Board of directors

Jimmie Welch III is a service-oriented entrepreneur with a passion to help the planet. He currently serves as a Customer Success Manager with a global cyber-security company.
Jimmie has over a decade of experience in business development.

​He has worked with companies to reduce their carbon footprint by implementing large scale recycling programs. Jimmie was born and raised in Louisville, KY and has a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism from Western Kentucky University. He has called Nashville home since 2017.

Lisa Maxwell was born in Texas and has lived in multiple states, including Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York, before calling eastern Tennessee home since 2017. She has marveled at the beauty of the natural resources in each state, has come to respect those limited resources through education about ecosystems and environments, and is passionate about enhancing and maintaining those natural beauties through personal commitments and public education. Lisa has 25+ years of experience in Long Term Care (LTC), specifically in not-for-profit, mission-based nursing homes, as a licensed nursing home administrator, and is currently licensed in New York and Michigan. She was responsible for both residents and employees in each community, as well as all operations. After her last leadership position, Lisa joined The Green House Project™ for six years. As a Project Guide with the Green House Project™, she facilitated collaboration with organizations across the country to build small homes housing 12 or fewer residents by ensuring they met the regulatory, fiduciary, and cultural change initiatives necessary to build, maintain, and operate the homes in each state. Lisa Maxwell holds a PhD in Industrial and Organizational Psychology, focusing on leadership development and coaching, a Master of Business Administration with a concentration in International Business from The University of Texas (93), and a Master of Philosophy from Walden University (2021).

Erika Godwin-Saad is currently the environmental manager for Mars Petcare US, Inc. at the corporate office located in Franklin, Tennessee. Erika provides environmental regulatory support and technical assistance to 20 pet food manufacturing facilities operating in the United States. Her primary duties include oversight of the company’s environmental compliance and permitting, and support for facility engineering projects.

Prior to her work with Mars Petcare, Erika worked for six years with the Big Bear Municipal Water District in Southern California, managing lake water quality and nutrient remediation studies funded by Proposition 13 grants. Earlier in her career, she worked for a Tennessee-based environmental consulting firm, where she served as a project scientist, health & safety officer, and ecotoxicology laboratory manager.

Erika attended Texas A&M University, earning a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology in 1988 and also a Master of Science degree in Oceanography in 1991.

Don Safer is the former Chairman of the Board for the Tennessee Environmental Council. His 25 years in the natural foods business built his awareness of the causal relationship between environmental contamination and human disease. He is a member of “Know Nuclear in the TN Valley”, a group that educates community leaders, environmental advocates, public officials, and concerned citizens about nuclear waste, the nuclear industry, and the need to stop generating nuclear waste in Tennessee and to manage the wastes we already have responsibly. Don has provided expert testimony for the Tennessee state legislature concerning nuclear waste issues, and he is a frequent contributor to the Tennessean. Don is also an avid paddler and a board member of the Tennessee Scenic Rivers Association.

Don has a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology and Anthropology from Vanderbilt University.

Jennifer Wang is a strategy and operations business leader with a background in finance. She has spent the last 20 years working in investment banks, start-ups, and large corporates. Jennifer grew up in Los Angeles, CA, and has also spent time living in New York and London, England. Jennifer is also a meditation instructor and co-founded the Nashville POC Sangha, a meditation community for people of color. In addition to TEC, Jennifer is also on the boards of Turnip Green Creative Reuse and API Middle TN. She is a member of the Native American Indian Association of TN and the Global Wellbeing Economy Alliance. Jennifer has a Bachelor of Science in Finance from The University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

Jim has a background in Wildlife Biology and received his degree from the University of Stevens Point, WI. Jim has been fortunate to work on banding eagles and ospreys, reintroducing Trumpeter Swans in Wisconsin, and working with Chukar Partridges in Hells Canyon, Idaho.
Jim currently is the Vice President of Sales for Beeyonder, a Boston-based company that provides virtual tours for travelers. Jim has led teams in diverse industries throughout his career, including manufacturing, finance, hospitality, travel, and distribution. Jim’s mission is always to lead by example and focus on sustainability. Jim lives in Knoxville, TN, with his wife Diana, three dogs, and two children, and spends his free time hiking, biking, hanging out on the lake, and tending to his bees.

