We go farther together

Blake Tidwell is currently serving as Sr. Manager of Strategic Initiatives at PayPal. Blake has previously held multiple executive positions including CFO of a boutique legal consulting firm inNashville, TN and CFO of a healthcare services firm in Franklin, TN. Blake holds his MBA from the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and BBA from BelmontUniversity

Dr. Cate Loes is an Assistant Professor of Management at the Jack C. Massey College of Business Administration.Dr. Loes has taught courses in management, services marketing, non-profit marketing, service learning, business communications, and multi-culturalism in business. She is also an instructor for the Center of Executive Education at Belmont University, specializing inBusiness Communications, Listening, and Writing, Generations.

Hilary Hambrick Taft is the Academic Director of the Belmont Innovation Labs for Social Impact. A proud alumna of Belmont University (Class of ’13), Hilary began her global impact journey as a recipient of the Lumos Student Travel Award. Through this opportunity, she launched her career in rural Guatemala, working as an educator at a community development center and founding two social enterprises focused on sustainability and empowerment. Upon her return to the U.S., Hilary collaborated with the Mayor’s Office of Nashville to develop the city’s first summer youth employment program. She went on to support global social entrepreneurship through her work with Ashoka, contributing to strategic business development for country offices. Most recently, Hilary served as the Technical Specialist for Youth Issues at the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), where she represented the U.S. government in advancing youth-focused initiatives across low- and middle-income countries. Hilary holds an M.A. in International Development Studies from the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University and a B.A. in International Business from Belmont University. She lives in Nashville’s Glencliff neighborhood with her husband, daughter, and their rescue dog, Bow.

After 15 years ministering to youth, Randy Draughonlaunched into men's ministryat ChristPresbyterian Church. His five years there led to the planting of a new congregation in the heartof downtown Nashville in 2000. Meeting in the original Rocketown skate park, MidtownFellowship attracted college students, musicians and artists. Years later, Randy would lead thegrowing church through the transition from a megachurch model to their new mission--gospeltransformation through multiple congregations. Currently, the Midtown movement consists offour congregations throughout the city, as well as an urban farm and ministry in the Napiercommunity. Two more church plants are anticipated in the next 18 months. Randy passionatelyspends his time and energy recruiting and mentoring young pastors and leading the staff andthe Granny White congregation in Midtown's vision of discipleship--following Jesus, beingchanged by Jesus, and going on mission with Jesus.

Zoe is a marketing professional with a B.B.A. in International Business and anEntrepreneurship emphasis. While she was attending college, she was introduced to Enactus, an international organization for students interested in developing sustainable social enterprise. Through this organization, she had the opportunity to work on projects inGuatemala and Ethiopia and eventually served as international project manager and president of the organization at her university. After a trip to Ethiopia to develop business and marketing plans alongside Dr. Cate Loes, and the team at Women at Risk, she was able to experience the work African Leadership was doing with local community partners to drive sustainable, asset-based development across the entire continent.

Brad has more than 15 years of experience in banking, finance, and real estate, with a focus on helping organizations manage resources and make sound financial decisions. In addition to his professional work, he has served on the boards of several nonprofit organizations, including as Vice President of a hospital foundation, President of a community college foundation, and President of a Rotary club. Brad is an Air Force veteran and holds an MBA along with a graduate certificate in banking. He splits his time between Nashville, TN, and Okoboji, IA, and is the proud father of two daughters.

Myers specializes in providing executive leadership, managing strategic initiatives, mergers & acquisitions, optimizing operations and finance, establishing new operations, facilitating turn arounds, and fixing stuck or broken projects. Myers has spent his entire career helping others fulfill their dreams. His clients have collectively won many Grammy awards, secured many top radio hits, ran multiple profitable tours under his oversight, and leveraged business aviation to become more efficient. Over his career Myers has helped raise a half a billion dollars in capital and has supported a quarter of a billion dollars in mergers and acquisitions. Myers has formed well over 100 entities, served as contract CFO/COO for over 40 different companies through his accounting practices. Myers is a certified public account (CPA), private pilot with an instrument rating, drone pilot, and a veteran of the U.S. Army, where he served for five years. Myers earned a BBA in accounting from Belmont University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Stephen Gause is originally from Columbia, SC but has lived in Nashville since 1993, working professionally in the music business for 20+ years as a studio producer, mix engineer, and songwriter. He studied at Belmont University for his first four years in Nashville, graduating in1997. After graduation, Stephen toured full time with various musical acts. His longest tenure was with the band Jars of Clay with whom he crossed 48 states, Canada, Europe, and Africa. By the early 2000s, Stephen had come off of the road to settle into his studio business.

Emily Blackledge grew up in Boulder, Colorado, where homeschooling gave her the freedom to dive deep into early passions like worldview, global politics, and post-conflict development. After earning her bachelor’s degree at Belmont University in Nashville, she spent time in Washington, D.C. working with the President’s Initiative for Workforce Development before completing a master’s in international relations and African studies at Boston University. Since returning to Nashville in 2008, Emily has dedicated her career to international development, social entrepreneurship, and education. She joined African Leadership in 2010 to help expand training across Africa, including courses in biblical worldview, trauma healing, and community development. Building on years of partnership with local leaders, she later served as Vice President of International Program before stepping into her current role as President, where she continues to champion local ownership and capacity building. Emily and her husband, Rob, live in Nashville with their three boys—Fletcher, Judah, and Finn. As a family, they love traveling, hiking and trail running, and investing in their church community at Midtown Fellowship.