EAST TENNESSEE FOUNDATION - Key Persons


A. David Martin

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Honorary Lifetime
  • Retired Founder, Martin & Company

Adam Waller

Job Titles:
  • the Pat Summitt Foundation Director of Operations

Adrian Jay

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Special Projects Consultant, Howard H. Baker Jr. Center for Public Policy

Amy Cathey

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Associate Dean for Graduate and Executive Education, Haslam College of Business at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Angelia Nystrom

Job Titles:
  • Contributor to the Knoxville Bar Association 's DICTA
  • Ex - Officio
  • Immediate past Chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation
  • Vice President of Advancement and Chief Legal Counsel
Angelia Nystrom, J.D., LLM, joined East Tennessee Foundation as Vice President of Advancement and Chief Legal Counsel in October 2023. Most recently, she's practiced law as a shareholder with Long, Ragsdale, and Waters, P.C., focused primarily in the areas of estate planning, fiduciary administration, charitable planning, and probate administration. She was previously with the University of Tennessee Foundation, Inc., for 12 years, spending the last eight as Executive Director of Specialty Programs for the University of Tennessee Institute of Agriculture (UTIA). Before UT Foundation, she was an attorney in private practice for nearly 18 years, spending the last 11 years at Baker Donelson in their Nashville and Knoxville offices. Angelia received her law degree from Mercer University and was a visiting scholar at the University of Tennessee. She received an LLM in Estate Planning and Elder Law from Western New England University in Massachusetts. Her experience includes charitable gift planning, estate planning, estate and trust administration, real property transactions, conservatorships and guardianships, general corporate matters, probate litigation and use tax litigation. She is a frequent lecturer on estate planning, probate, and elder care issues. Angelia is the immediate past Chair of the Tennessee Bar Foundation and has been a member of its Board since 2015. She is the three-time Chair of the Tennessee Bar Association's Estate Planning and Probate Section and has served as President of both the Knoxville Estate Planning Council and the Smoky Mountain Planned Giving Council. She received the Tennessee Bar Association's President's Award in 2014 for her work as producer of the Legal Handbook for Tennessee Seniors, 2014 Edition. Angelia is a frequent contributor to the Knoxville Bar Association's DICTA, and her columns have been published as a hard-cover book, Legal Ease and Life Hacks: Essays on Pursuits of Excellence. In her spare time, Angelia enjoys floral arranging and is a member of the Knoxville Garden Club. She is active in several swimming-related organizations and is the current President of the Greater Knoxville Area Interclub Swimming Association (GKAISA), Board member for University Swim Club, and previously served as Board Secretary for Tennessee Aquatics. Angelia is married to former Knox County Commission Chair Hugh Nystrom, and they have a son, Trace, who is a student at the Webb School of Knoxville.

Ashley Siferd Butler

Job Titles:
  • Director of Competitive Grants

Barrett Simonis

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • President, Pugh CPAs

Beth Heller

Job Titles:
  • SPECIAL PROJECTS ADVISOR

Bobbie Y. Congleton

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Honorary Lifetime

Bruce Hartmann, Sr. - Chairman

Job Titles:
  • Chairman

Bryce Walden

Job Titles:
  • Receptionist

Carolyn Schwenn

Job Titles:
  • Special Advisor

David V. White

Job Titles:
  • Community Volunteer

Denise Dean

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Executive Director, East Tennessee Freedom Schools

Diondre Jackson

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Founder, Penultimate Development

Donde Plowman

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Chancellor, University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Drocella Mugorewera

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Consultant, the Diversity Trust Builder

Harry Gross

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Greater Knoxville Market President and Commercial Lending Leader Knoxville / Tri - Cities, Truist Bank

Hugh Nystrom

Job Titles:
  • Knox County Commission Chair

Jackie Slagle

Job Titles:
  • Senior Financial Administrative Officer

Jeanette Kelleher

Job Titles:
  • Special Advisor

Jessica Renfro - COO

Job Titles:
  • DIRECTOR of OPERATIONS

John Johnson

Job Titles:
  • CONTROLLER

Karen Walker

Job Titles:
  • Vice Chair

Katharine Killen - COO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Operating Officer
  • Vice President of Programs

Kay Clayton

Job Titles:
  • Community Volunteer
  • Member of the Board of Directors

Keith Barber - President

Job Titles:
  • President
  • Ex - Officio

Kiran Singh Sirah

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors

Kris Yarlett

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Financial Advisor, Edward Jones

Matt Schaefer

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • President and CEO, East Tennessee Children 's Hospital

Melissa Tschanz - CFO

Job Titles:
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Vice President of Finance

Morgan Vance

Job Titles:
  • the Pat Summitt Foundation Director of Strategic Initiatives Advancement

Natalie L. Haslam

Job Titles:
  • Community Volunteer
  • Member of the Honorary Lifetime

Nathaniel Shelso

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Relationship Manager, Private Banking, FirstBank

Patsy Carson

Job Titles:
  • Community Volunteer
  • Member of the Board of Directors

Precy Sturgeon

Job Titles:
  • Financial Administrative Officer

Rachel Schott

Job Titles:
  • Director of Scholarships

Richard Dapaah

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Head of Business and Corporate Development, SPARKZ Inc

Richard Roberts

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors

Rocio Huet

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Director of Integrative Medicine, University of Tennessee Medical Center

Sam Albritton - Treasurer

Job Titles:
  • Treasurer

Sam Fowler

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Honorary Lifetime

Stephen Rosen

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Managing Director in Fixed Income Capital Markets, Raymond James and Company

Steve Darden

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Managing Partner, Hunter, Smith & Davis, LLP

Susanna Hoskins

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • Supervising Producer, RIVR Media

Traci Sisson

Job Titles:
  • Fundholder Services Officer

Trudy Hughes

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Board of Directors
  • CEO, Arrowmont School of Arts and Crafts