Board of Directors

PRESIDENT

Jenny Charles has practiced law in the criminal justice system since 2006 and currently works as an assistant district attorney where she advocates for victims of crime. She is specifically interested in gun violence prevention and in 2016, created “Violence Interrupted” which is a court ordered program to address the growing rate of gun crime in our city. A Nashville native, she graduated from Middle Tennessee University with a degree in Economics and the University of Memphis Law School. She is on the board of A Step Ahead, Nashville Bar Association and Project Return  and was selected for the 2017 Nashville Emerging Leaders class.

PRESIDENT ELECT

Tabitha Robinson  is a Staff Attorney for Nashville Electric Service, the eleventh-largest municipally owned electric system in the United States. Robinson’s primary practice includes workers’ compensation, bankruptcy, tort law, contracts, policy drafting, and internal affairs. In addition to her involvement in WPCTN, Robinson is co-chair of the Nashville Bar Association Diversity Committee, Second Year Director for the Lawyers’ Association for Women – Marion Griffin Chapter, Communications Secretary of the Donelson-Hermitage Neighborhood Alliance, board member for Sister Cities of Nashville, and advisory council member for W.O. Smith Music School. Robinson is a graduate of the University of Tennessee College of Law and Clemson University.

PAST PRESIDENT 

Stephanie Williams  is a graduate of Trevecca Nazarene University (BA) and the University of Tennessee-Knoxville (JD).  Her legal career began in 2000 at the Law Office of Manson, Jones & Associates.  Recognizing the importance and need for affordable, as well as effective, representation in the area of family law, she established the Family Justice Center in 2006 through a grant which she was awarded to assist low income families in family law cases.  In January of 2014, she began her role as Special Master of the Fourth Circuit Court of Davidson County, Tennessee after being appointed by Judge Philip E. Smith, where she currently serves.  Special Master Williams is currently a board member for New Level CDC as well as an executive board member for the Napier Looby Bar Association.  She can also be found volunteering in many capacities in and around the Nashville community, including, but not limited to, the homeless community, domestic abuse victims, and low-income families in need.

CO -VICE PRESIDENTS – LEGISLATION

Jenny Ford  has lobbied in the state of Tennessee for more than two decades. From international supply chain giants to manufacturing- telecommunications to healthcare to special interest associations, Jenny has invaluable experience working with a broad bandwidth of clients.  Over the last two years, Jenny has been a guiding force for clients within the changed face of government in the midst of a pandemic.

She has extensive experience working with regulatory boards and commissions, as well as the executive branch of state and local governments.

Jenny proudly serves on the Board of Directors of Thistle Farms and the TN Women’s Collaborative.

Heather Meshell

VICE PRESIDENT – POLITICAL PLANNING (DEMOCRAT)

Beth Joslin Roth  is a staffer in the Tennessee State Senate where she serves in the office of Senator Heidi Campbell. She previously served as Policy Director for The Safe Tennessee Project, an organization focused on gun violence research and policy advocacy. As Vice-chair of the Davidson County Democratic Party, she developed the “Good Trouble” legislative engagement and advocacy curriculum and has led a training workshops across the state over the last five years. A mom of two active teenagers, Beth serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board of the University of Tennessee College of Arts and Sciences and is a proud alumna.

VICE PRESIDENT – POLITICAL PLANNING (REPUBLICAN)

Lynn Maddox serves Vanderbilt University as the Special Projects Director and County Liaison for the division of Government and  Community Relations:  sustaining Vanderbilt’s relationships with local, county, state, and national communities. Identifying and cultivating partnerships with community groups, nonprofits, for-profits, businesses, and governmental associates, in Nashville and the 10-county region to increase the effectiveness of Vanderbilt’s outreach focusing on Vanderbilt’s Mission and Vision and the alignment of the University’s expertise, talent, and resources to help achieve the government’s and community’s priorities and needs in our growing and changing region. 

Active in community service, she serves as the Chair of the Metro Historical Commission, and on the Boards of the Nashville Parks Foundation, Cumberland Region Tomorrow, Friends of Fort Negley, TN Local Food Summit, and the TN Preservation Trust.

A Kentucky native, Ms. Maddox earned the B.A. in Communications from Newcomb College of Tulane University and the M.S. in Public Service Management from Cumberland University.

