Project Transformation Tennessee Announces 2023 Board of Directors
Nashville, Tennessee (January 23, 2023) – Project Transformation Tennessee announces the 2023 board of directors, welcoming three new board members and a new slate of officers.
The 2023 board officers are: Scott Medsker, Chair; Haley Smith, Vice Chair; Zach Moffatt, Secretary/Governance Chair; Steve Flora, Treasurer
The 2023 new members voted to serve a three-year term are:
Emily Dougherty is an experienced healthcare leader with a sincere passion for improving healthcare for all. She leads market operations in Delaware for Wayspring, a value-based care company that focuses on the substance use disorder population. Prior to joining Wayspring, Emily was an Executive Director at naviHealth where she led operations for a multi-state region and grew an operational analytics team. Emily is a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham where she received her Master’s in Public Health degree, and she is also a graduate of Xavier University where she received undergraduate degrees in Economics and Spanish. In her spare time, you might find Emily spending time outdoors, baking, traveling, or cheering on her favorite sports teams.
Jefferson Furtado is a native of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He began his journey in the United States in Holly Springs, Mississippi, graduating from Rust College, a historically black liberal arts college and one of our United Methodist higher education institutions. He later received a Master of Divinity with a concentration in Church Renewal from United Theological Seminary. He also holds a post-graduate certificate in Homiletical Peer-Coaching through Vanderbilt Divinity School. An ordained elder in full connection, Jefferson brings a diverse work experience having served in local congregations, a United Methodist general agency, a corporate setting, and an institution of higher education. He also has had extensive involvement and years of service participating in local, district, conference, and general church boards, leadership teams, and cohorts. Jefferson currently serves as a Ministry Associate with the Tennessee-Western Kentucky Conference of the United Methodist Church.
Reigen Lemelle-Tuggle has 16 years of extensive healthcare experience, serving in a variety of human resources leadership roles across HCA Healthcare. Since August of 2021, Reigen has served as the vice president of human resources for HCA Healthcare’s TriStar Skyline Medical Center. Previously, Reigen held the vice president of human resources role at Southern Hills Medical Center. Reigen completed her undergraduate degree at the University of Memphis with a Bachelors of Arts in English; she was also a member of the Sigma Tau Delta Honor Society. She completed her Masters of Business Administration in 2008. Reigen lives in Brentwood, TN with her husband, Ken, and three children, Kennedy Marie (13), Kinsley Marie (10), and Karsen Michael (8). They enjoy spending time together traveling, frequenting new restaurants, and attending sporting events. Passionate about service within the community, Reigen has volunteered with Junior Achievement ‘JA in a Day’ Program, Light the Night for Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, American Heart Walk for American Heart Association, and a former board member for American Cancer Society.
Patrick McAnally is Senior Community and Civic Engagement Manager at AllianceBernstein (AB). In this role, Patrick leads the firm’s Community and Civic Engagement efforts to engage its people and leverage its resources to support AB’s communities worldwide. He oversees the firm’s multiple philanthropy programs, volunteering initiatives, nonprofit board participation efforts, employee gift matching program, and the civic engagement program. Prior to joining AllianceBernstein in 2021, Patrick worked as the Director of Community Engagement and Vote Tennessee for Leadership Tennessee. His work focused on convening Leadership Tennessee members and communities around action-oriented conversations on issues of statewide importance and encouraging more Tennesseans to register to vote and participate in elections. Patrick holds a B.A. in Law, Justice, and Society and his M.A. in Conflict Management from Lipscomb University. He is an active member and serves on the board of West End United Methodist Church member, serving as co-chair of the Lay Leadership and LGBTQ+ Inclusion committees. Patrick volunteers with Habitat for Humanity, Harpeth Conservancy, Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, The Nashville Food Project, and Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.
John Seehorn is a member at Bass, Berry & Sims PLC in Nashville, where he focuses his practice on commercial financing and real estate related transactions. He is a 1991 graduate of the United States Military Academy and a 2001 graduate, summa cum laude, of the University of Tennessee College of Law. Prior to beginning his legal career, John completed seven years of service as an officer in the United States Army, graduating from the United States Army Flight School as a UH-60 (Blackhawk) pilot. He served with the 2nd Infantry Division, Camp Stanley, Korea, the 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and the 3rd Infantry Division, Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia. John, his wife, Melissa, and their daughters, Ellie (20) and Caroline (17), are members of Franklin First United Methodist Church.
Melissa Seehorn knows Project Transformation from many angles – a committed volunteer, a mom to a former PT young adult intern, and as a retired literacy specialist. Melissa graduated from the University of Florida with a bachelor and master’s degree in education with a specialization in reading and literacy. An experienced educator, she taught kindergarten and first grade in a public school setting, along with pre-k and preschool. She is a member of Franklin First United Methodist Church where she serves with Room in the Inn and children and youth ministry. Melissa is the mother of two amazing daughters—Elle, a student at Grinnell College (and former PT fellow and intern!), and Caroline a senior at Harpeth Hall (and former PT volunteer!).
Ronda Spivey was born and raised in a small town in Arkansas. She obtained a degree in Chemistry from Hendrix College in 1989. She married her college sweetheart in 1990 and, after a few years of working in biomedical research, she found her true calling as a stay-at-home mom. When the youngest child left for college, she decided to return to school and obtained a degree in law. She has been a licensed attorney in Tennessee since 2020. Ronda is a member of the Murfreesboro Breakfast Rotary Club, Tennessee Bar Association, Tennessee Lawyers Association for Women, and is an active member of First United Methodist Church in Murfreesboro. She and her husband David are the proud parents of Kathryn Paige, a veterinary surgical resident at PVSEC in Pittsburgh, Hannah, a speech-language pathologist in NYC, and Reed, a senior software developer and Reed’s wife Hannah, a designer for Dillard’s, who live in Little Rock. In her spare time, Ronda enjoys cooking, reading, traveling and trying to improve her newly discovered hobby of golf.
Carlos Uroza serves as pastor of Woodbine United Methodist Church and executive director of Cosecha Community Development. Carlos not only has the heart for community, but he also has the extraordinary gift of being able to connect people from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Carlos is an innovative thinker who enjoys gathering people around the table, especially in the Woodbine Community where he has been serving for the past decade. Carlos has the unique ability to combine creativity with practicality to provide inspiration for others. After arriving in the USA from Mexico, Carlos earned his GED, B. S. in Culinary Management from the Art Institute and Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt. He and his wife, Dr. Sarah Uroza, have a seven-year-old son Luke and a dog named Tamale (Molly).
They join returning board members Sammy Ballesteros, Star Brumfield, Jennifer Carlat, Mary Clark, Cynthia Davis, Drew Lamb, Theresa Masnik, Deborah Smith, Kathi Whalen, Lacy Wilson, and Ellen Zinkiewicz. Ex-officio members are Gary Hawkins, Janie Luna, Lynn McAlilly, Jeff Rice, and Vona Wilson.
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Project Transformation’s mission is to transform communities by engaging children, college-age young adults, and churches in purposeful relationships.
