Thistle Farms Leadership Team - Thistle Farms (2024)

Becca Stevens

Founder & President

Tasha Kennard

Chief Executive Officer

Scott Ryder

Chief Financial Officer

Holli Anglin

Director of Job Readiness & Advancement

Kristin Beckum

Director of Founder's Outreach

Amanda Clelland

Director of Communications & Advocacy

Claire Coleman

Director of Grants & Research

KENNY CORBETT

Director of Logistics

Ally Parsons

Vice President of External Affairs

Ty Johnson

Director of Body & Home

Jeff Kelley

Director of Information Technology & Facilities

Kara Holzer

Director of Marketing

KATRINA ROBERTSON

Director of Sales

SHERRI RODDICK

Director of Business Development

SHELIA SIMPKINS-MCCLAIN

Director of Residential Services

COURTNEY SOBIERALSKI

Director of People and Culture

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Becca Stevens

Founder & President

Becca Stevens is an Episcopal priest, a speaker, justice advocate, and the founder and president of Thistle Farms. In 1997, Becca opened one recovery home for five women survivors from the streets to offer them free housing in a loving community for healing. Over twenty years later, Becca's work has helped grow Thistle Farms from its Nashville base to a national network of sister organizations and global partners. Becca has been named a White House Champion of Change, a CNN Hero, and holds numerous honorary doctorates and she has been featured on The Today Show, ABC World News, NPR and in the New York Times and has founded eight social enterprises to date.

Becca's active speaking helps grow the community of friends and advocates for Thistle Farms worldwide. Becca has written 10 books, her most recent, Love Heals, was published by Harper Collins.

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Tasha Kennard

Chief Executive Officer

Tasha is a native Nashvillian who brings a wealth of both non-profit and for-profit leadership experience to the Thistle Farms CEO role. Driven to serve the community, Tasha has led innovative solutions that simultaneously closed gaps for the underserved while lifting up entrepreneurs.

As Executive Director of the Nashville Farmers’ Market, Tasha led efforts to revitalize the 200 year-old beloved institution, including a $7 million renovation; establishment of small business incubation programs; and a statewide food-security program that doubled the buying power for EBT customers, and secured $1 million in grant funding during the pandemic.

Tasha has most recently served at Southall Farms, a farm resort and hospitality company, and has also served as Vice President of Marketing and Communications for Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee.

She is now grateful to call Thistle Farms home and put her hand to the healing and hospitality deeply engrained in its DNA.

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Holli Anglin

Director of Job Readiness & Advancement

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Kristin Beckum

Director of Founder's Outreach

Kristin is a wife, mother, daughter, sister, and friend. She spent 17 years in addiction and found her way home to Thistle Farms Residential, graduating in 2015. She is the Director of Founder’s Outreach, a travel agent, and has 3 amazing girls. Kristin is a grateful Thistle Farmer and her favorite part about doing this justice work is witnessing lives and communities changed all over the world from this global movement of women’s freedom.

She has authored articles featured in the Seattle Times, Crosscut, and Dignity Journal.

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Amanda Clelland

Director of Communications & Advocacy

Amanda is the Director of Communications and Advocacy at Thistle Farms, where she uses a trauma-informed approach to share the inspiring stories of the women the organization serves with compassion, and oversees the organization's public policy and advocacy work on the local, state, and federal levels.

She holds a BA in English from Middle Tennessee State University and MA in Public Relations from Southern New Hampshire University. Amanda's passion for storytelling and creating positive change through communications has led her to work in both government and nonprofit sectors for over a decade in legislative, membership, and media relations.

Outside of work, Amanda has volunteered her time and skills to organizations focused on women's health and supporting survivors of domestic violence, and enjoys reading and hiking.

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Claire Coleman

Director of Grants & Research

Contact Me

Claire Coleman is a dedicated nonprofit professional, having worked at the Jewish Community Center, YMCA, Sister Cities of Nashville, and most recently, Nashville Ballet. Claire bring to Thistle Farms her passion for supporting the community and nearly two decades of experience in the nonprofit sector.

Claire has a long lasting dedication to Thistle Farms as she has served as a volunteer with her students from Sister Cities as well as being a devoted customer of both the cafe and shop for many years. She brings her enthusiasm and passion for this community to her role as Director of Grants and Research.

Outside of work Claire is mom to three boys and an ultramarathoner. She spends her weekends running up and down the roads and trails of Nashville and loves to explore the world through her active pursuits.

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KENNY CORBETT

Director of Logistics

Kenny was a long time volunteer before joining Thistle Farms in 2018, after spending many years in the music business. He enjoys traveling and photography, using both to provide endless memories.

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Jeff Kelley

Director of Information Technology & Facilities

Jeff joined the Thistle Farms Community in 2020 after a consulting engagement to help assess IT needs. He fell in love with the community and the people and he decided to join full time because he wanted to apply his passion for service to others to the community. He also helped create a Facilities Department at Thistle Farms.Jeff has 14 years of experience in the IT Industry. He enjoys travel, sporting events and has a love of otters.