​Erica is a licensed architect who has dedicated her career to sustainability. Erica is the Director of Green Building Certifications at Paladin, Inc., a woman-owned direct-to-owner engineering firm specializing in green building consulting, commissioning, and building-envelope commissioning. Erica works with owners, architects, engineers, and contractors across the country to facilitate the use of sustainability rating systems. Erica has a keen ability to create synergies between disciplines and execute cross-disciplinary calculations to forward ideas. In October 2020, Erica was named a “Shero” in Courage by the US Green Building Council, for continuing to challenge the ‘business-as-usual’ thinking of the design and construction industry to make sustainability an embedded priority. In June 2021, during USGBC Live, Erica was recognized as one of two individual Regional Leaders in the USGBC’s “Big South” (15 states, from Maryland to Texas) for her ongoing leadership to create sustainable buildings and communities.

Clark is an experienced trial attorney at GSRM Law. The National Board of Trial Advocacy recognizes Clark as a Certified Civil Trial Specialist. Clark has been recognized as one of the Best Lawyers in America® since 2010, as well as in several other publications. Since 2003, Clark has also served as a law professor at the Nashville School of Law.

Clark is very active in community service. He is the chair of the Nashville Rotary Club Environmental & Sustainability Committee and is on the Executive Committee of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society Light the Night Walk, having served as the Corporate Walk Chair for LLS in 2019.

Clark is also an avid wilderness explorer. In 2002, he and his son, Cage, took a 186-mile wilderness canoe trip in the Yukon Territory, Canada. In 2008, Clark and his daughter, Anna, climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Since 2009, Clark and his wife, Norah, have traveled to Alaska annually for wilderness kayaking trips.

Jennifer Nash is a native Texan who moved to Nashville to attend Belmont University, where she earned a Bachelor of Business Administration with a concentration in music business and a Master of Business Administration. She has since worked in multiple roles in entertainment, advocacy, marketing consulting, and graduate medical education.

Starting as a college senior, Jennifer has worked to get recycling and other sustainability programs started wherever she has worked. She discovered a love for hiking and waterfall chasing in 2017, which helped to cement her environmental interests. She also uses the photographs from these hiking trips to showcase nature’s beauty and to inspire people to care about environmental sustainability.

Alex Larson is a sustainability advocate with a strong commitment to community-driven climate action. A Minnesota native, she has been actively involved with organizations such as Citizens Climate Lobby, the Eastern Rhode Island Conservation District, and the Nashville chapter of the Sunrise Movement. She holds a degree in Sustainable Systems Management with a minor in Soil Science from the University of Minnesota. Since moving to Nashville in 2024, Alex has been working at HCA, where she verifies data for emissions reporting and contributes to reducing hospital energy usage.

A native of Northern California, Amanda made Middle Tennessee her home after attending college in South Florida. She works at the intersection of STEM education, higher education, and K-12 education and outreach as the Assistant Director of the Collaborative for STEM Education and Outreach at Peabody College of Vanderbilt University. With training in biology, education, and organizational leadership, she has a diverse skill set and knowledge base. She is passionate about conservation, ecology, and sustainability. She is an active and engaged community member and volunteer. She is, and has been, a member of several boards and groups working toward making Tennessee more sustainable. Amanda’s organization, the CSEO, and her students have been working with the TEC for the past 11 years on community-engaged research projects.
 
She enjoys time outdoors, traveling, reading, listening to live music, and spending time with her husband, their sons, and their family dog.

Audrey Ramsey is a former broadcast journalist, a retired corporate marketing communications manager in the oil and gas industry, and a retired DuPont market segment manager. She is an author who recently published her first book, entitled The Return to Self: A Psychological Journey to Inner Peace, Forgiveness, Self-love, Joy, and Hope and a Pathway to Creating a World that Works for Everyone.

