Office Leader Courtney Chavez Named Leader in Diversity

Courtney Chavez, office leader and head of Pinnacle’s Middle Tennessee DEI Council, has been named a Leader in Diversity, Equity and Inclusion by the Nashville Business Journal.

She will be honored at the awards event in October for her significant contributions in DEI internally at Pinnacle and in the community. The qualifying criteria for being included on this prestigious list included a look at who is making progress, who has an idea that’s working and who is making change a priority.

“Courtney leads the Council and serves as a DEI expert and resource for Pinnacle’s Davidson and Rutherford County leaders on top of her primary role as financial advisor and office leader for our Murfreesboro Medical Center Parkway office,” said DEI Director Eddie Alford. “She’s a perfect example of Pinnacle’s approach to DEI as an integrated part of our vision, mission and business strategy. She leads by example, using her personal passion for this work to guide activities and events that make a positive impact on our firm. Because of Courtney and the Council she leads, Pinnacle is able to build even more highly engaged and effective teams by bringing people together for a common cause.”   

Chavez has led the 30-person DEI council in Middle TN since its inception in early 2021, spearheading the following initiatives:

• Living Room Conversations – Council members used the Living Room Conversations model to create a safe space for small groups of associates to engage in meaningful conversations on topics that promote connectedness, caring, understanding and trust. Under Chavez’s leadership, the Middle TN Council hosted 30 sessions in 2023
• Walk and Talk Connections - Council members invite another associate from a different background or different role from theirs to partner in a walk at a local park, around a track, around the building or in the parking lot. The goal is to develop meaningful personal connectedness while simultaneously creating a healthy habit.
• Women of Influence Panel Discussions – Hosted in person and virtually, these create a learning opportunity in a casual setting for associates to connect with women leaders (women of influence) within the firm. The result has been expanded networks and authentic mentor/mentee relationships, in addition to a greater sense of belonging across teams. Chavez initiated Pinnacle’s very first Women of Influence panel discussion with female leaders located in Nashville and Murfreesboro.
• Hidden Figures Leadership Conversation - Councils used the Hidden Figures movie as the backdrop for discussing ways leaders and associates can identify and tear down barriers between people from different backgrounds.
• DEI Forum – Chavez partnered with Pinnacle’s DEI Director Eddie Alford to execute Pinnacle’s first Associate and Client DEI Forum in 2023, which brought together 180 associates and clients to hear speaker Chris Singleton’s powerful message of love, forgiveness and unity. Singleton is a former professional baseball player whose mother was murdered in a mass shooting at a Black church in South Carolina. In 2024, author Howard Ross was the firm’s guest speaker, presenting about his book, Our Search for Belonging: How Our Need to Connect Is Tearing Us Apart.
• A DEI Roadshow with key Pinnacle leaders in Middle TN to create better understanding and higher engagement with our diverse recruiting approach and our diverse associate development approach. This led to an increase in market leaders encouraging associates to include DEI learning activities in their professional development plans.

Chavez also serves as a guest panelist for Pinnacle’s quarterly associate career development panel discussions.  In these discussions, she has helped associates understand how to develop their career at Pinnacle, which has a flat organizational structure that does not fit the typical “climb the ladder” approach to career development.

In Middle TN, Chavez’s work has contributed to and supported the following results as of March 1, 2024.

• 67% of our associates are minority, up 14% since 1/1/2022.
• 27% of Pinnacle’s Leadership Team members are minority, up 140% since 1/1/2022.
• 31% of Pinnacle’s leaders of people (managers) are minority, up 53.85% since 1/1/2022.
• 32% of Pinnacle’s Leadership Team members are women, up 46.43% since 1/1/2022.
• 54.12% of Pinnacle’s leaders of people (managers) are women, up 20.69% since 1/1/2022.