VICE PRESIDENT – PROGRAMS

Ed Lanquist is Co-founder of Patterson Intellectual Property Law.  Ed is a Chambers Band 1 attorney and has received recognition from Best Lawyers, Super Lawyers, and other sources. His practice is focused on patent, trademark, and copyright litigation, intellectual property counseling, trademark prosecution, and technology law. He currently chairs the board of Hands on Nashville and has been President of the Nashville Bar Association.  Ed also is extremely active in the legal community and with charitable organizations throughout the region. He serves on the board of several legal organizations and is the current General Counsel for the Tennessee Bar Association. His community service involvement is extensive, displaying his continuing commitment to the community at large.

 VICE PRESIDENT – FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT

Spencer Bowers is a West Tennessee native who has worked on more than 200 local, state, and federal political and non-profit campaigns. He owns a consulting firm, Bowers Strategies, specializing in communication and fundraising. Bowers lives in Nashville with his fiance, Charlie, and his dog Penny. He is active in the Tennessee State Museum Foundation, the Nashville Symphony, and many other non-profits in the community.

CO-VICE PRESIDENT MEMBERSHIP

Jolie Grace Warham seeks to empower more women and young people in civic processes, as well as ensuring that our civic processes are secure. A 2018 graduate of Emerge Tennessee, she represents State Senate District 20 on the Tennessee Democratic Party State Executive Committee, founded and chairs the Tennessee Democratic Party Cyber Safety Committee, and serves in leadership capacities of various organizations including the American Association of University Women (AAUW) Nashville and the Davidson County Democratic Women (of which she is President) in addition to the Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee. Jolie Grace works at Vanderbilt University where she is a member of the Executive Projects team within the Office of the Chancellor. She is also passionate about the arts, as she is an upright bassist and works closely with Community Arts of Bellevue, a local non-profit arts collaborative.

VICE PRESIDENT –COMMUNITY OUTREACH

Christine Pulle is the Director of Operations at Breakpoint Advisors LLC.  Her career has spanned IT consultant to campaign management, and non-profit programming.  She is a Nashville native, proud Metro Nashville Public Schools graduate (and now, parent), and went on to receive a Business degree from Texas Tech University.  She has served on several boards and in many volunteer roles over the years.  Her primary focus in volunteer work is to support children, families, and schools in the East Nashville neighborhood where she lives with her family.

TREASURER

Jim Shulman  has held a long career in Tennessee’s state government, serving in many different capacities including as lead legal counsel for the state Department of Finance and Administration, chief of staff for then-Speaker of the House Jimmy Naifeh, deputy commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Health, and as executive director of the Tennessee Commission on Aging and Disability.

In 1999, he was elected to the Metro Council (25th District), where he served two four-year terms and chaired the Budget, Transportation and Public Works Committees, prioritizing city funding accountability and emergency preparedness.

In 2015, he was elected to the Metro Council as an At-large member and served in this position until May of 2018 when was appointed as Nashville’s Vice-Mayor. He was then elected as Nashville’s 9th Vice Mayor after a 2018 special election to fill the remainder of the term. He was re-elected in 2019 for the new term, and continues to serve in the position.

He currently serves as CEO of Safe Haven Family Shelter, the premier shelter-to-housing program in middle Tennessee that accommodates families experiencing homelessness.

SECRETARY

Mary Katherine Bratton  is a Team Lead for the Office of General Counsel at the Tennessee Department of Environment and Conservation, focusing on legislation, rules, audit, and Tennessee’s beautiful parks and natural areas.  She previously spent ten years at the Tennessee Department of Health, Office of General Counsel.  Her role there evolved from a member to the Deputy of the team pursing disciplinary cases to combat inappropriate prescribing, and in 2017 to Chief Deputy General Counsel overseeing the attorneys who advise and pursue disciplinary actions before the 36 health related boards.  She and her husband Ian, a born and raised Tennessean, have made Nashville their home since 2011. 

PARLIAMENTARIAN

Arshia Saiyed  is a graduate of Centre College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. A alum of Teach for America-Nashville, Arshia is a school administrator at Nashville Classical Charter School. She lives in West Nashville with her husband Michael and is a member of the Islamic Center of Nashville, 12 South location.

