About Core Network Nashville
At Core Network Nashville, we believe everyone in education deserves the resources and community support needed to thrive.
Whether you are a paraprofessional, child care director, or educator, we know challenging and overwhelming it can be to continually provide high-quality, accessible child care day to day. We know finding the right resources for your unique teaching or business needs is actually pretty tough, because you have to sort through what’s relevant and up-to-date. That’s why we have created Core Network Nashville, a single place you can go to get to know all the resources and trainings available in the Nashville area.
Core Network Nashville is led by an Advisory Committee, which serves to grow, verify, and maintain the resource directory and events calendar, develop instructional content, build communities of practice, and produce the annual Ignite Conference. Together, we are connecting our resources for educators.
We’re powered by the United Way of Greater Nashville and Raising Readers Nashville
Core Network Nashville started as a collaborative group of educators dedicated to ensuring all early childhood educators, regardless of their role, received the support they needed to succeed in their professional careers. In 2023, Raising Readers Nashville’s Action Team 4 served as a supportive convener of this group. During this time, the team developed a formal name and identity with the goal of strengthening outreach to the industry.
Advisory
LEAD ADVISORS
- Elandriel Lewis, United Way of Greater Nashville
TEAM
- Flor Abarca, AIMHiTN
- Raygn Denton, AIMHiTN
- Meggie Duke, United Way of Greater Nashville
- Amy Fryer, King’s Daughters Child Development Center
- Ashley Jasinski, Tennessee Department of Mental Health & Substance Abuse Services, Regional Intervention Program (RIP)
- Ellen Lippman, TN Voices
- Rachael Milligan, Ayer’s Institute for Learning & Innovation, Lipscomb University
- Marie Preptit, Nashville Public Library
- Aliya Washington Smith, Metro Nashville Public Schools
- Belva Weathersby, Tennessee State University, TECTA
- Ruth Wharton, Schrader Lane Church
CONFERENCE ADVISORY
- Flor Abarca, Association for Infant Mental Health TN (AIMHiTN)
- Jana Crosby, Nashville Area Association for the Education of Young Children (NAAEYC)
- Meggie Duke, United Way of Greater Nashville
- Julie Gwinn, United Way of Greater Nashville
- Rion Humphries, Association for Infant Mental Health TN (AIMHiTN)
- Elandriel Lewis, United Way of Greater Nashville
- Susan Frizsell, FabFriz Education
- Zoe Matthews, Tennessee Child Care Resource and Referral
- Melanie Shinbaum, Community Foundation of Middle TN
Join the Advisory
Interested in supporting the Nashville area early childhood educator community? Complete the form to inquire about joining the Advisory Team.
