University prominently featured on Nashville Post’s 2025 list of people who make the city work
Twenty-four members of the Belmont community were named to Nashville Post’s “In Charge 2025” list, a dynamic collection of movers and shakers in Nashville at the heart of making the city function and thrive. Honorees include current faculty and staff members, alumni, university leaders and board members across 19 industries.
2025 Honorees
Convenors Category
Clark Buckner — Buckner is a Belmont alumnus (‘13) and adjunct professor. He is also a founding partner of the award-winning podcast production agency, Relationary Marketing.
Education
Greg Jones — As president of Belmont, Jones has led the University since 2021. Under his leadership, Belmont opened several new buildings including new residence halls, the Jack C. Massey Center and the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine which houses Nashville’s newest medical school.
Agenia Clark — Clark serves as the 18th president of Fisk University. She previously served as CEO of Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and worked for Tennessee Education Lottery and Vanderbilt. Clark currently serves on the board of trustees for Belmont.
Watechia Lawless Mitchell — Mitches serves as Director of Children and Youth Initiatives for Office of the Mayor under Freddie O’Connell. She graduated from Jack C. Massey College of Business with her MBA in 2002.
Finance
Bradford Vieira — Vieira is a Belmont alumnus (‘97) and the regional president and CEO of ServisFirst Bank Nashville.
Food
Cordia Harrington - Harrington is the founder/CEO of Crown Bakeries and serves as a vice chair of Belmont’s Board of Trustees. She is the namesake of Belmont’s Harrington Place Dining in the Johnson Center, which was named in her honor in 2016. In November 2024, the University announced a $10 million lead gift from Harrington to establish The Cord- Powerhouse, a new center for entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation slated for completion in August 2026.
John Hunt - After graduating from Belmont with degrees in Liberal Studies and Psychology (‘08), Hunt and his wife Vui co-founded the Vietnamese-inspired restaurant Vui’s Kitchen in 2016.
Sarah Worley - Co-owner of local coffee chain Biscuit Love with her husband Karl, this double Bruin earned her bachelor’s degree in accounting ('13) and MBA in accounting and finance ('15) from Belmont.
Health Care
Anderson Spickard — Former Vanderbilt University Medical Center exec became dean of Nashville’s newest medical school, the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine in 2023 ahead of welcoming its first class of students in fall 2024.
Bill Frist — Frist is a co-founder and partner at Frist Cressey Ventures and serves on the advisory board of the Thomas F. Frist, Jr. College of Medicine. A serial entrepreneur and former U.S. Senate majority leader with a background in transplant surgery, he launched the venture capital firm in 2016. Additionally, he founded the health equity nonprofit Nashville Health and holds a special partner role at the private equity firm Cressey and Company.
Legal
DarKenya Waller — Waller is the executive director of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands. She has led a public service law firm since 2018 and her work during the pandemic included legal support for renters facing eviction. Waller is an adjunct professor at Belmont’s College of Law.
Politics
Yuri Cunza — Cunza, an alumnus of Belmont’s Watkins College of Art (‘03), is president and CEO of the Nashville Area Hispanic Chamber of Commerce.
Media
Steve Cavendish — Cavendish is the President and Editor of the Nashville Banner. He graduated from Belmont with a political science degree in 1993, and he was editor of The Vision student newspaper.
Mentors Category
Harry Allen — A Belmont double alumnus ('04, ’10), Allen serves as the executive vice president for financial excellence & chief financial officer prior to serving as the co-founder and chief relationship officer at Studio Bank — the first locally headquartered bank launched in Nashville since 2008.
Music
Mike Curb — Curb, founder and chairman of Curb Records, is a former California lieutenant governor, songwriter and producer. In 2003, Belmont established the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business in his honor, and in April 2024, Curb and the Mike Curb Foundation made a historic $58 million donation to Belmont, the largest in university history, to expand the Curb College’s presence on Music Row.
Stephen Eaves — Trained conductor and dean of the College of Music and Performing Arts, Eaves leads over 1000 faculty, staff and students across the college.
Mike Sistad — Sistad graduated from Belmont in 1992 and is the vice president of the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers (ASCAP). With over two decades’ experience in performance rights organizations, he has also contributed to The Recording Academy, Operation Song and the Association of Independent Music Publishers.
Nonprofit
Corinne Bergeron — Bergeron is CEO of the Frist Foundation, which offers grants to local nonprofits to use for use across their operations. She earned her degree in political science from Belmont in 2004.
Real Estate
Todd Alexander — Alexander graduated from Belmont in 1996 and is now principal and director of Real Estate Services at Southeast Venture.
Eric Pyle — Owner and president of Bell Construction, Pyle holds a mini MBA certificate from Belmont.
Sports
Scott Corley — Belmont’s director of athletics, Corley was a star basketball player during Belmont’s NAIA era and led the school’s transition to Missouri Valley Conference in 2022.
Technology
Aaron Salow — Salow is CEO of XOi Technologies and was part of the 2023 Inc. 5000 list of fastest-growing private companies. Salow graduated from Belmont with an MBA in 2012.
Sean Wright — Wright is founder and president of Affinity Technology Partners. Wright graduated with a degree in computer science in 1995.
Transportation and Logistics
Butch Eley — Eley currently serves as deputy governor and commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Transportation. Eley is a double Bruin, earning both his BBA and MBA from Belmont ('84, ’93).
Spanning categories from the arts to finance to health care, Belmont is cultivating leaders of all kinds to positively impact the diverse and expansive community it serves. Evident by its wide representation on the "In Charge 2025” list, the University continues to stand as a beacon of leadership within Nashville.
If you were listed on Nashville Post’s “In Charge 2025” but were not featured in this story, please email communication@belmont.edu.