honkytonk. Together with his partners, Morales rehabbed a 100-year-old iconic Nashville landmark to create a space that honors the past, present and future of the city, a leader in revitalization of the downtown Nashville riverfront. Morales extended the Acme Feed & Seed brand in 2016 with the launch of Acme Radio, an internet radio station providing an unfiltered and authentic voice of Music City, broadcasting live shows and unique programming via AcmeRadioLive.com. Morales continued his investment in downtown by opening the Southernaire Market next door to The Southern in 2015 - a Creole-inspired, artisanal market and deli featuring locally-made sundry goods, a butcher counter, craft brews and freshly made sandwiches and salads – aimed at servicing the downtown resident, worker and visitor alike.

Over the years Morales has been awarded many accolades, including being named on Restaurant Business’s Power 20 List (2016), Nashville Business Journal’s “Power 100” list (2015, 2016 & 2017), nominated for as “Entrepreneur of the Year” by the NEXT Awards (2015), and taking home the District’s “Spirit of the District” award (2014).

Tyler Cauble

CEO, The Cauble Group

Tyler began his career as the in-house leasing agent with a boutique development firm in Nashville, quickly taking on his first development project – 42 affordable and attainable townhomes for first-time homebuyers in Bellevue. Tyler founded The Cauble Group in 2018 to focus on commercial real estate brokerage in the East Nashville and Madison areas. Committed to helping business owners understand the market for business growth in Nashville’s future, Tyler is the best-selling author of “Open For Business: The Insider’s Guide to Leasing Commercial Real Estate.” He is also the founder of Hamilton Development, which focuses on unique neighborhood redevelopment opportunities that focus on the local community and small businesses.

Tyler is involved with the Entrepreneurs Organization, Real Estate Investors of Nashville, Nashville Chamber of Commerce, Urban Land Institutes, and Nashville Civic Design Center. He is the recipient of NBJ’s 30 Under 30, Nashville Posts’ In-Charge 2022, and a multiple NELA finalist. He serves as a board member for the Real Estate Investors of Nashville, the Dickerson Road Merchants Association and Historic East Nashville Merchants Association.