The Contributor (https://thecontributor.org/author/judithtackett/)
Erika Burnett has a tremendous track record in community leadership in the private and public sector. Most recently she served as the VP of Community Development at the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and the Executive Director of The Village.
The Village was the brainchild of Ron Johnson and Dawn Stone. Johnson and Stone recognized the gap in capacity building that plagued minority-led nonprofits and made it hard for them to compete in the nonprofit field for grants and funding.
Bob Mendes served Nashville as an at-large member of Metro Council from 2015-2023, followed by a two-year stint as the Chief Development Officer in the Mayor’s Office.
It feels like the War on Poverty, which was launched in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson with the passage of the Economic Opportunity Act has turned into a War on the Poor. In early January, the Trump Administration announced the cut of $2 billion in grants from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), which falls under the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Due to a national public outcry, the administration reversed the grant cuts within hours. At local levels the damage was already done. Chaos was created among providers, and I have even heard of some agencies in Middle Tennessee that had already announced that grant-funded staff would be let go.
Shelter Court Is Helping with Recidivism for People Living on the Streets. Is it Helping Them Get Into Housing?
Judge Lynda Jones was elected to the bench on Aug. 7, 2014, and serves as the Division 9 General Sessions Court judge in Nashville-Davidson County.
For a year-end interview, we spoke with Whitney Pastorek, a writer and community organizer who most recently has served as the executive producer of City Cast Nashville.
Unseen Nashville is a street tour about homelessness, launched by The Contributor in 2025.
The city of Nashville is fighting to keep local homelessness programs intact and Nashvillians housed.
Ashford Hughes Sr. is the Executive Officer of Student Success and Opportunity for Metro Nashville Public Schools (MNPS).