2025 ATD Nashville Board

president_elect@atdnashville.org

Shelly Reed
President-Elect

Shelly Reed is a Talent Development professional currently seeking her next opportunity.  With 15 years of learning and development experience, she has gained expertise in many different areas of L&D. She has a passion for leveraging technology to enhance learning outcomes, as well as data & analytics and gamification.

Shelly has a B.A. in Organizational Communication and Public Relations from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, and holds a CPTD certification issued by the Association for Talent Development. In her free time, she loves to read, travel, cook, check out restaurants in the Middle Tennessee area, and spend time with her 3 rescue dogs: Traveler, Pickles, and Zoey.

past_president@atdnashville.org

DeAnne Priddis
Past President

DeAnne (Dee) is an Associate Professor of Communication Studies at Middle Tennessee State University. She has a PhD in Communication (UW Milwaukee) and a MS in Human Resources Training & Development. Her research includes interpersonal and group conflict in families and organizations. Priddis has over 15 years of corporate and nonprofit professional experience primarily in human resources and training prior to her career in academics. She specialized in developing and facilitating onboarding programs and safety training. She is also a Tennessee Supreme Court (TSC) Rule 31 Mediator.

finance@atdnashville.org

Sydney Corkern
Vice President of Finance

Sydney Corkern is a graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, where she earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Retail, Hospitality, and Tourism with a minor in Business Administration. She began her career in hospitality, leading diverse teams, which ignited her passion for learning and development.

Sydney has implemented career development workshops and business optimization projects within her current organization and serves as the Chair of the Young Professional Employee Resource Group. Her main focus and goals are to continuously learn and develop herself and her community, sharing knowledge and opportunities broadly. Sydney holds a certification in Six Sigma (Yellow Belt) from the CRI-Mager Consortium and is currently pursuing PHR certification.

membership@atdnashville.org

Tamara Jones
Vice President of Member Experience

Tamara Jones is a proud two-time graduate of Tennessee State University where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration and a Master of Professional Studies with a focus in Human Resource Leadership. She has over 16 years of professional experience in housing asset management, human resources, and training. Currently, she serves as the Training and Development Specialist at the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. In this role, she provides individual career counseling, new hire engagement, management, and execution of all training offerings within the organization.

As a staunch believer in professional development, Tamara remains intentional about seeking out opportunities to enhance her knowledge base and stay abreast of current trends. Resultingly, she holds a SHRM-CP certification issued by the Society for Human Resource Management in addition to a Training and Facilitation, Instructional Design, and Adult Learning Certifications from the Association for Talent Development.

Tamara’s volunteer efforts speak to her passion for giving back to her community; most recently, she’s working along with Big Brothers Big Sisters Middle TN as a Mentor and Budget Coach for Habitat for Humanity. When she is not working, she finds joy in, reading, traveling, and cuddling with her fur babies Lola and Red.

marketing@atdnashville.org

Karen Baird
Vice President of Marketing and Communications

Karen Baird has over 20 years of service as a marcomm professional in diverse industries including nonprofit, publishing, higher education, and healthcare. She developed her passion and interest in organizational and talent development through a decade of work at MIT where she honed skills via projects including employee engagement and retention initiatives, developing and facilitating onboarding programs, and student mentorship/intern management with an emphasis on career development.

She currently works as a Curriculum Developer for the Center for Health Care Services where she develops training programs for clinical and administrative employees.

Karen holds certifications in Conflict Management Training from Conflict Resolution@MIT, Talent Optimization from Predictive Index, Instructional Design from ATD, and Social Media Marketing from Boston University. She is a Yellow Belt in the globally recognized Six Sigma methodology where practitioners focus on continual process improvement. She is currently pursuing her APTD Certification from ATD. Karen earned her B.A. in English from Columbia College, South Carolina and an M.A. in Publishing and Writing from Emerson College, Boston. In her free time, Karen enjoys spending time with her family and friends, traveling, reading, dancing, swimming, and playing ukulele.

programs@atdnashville.org

Hope Nordstrom
Vice President of Programming

Hope Nordstrom serves as Special Counsel to the President for Strategy and Associate Professor of Strategic Leadership at Lipscomb University. She is an experienced educational leader with expertise in strategic planning, organizational effectiveness, leadership development, and employee engagement. Hope is a values and habit coach with a passion for helping others maximize professional capacity. Additionally, she assists faculty members in implementing best practices for online teaching and learning. Hope has an Ed.D. in leadership and professional professional practice from Trevecca Nazarene University and her bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Tennessee Technological University.

conferences@atdnashville.org

Becky Stottlemyer
Vice President of Conferences

Becky Stottlemyer is the Director of Education and Training at Advocate Capital, Inc., where she brings a wealth of experience and a passion for empowering others. She holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Criminal Justice Administration, is a certified paralegal, a certified Professional Life Coach and a QuickBooks Certified ProAdvisor. Additionally, she has completed the Dale Carnegie Course, earning the Highest Award for Achievement, a testament to her dedication and capability as a leader and educator.

Becky is deeply inspired to foster positive relationships. She focuses on equipping individuals and organizations with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in their personal and business objectives.

She is a member of her local Junior Service League and enjoys volunteering her time to support local organizations. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her husband, their grown son, and the family dog, Zak.

community@atdnashville.org

RaShondalyn Nixon
Vice President of Community Relations

RaShondalyn Nixon, LBSW, serves as the Program Education and Outreach Specialist in the Rental Assistance Department of the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency. She is experienced in conducting outreach activities and identifying the best interventions for those in

need. RaShondalyn has a proven track record of leadership, growth, and consistently exceeding goals, having developed her expertise through a diverse range of employment opportunities. She has several years of experience in project management, event coordination, and establishing

and maintaining communication among families, community partners, and schools. Additionally, RaShondalyn provides case management and develops service plans.

In her previous role, she supervised a team of Job Coaches, utilizing a teamwork approach by providing leadership, support, training, and scheduling for both her staff and the clients they served. She also worked one-on-one with individuals with disabilities, assisting them with job

skills training to help them enter or re-enter the workforce. RaShondalyn is driven by her core values: Family, Faith, Wisdom, Service, and Honesty.

lbaker@atdnashville.org

Lisa Baker
Member-at-Large

Lisa Baker is a Program Manager in Talent Management at Brookdale Senior Living where she is responsible for developing leaders (both current and aspiring). For 20+ years, Lisa has designed, developed, and delivered learning experiences, facilitating and coaching learners both in-person and virtually. Lisa has a B.S. in English Education from Tennessee Technological University and an M.S. in Library Science from the University of Tennessee.

Her certifications include Senior Professional in Human Resources (SPHR), Everything DiSC, Lee Hecht Harrison coach, and practitioner of the Korn Ferry competency model and 360 feedback instrument.