AT- LARGE MEMBERS

Julia Baker  is a founding partner of BFT Land Design, a full-service landscape architecture firm with projects throughout the Southeast.  After relocating  to Nashville nearly 30 years ago, Julia Baker, a New Orleans transplant considers herself a local. She is proud to be a Belmont University graduate, a business owner, and an enthusiastic and active volunteer and member of several organizations making a difference in Nashville. For years, she has joined her energies with organizations that are making a meaningful difference and impact in the Middle Tennessee community.  Julia has been and continues to serve on the boards of The Women’s Political Collaborative, All About Women, Nashville Children’s Theater, Nashville Cable, Dismas House – Nashville, and The Breakfast Club of Nashville.  Most recently she was a graduate in the 2021 class of Leadership Middle Tennessee.

Nancy Krider Corley  is a practicing attorney with Corley Henard Lyle Levy Langford PLC specializing in civil litigation; a fellow of the Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations; charter member of LAW and TLAW, CABLE, and the Caucus; and commissioner appointed by Tenn. Supreme Court for Tenn. Lawyers Assistance Program. She previously served on the Sumner County Commission, Hendersonville Planning Commission, Sumner County Planning Commission, Sumner Regional Health Systems Board of Directors, Dede Wallace Mental Health Center Board of Directors, and was named Outstanding County Legislator in 1999. She was a member of the 1977 Tennessee Constitutional Convention serving as Middle Tenn. Vice President and was named an Outstanding Young Women of America in 1978. She serves on the Board of Directors for Children Are People, Salvus Center, Inc., PATHS Education Worldwide, and she is the Vice President of the Board of Choices Recovery, Inc. She is past President of the Hendersonville League of Women Voters and one of the first members. She has been on the faculty of Nashville School of Law since 1985 and was honored as the Faculty Honoree in 2002. Every July, Nancy serves as a volunteer teacher in an orphanage in Bulembu, Swaziland, Africa.

Quynh-Anh Kibler  is an associate attorney at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, where she works as a general commercial litigator. Before joining Waller, she served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable W. Neal McBrayer in the Tennessee Court of Appeals in Nashville and to the Honorable J. Steven Stafford, presiding judge of the Western Section of the Tennessee Court of Appeals.  Quynh-Anh attended the University of Memphis for both her bachelor’s and law degrees.

Diane Lance  has dedicated most of her career focusing on family violence. Her passion, determination and leadership have put Nashville at the forefront of innovation in collaboration models to keep victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, human trafficking, child abuse and elder abuse safe and holding offenders accountable.

After leading the Nashville District Attorney Office’s Domestic Violence and Child Abuse Units, in 2008, Diane was hired as special counsel to then-Mayor Karl Dean. In this role, Diane heard community members expressing concerns for how Metro Government was responding to the safety and offender accountability needs of domestic violence victims. Given her history as a former domestic violence prosecutor, her job priorities turned to creating an overarching system change for the city of Nashville.

As part of this change effort, Diane led a citywide Safety and Accountability Assessment that involved over 100 community members and survivors.  The result of this Assessment was a comprehensive report recommending and implementing changes needed within Nashville’s law enforcement and judicial systems to better protect and assist victims of domestic violence. 

Diane currently serves as the department head for Metro’s Office of Family Safety, reporting directly to Nashville’s Mayor.  

La Quita Martin  began her interest in legislation as an intern at the Tennessee General Assembly during college. Her advocacy work includes forming the Coalition on Smoking or Health to promote anti-smoking legislation, Public Policy Coordinator for the Tennessee Coalition of Alzheimer’s Associations and currently serves as the State Public Advocacy Chair for Tennessee on behalf of NCJW, Inc. Advocacy is her passion, but additional professional work has been running her own company, Information Management to provide legal research and information management for law firms and corporations.

A true Nashville native having lived here her entire life as well as attending Vanderbilt University for her first two degrees. She completed a Masters in Public Service Administration in 2012 from Cumberland University.

Kate Boston Melby originally from Lawrenceburg, is a third generation trial attorney and a ninth generation Tennessean. Kate was an Assistant District Attorney for over 6 years in Davidson County before transitioning into private practice in Criminal Defense in January of 2021. In her spare time Kate enjoys spending time with her husband and two year old daughter. 

Elvira Rodriguez is an attorney at Waller Lansden Dortch & Davis, LLP, where she focuses her practice on employment-related immigration law. Prior to joining Waller, Elvira served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Office of the District Attorney General/Nashville-Davidson County where she was responsible for prosecuting domestic violence and related offenses. Elvira earned her J.D. from Vanderbilt University Law School, where she served as President of the Immigration Law Society, and she earned her B.A. in English from Florida International University in her hometown of Miami, Florida.