Do you wonder if you are faithfully working in your sphere of influence? Join us for teaching, tools, and stories about practicing work faithfully as we host dialogues with professionals from various industries.  

• Date: Thursday, December 6, 2018

• Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

• Location: Adele's (1210 McGavock Street, Nashville, TN 37203)

• Food: Full-course lunch

Join us as NIFW Executive Director Missy Wallace interviews Jay Cherry, General Manager at Open Door, and Kevin Roddey, Senior Vice President of Pinnacle Financial Partners, about the various opportunities and tensions both have experienced as “faithfully working” leaders. Though not sitting in the CEO chair, both Jay and Kevin have forged unique paths by shining light on darkness with specific projects in their organizations. Come learn more about their corporate responsibility to increase profits amidst their Christian desire to love people, places, and things to life.

About the Lunches
We use a practical theological framework to identify the inherent goodness of work, its outcomes, and the deeper questions it asks of us. The gatherings provide glimpses into common struggles and philosophical differences, and seek to foster the hope that emerges when we come to expect more from God within our work. Let’s work on faithfully working at work.

Jay Cherry

Jay is currently the General Manager at Open Door in Nashville. Prior to joining Open Door, he led a team of 700+ people across 3 states as a Division Vice President with DaVita. He was born in Franklin, TN, grew up in Florida, and returned to Nashville in 2013. Jay and his wife, Diana, spent two years after college living in Haiti, where they started a business, learned Haitian Creole, and developed a strong affinity for fried goat. Jay holds an MBA from Stanford and a B.S from the University of Florida. He and Diana have two incredible kids, Finley (age 6) and Shepherd (age 3), and live in East Nashville.

Kevin Roddey

Kevin Roddey is the Senior Vice President of Pinnacle Financial Partners. Earning a BA in Economics from Washington and Lee University and MBA from Owen Graduate School of Management at Vanderbilt University in 2002, Kevin has served as Assistant Vice President at SunTrust, Executive Account Manager of Investment Scorecard, and Vice President of Endowment & Foundation Services at SunTrust/Trusco. He was a Financial Advisor at Citi Smith Barney before transitioning to Pinnacle Bank in 2009.

Kevin serves the community as Board Chair of Friends of Warner Parks Board of Directors and as a board member of the Nashville Entrepreneur Center and Family and Children’s Service. He is also a member of the current class of Leadership Nashville.  Kevin has two sons (Coleman-14, Hughes-11) with his wife, Paige. When not working, Kevin can be found enjoying hiking, cycling, and camping with his family.

Do you wonder if you are faithfully working in your sphere of influence? Join us for teaching, tools, and stories about practicing work faithfully as we host dialogues with professionals from various industries.  

• Date: Thursday, October 25, 2018

• Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

• Location: Adele's (1210 McGavock Street, Nashville, TN 37203)

• Food: Full-course lunch

Join us as NIFW Executive Director Missy Wallace interviews James Granberry, Partner at OakPoint, and Erick Goss, CEO of Creative Trust, about the ebb and flow of entrepreneurship. Both professionals bring a breadth of knowledge and various experiences working faithfully to start and run organizations in distinctly different industries.

About the Lunches
We use a practical theological framework to identify the inherent goodness of work, its outcomes, and the deeper questions it asks of us. The gatherings provide glimpses into common struggles and philosophical differences, and seek to foster the hope that emerges when we come to expect more from God within our work. Let’s work on faithfully working at work.

James Granberry

James is a founding partner of OakPoint Investments. His efforts center on managing the company’s $350 million investment portfolio across the US, in addition to maintaining relationships with investor partners.  He is a Texas native, Furman graduate, and Vanderbilt MBA holder with expertise in portfolio and asset management, financing, acquisitions and dispositions.  James is married with three girls (2,4, and 6) and when he isn’t working or attending tea parties with his girls, he likes to read, play golf, or listen to his latest favorite podcast. 

Erick Goss

Erick is CEO and Co-founder of Creative Trust Ventures where leads all retail, e-commerce, online video, and mobile operations.  At CTV, he launched JellyTelly, a new children’s digital network, and subscription video-on-demand platform and, in partnership with VeggieTales creator Phil Vischer, launched the bestselling video series Buck Denver Asks…What’s in the Bible?. 

Before co-founding Creative Trust Ventures, Erick served as Chief Marketing Officer at Magazines.com, an Internet Retailer Top 500 Company, and as Senior Manager of Books at Amazon.com.  At Amazon, Erick managed North American Book Buying, Marketing Data Mining, Customer Loyalty & Retention, and Books Product Management. He was instrumental in the launch of Amazon’s first e-book and print-on-demand businesses, Amazon’s Visa Card and the Super Saver Shipping program. 

He began his career as an officer in the U.S. Navy where he flew helicopters and was a Pentagon spokesperson.  He graduated with honors from the U.S. Naval Academy with a B.S. in Computer Science.  He has an MBA with honors from the University of Michigan and an M.A. in International Relations with honors from Troy University.  Erick serves as an Adjunct Professor for Internet Marketing at Vanderbilt University’s Owen Graduate School of Management.  He is married and has three daughters.

Influence. Regardless of our industry, our hierarchical position in an organization, or our family role, we all have influence. But, do we consider it a resource to steward?

Stewarding Influence, featuring Andy Crouch

• Date/Time: Thursday, October 4, 5:30-8:00 p.m (Program begins at 6:15 p.m.)

