Nashville Pride has announced Brad Bennett as their 2008 Pride Board President.  Bennett has been involved with Nashville Pride for the past three years, first as a volunteer, then as secretary, and last year as its CFO.

Bennett moved to the Nashville area 10 years ago to attend MTSU where he obtained his masters in Business Administration. After graduating, he found he had more free time on his hands than he was used to, and through friends, started volunteering with Nashville Pride.

Outside of his volunteer work, Bennett is employed by Verizon Wireless as a human resources manager.  Prior to that, he has worked in several different HR positions for Marriott.

“I am very excited about 2008," states Bennett. “This is the 20th anniversary of the festival in Nashville, and I am honored that I have been asked to serve as president during this milestone year. We have several new events planned, as well as a revamping and re-branding of a couple of events.  The growth that I have seen in the three years I have been involved with Pride has been amazing, and I would like that continue in 2008.”

Despite the typhoon like conclusion to the 2007 Pride Festival, more than 14,000 attendees participated in the days events. The pride committee and the event’s vendors (along with water sales, hospitality tent, etc) indicated that the event was well on pace to exceed any of the previous attendance records before the rain hit.

The 2007 festival was still profitable, however, in that it was able to cover all expenses and commitments from the festival itself and for the remainder of the year.  But, as with any non-profit organization, the two things that are always needed are volunteers and funding.  As the committee moves into the planning stages for 2008, they are already in need of volunteers, whether it’s for a couple of hours, a couple of days, or through the entire year.  Anyone interested in participating is asked to please email the committee at info@nashvillepride.org or call 615-650-6736. 

Along with Bennett, the Pride Board announced the following new individuals to the 2008 Board:

• Vice-President – Doug Sladen
• Secretary – Brian Widmar
• Chief Financial Officer – JR Reynolds
• Membership/Volunteer Chair – Stephen Evans
• Members-at-Large: MAC, Josh Baker, Randall Roop, Scott Ridgeway, Keith Kidwell, Kane Bach

“I am very excited about the knowledge, skills and interests the new board members bring to the organization,” Bennett added.