(she/her)

"Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced."- James Baldwin

Andrea Blackman serves as the Chief Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Officer for the City of Nashville and is responsible for convening, developing, and driving initiatives that build on and advance the City’s commitment to equity, inclusion and anti-racism. She is a DEI curriculum designer and facilitator, a podcaster, educator, and cultural content creative.

Prior to this role, Andrea served as the Director and curator of the Civil Rights Center and the Votes for Women Center for the Nashville Public Library. Throughout her career, she has been known for her professional leadership, advocacy for cultural inclusivity and sensitivity, and innovation in teaching historic harms. She also holds the post of adjunct professor at both Lipscomb University and Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. Her ongoing research includes education disparity and self‐representations in children’s literature.

Since 2005 and with increased media attention on interactions between law enforcement and African‐Americans and BIPOC communities, she developed a cultural and anti‐racist education curriculum rooted in historic and contemporary movements for law enforcement across the country. She is an adult leader with the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee and a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.; Andrea has served on the Board of Directors for the Tennessee Immigrant and Refugee Rights Coalition (TIRRC) and the Ivy Center Foundation of Nashville.