• Location: Clementine (4710 Charlotte Ave, Nashville, TN 37209)

• Food/Drink: Heavy hors d'oeuvres, wine, beer, and soft drinks

According to esteemed author and former editor and producer at Christianity Today, Andy Crouch, "Two common temptations lure us away from abundant living—withdrawing into safety or grasping for power."

Do you grasp for power? Do you withdraw? Can you leverage your influence for the good of all?

"True flourishing travels down an unexpected path: being both strong and weak."

Come explore your influence and understand how you can be both Strong and Weak. Andy Crouch will provide the tools to help you marry both your authority and your vulnerability in ways that will create opportunities for those around you to flourish.

Reserve your spot and invite a friend to join you today.

THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS

Andy Crouch

Andy Crouch is partner for theology and culture at Praxis, an organization that works as a creative engine for redemptive entrepreneurship. His two most recent books—2017's The Tech-Wise Family: Everyday Steps for Putting Technology in Its Proper Place and 2016's Strong and Weak: Embracing a Life of Love, Risk and True Flourishing—build on the compelling vision of faith, culture, and the image of God laid out in his previous books Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power and Culture Making: Recovering Our Creative Calling.

Andy serves on the governing boards of Fuller Theological Seminary and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities. For more than ten years he was an editor and producer at Christianity Today, including serving as executive editor from 2012 to 2016. He served the John Templeton Foundation in 2017 as senior strategist for communication. His work and writing have been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Time, and several editions of Best Christian Writing and Best Spiritual Writing—and, most importantly, received a shout-out in Lecrae's 2014 single "Non-Fiction."

From 1998 to 2003, Andy was the editor-in-chief of re:generation quarterly, a magazine for an emerging generation of culturally creative Christians. For ten years he was a campus minister with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship at Harvard University. He studied classics at Cornell University and received an M.Div. summa cum laude from Boston University School of Theology. A classically trained musician who draws on pop, folk, rock, jazz, and gospel, he has led musical worship for congregations of 5 to 20,000. He lives with his family in Pennsylvania.

Do you wonder if you are faithfully working in your sphere of influence? Join us for teaching, tools, and stories about practicing work faithfully as we host dialogues with professionals from various industries.  

• Date: Thursday, September 20, 2018

• Time: 11:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.

• Location: Adele's (1210 McGavock Street, Nashville, TN 37203)

• Food: Full-course lunch

Greg Adams has earned the respect of many, first as a long time executive at IBM in posts around the globe and more recently as the Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee.  Throughout his career he has extensively pondered what “working faithfully” looks like. Join us as NIFW Executive Director Missy Wallace interviews Greg about his various positions and the opportunities and tensions he has experienced as a “faithfully working” leader.

About the Lunches
We use a practical theological framework to identify the inherent goodness of work, its outcomes, and the deeper questions it asks of us. The gatherings provide glimpses into common struggles and philosophical differences, and seek to foster the hope that emerges when we come to expect more from God within our work. Let’s work on faithfully working at work.

Greg Adams

Greg Adams serves as Chief Operating Officer for the State of Tennessee.  He joined the governor’s senior team in July of 2013 after working for IBM for 36 years.

Adams was a member of the company’s senior leadership team, most recently as a managing director in the financial services sector.  Throughout his time at IBM, he held positions in sales, marketing, operations, reengineering & quality, and general management.

Early in his career he spent two years in Knoxville as branch manager of IBM’s East Tennessee operations and then moved to Nashville where he was regional manager of the Mid-South region.  After that he served as managing director of operations and board member for IBM Japan in Tokyo.

In 1994 he moved to New York where he held a variety of senior executive positions related to IBM transformation initiatives.  His 11 years in New York included roles from general manager of process industries for IBM North America to vice president of small and medium businesses for Canada, United States and Latin America.  He moved to Atlanta in 2005.

In the governor’s ongoing effort to make Tennessee the best managed state in the nation, Adam’s role is to work with state departments to ensure they’re operating in the most efficient way possible.

Working outside the home, working inside the home, married, single - with so many important roles to fill, why are women criticized and discouraged for their work-life choices?

Faith, Work and Women: Encouraging One Another

• Who: Women of all ages and stages
• When: Tuesday, September 4, 6-8:30 p.m.
• Where: Cabana (1910 Belcourt Ave, Nashville, TN 37212)
• Food: Buffet provided, Cash bar
• Price: $10 per ticket 

Join Women's Ministry at Christ Presbyterian Church and the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work for an honest conversation aiming to empower and encourage all women that their work - paid, unpaid, volunteer, or in-the-home - matters to God. We will provide a space where women of every age and stage can connect to listen and discuss the standards, pressures, and misconceptions they experience regarding their work-life choices.

The program panel will consist of women in the following areas: a mom who works full time outside of the home, a mom working in the home, a single professional without children, and an empty nester who is transitioning into a new season of work. Our hope is that women will leave not only confident in what they do, but also motivated to encourage other women to know that no matter where they are in life, their day-to-day work carries dignity and purpose.

Timeline of Event

• 6:00-6:30 - Registration and Networking
• 6:30-7:00 - Dinner is served
• 7:00-8:00 - Program begins
• 8:00-8:30 - Q&A

We look forward to seeing you there.

Interested in learning more about Gotham, our flagship nine-month faith and work intensive? Join us for a morning interest meeting on May 8 at the offices of the Nashville Institute for Faith and Work.