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KATRINA ROBERTSON

Director of Sales

If you carry Thistle Farms products in your store, you’ll have the good fortune to work directly with Katrina. A 2008 graduate of Thistle Farms Residential, Katrina has been in charge of the company’s wholesale accounts since 2007. Her long history with the organization and her nurturing personality make her an incredible support not only for customers, but for all her sisters at Thistle Farms. Her hospitality extends to her home life, too, where she can often be found hosting a barbeque or fish fry on her back deck, feeding and celebrating friends and family. She is an active member of her community, serving on the Board of Directors of Nashville CARES.

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SHERRI RODDICK

Director of Business Development

Sherri’s dedication to the Thistle Farms community goes back to almost day-one. In 2001, she read an article about Thistle Farms in the paper and heard a voice tell her “go.”

Since then, Sherri has served as a volunteer candlemaker, a sales contractor, and, now, the Director of Business Development. Through cross-country moves and career changes, Thistle Farm’s devoted sisterhood and mission to love others has kept her connected to the community.

In her current role as Director of Business Development, Sherri designs intentional customer experiences that help people around the world experience radial hospitality, love that heals, and, of course, smell good. Long term, she looks forward to working herself out of a job and seeing a graduate or resident take her place. Sherri is also a clinical aromatherapist and consults on scents for many of Thistle Farm’s products. Her favorite scent they’ve created is Bulgarian Lavender.

Sherri’s zest for life and love of people informs everything she does. She enjoys sailing and hiking with her family and cooking nourishing meals that bring people together— her banana pudding is beloved by the community. A lover of books and opera, she lives by the philosophy that “words matter” and dedicates herself to speaking life to those around her.

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SHELIA SIMPKINS-MCCLAIN

Director of Residential Services

Shelia Simpkins-McClain is a 2007 Thistle Farms Residential graduate. Her past trafficking experiences are the driving force behind her desire to help others who have experienced trafficking. Shelia serves on the Human Trafficking Advisory Council for the State of Tennessee, and is a survivor advocate for Grace Empowered, a court-ordered prostitution intervention program operated by the Nashville-Davidson County Office of the District Attorney General. In addition, Shelia completed the Human Trafficking Leadership Academy fellowship program in 2018.

She has a B.A. in Psychology and in 2021 graduated from the University of Tennessee–Knoxville with a Master’s in Social Work, with a concentration in Organizational Leadership.

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COURTNEY SOBIERALSKI

Director of People and Culture

Courtney grew up in a tight knit community where you never had to face challenges alone. Drawn to a similar feeling at Thistle Farms, Courtney started volunteering in 2012 and was quickly recruited to open the very first café.

For nine years, Courtney served as the Director of Café Services, opening a total of three restaurants and providing outstanding leadership to her team.

Courtney has always cared deeply about the people, culture, and mission of Thistle Farms. So, when the Director of Human Resources role opened up—her dream job—she was a natural fit.

In her new role, Courtney hopes to protect and scale the culture that makes Thistle Farms unique as we continue to grow. She aims to create a safer, more affirming, trauma-informed atmosphere where employees feel seen, heard, valued, and appreciated at work, regardless of their role in the organization.

A woman of many talents, Courtney is a musical theatre enthusiast, a hula-hooper, and has the voice of an angel. When not at work, you can find Courtney spending time with her husband, two daughters, and labradoodle Lyla, reading/listening to anything by Brené Brown or Glennon Doyle, or traveling to explore new places.

Jennifer Hutcheson

President

Ryman Hospitality Properties

Brooke Schiferle

President-Elect

United States Attorney's Office, Middle District of Tennessee

Maeve McConville

Treasurer

Retired Chief Financial Officer

David Thompson

Secretary

Neal & Harwell

JEFFREY BROWN

Tennessee State University

INGRID COCKHREN

ACEs Connection/TSU

JENNY FORD

JF Government Strategies

RACHEL GOLDZWEIG

Graduate Liason

Domus Nashville

CARLANA HARWELL

Community Leader and Volunteer

CHRIS LEWIS

Greenwood Capital Advisors

ANNIE ORTMEIER

Triple Tigers

WILLIE SIMS

Fellavision

KATHRYN WALKER

Legal Counsel

Bass, Berry & Sims

KATHI WHALEN

HCA Healthcare

Becca Stevens

Thistle Farms

Tasha Kennard

Thistle Farms

Samantha Pyle

Green Apple Strategies

Daina Storey

Parks Real Estate, Fisher Storey Consulting

Heather Meshell

Capitol Hill Advocacy LLC

Karen Thompson

HCA Healthcare

Peter MacDonald

Retired Honorable Judge

Heidi Hayne

Young Leaders Council Intern