She strongly believes in working collaboratively to improve the environment and spaces we occupy on this earth. Whether it’s through the efforts of saving the plant life by preserving and planting trees or marine life through the efforts of cleaning up our streams, lakes, rivers, and oceans, or simply teaching through the efforts of educating our children and adults on the importance of protecting our environments, regardless of where you live—city or rural—life is interconnected.

She is currently the founder and board chair of the Chattanooga Aquatic Project and Personal Development, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit. CAP & PD’s mission is to teach urban children how to swim and expose them to the greater outdoors, including forestry, oceanography, and marine biology.

Audrey Ramsey is a product of the public school system in Chattanooga, Hamilton County, Tennessee. She holds an undergraduate degree in Communications from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK) and a master’s degree in Education. She is a longtime member of Unity of Chattanooga, a Christian, New Thought, non-denominational church and spiritual center.

Audrey’s lifelong philosophy centers around the beliefs and concepts of oneness. “We are all one vibrating on an energy level with the potential to achieve our greatest good.​

Katy is an energetic and inspiring healthcare operations leader focused on creating and implementing positive, productive work environments across multi-hospital service lines. She joined HCA Healthcare in 2011, specializing in facility implementations supporting the transition to electronic healthcare platforms. She is currently the Director of Operations for Workforce Health & Safety, focusing on the safety, health, and well-being of all HCA Healthcare colleagues across the country.

Katy received her Bachelor’s Degree in Business Management from Boise State University and is pursuing a Master’s Degree in Healthcare Administration.

Lee was born in Memphis, Tennessee, and grew up in a small city outside of Memphis called Arlington. He graduated from Middle Tennessee State University with a degree in Political Science and an M.B.A. from Bethel University. While at MTSU, Lee was a member of the NCAA Division I Track and Field Team. Lee is a spring 2008 initiate of Kappa Alpha Psi. Fraternity Incorporated. For the past eight years, Lee has been employed with Dell Technologies. His current role is a Sales Leader covering an East Coast territory, leading a group of 13 Account Managers. Outside work, Lee enjoys playing golf, weekly game nights with his nieces and nephews, and finding good podcasts.

Mallory Andrews is an environmental professional who has dedicated her career to improving the health of the oceans and the climate. She currently serves as Head of Verification Services for Cameron-Cole, managing a global team that has provided greenhouse gas verification services for over 1,000 carbon footprints. Mallory is an Accredited Lead Verifier for the California Air Resources Board, mandatory GHG emissions reporting and compliance offset programs, with specialty accreditations in Oil and Gas, Transactions and Livestock, and ODS projects. She holds accreditations in the reporting programs of Oregon, Washington, British Columbia, and Ontario.

In her free time, Mallory is a professional ballroom dance competitor and instructor at The Ballroom of Nashville. She competes and performs both professionally and with her students across the US. She also enjoys long-distance hiking with her partner and cattle dog and working on the farm.

Mallory holds a Master of Science from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) – Bren School of Environmental Science & Management, and a Bachelor of Science in Ecology, Behavior, and Evolution from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA).

Nathan Freeman is the Director of Business Development at S3 Recycling Solutions, one of the largest full-service technology recycling firms in Middle Tennessee and an Inc. 5000 fastest-growing private company. In his role, Nathan helps secure clients across the U.S. and Canada, offering businesses a hassle-free and responsible way to manage excess electronics while ensuring sustainability and data security.

A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Nathan earned his degree in Business Management in May 2022. Beyond his professional achievements, he is an active member of the Nashville community, serving on the boards of The Rotaract Club of Nashville—a young professional subsidiary of the Nashville Rotary Club—and the Nashville Chamber of Commerce YP Council.

Outside of work, Nathan is a certified private pilot who enjoys flying Piper Arrows. He also loves spending time with family, friends, and his dog, Nova.​

Warren Nevad, municipal management consultant, joined MTAS in April 1999. Prior to coming to MTAS, he served as city manager in Georgia and Florida. Nevad holds a master’s degree in public administration and a bachelor’s degree in business administration  In 2008, he cofounded the Tennessee Renewable Energy & Economic Development Council (TREEDC). He serves municipalities in middle and east Tennessee.