NASHVILLE, TN — The Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce welcomes two new members to it’s board of directors effective August 1, 2022. The new members are Jacky Akbari, Founder and Managing Principal of Worthington Advisory, and Thomas Okokhere, CPA, CIA, MBA, Advisory Services Director Hoskins and Associates.
The board provides effective strategies to accomplish our mission of empowering and encouraging prosperity for Nashville’s African-American community by connecting businesses and business professionals with worthwhile partnerships that lead to economic advancement.
“Our newest board members bring a wealth of knowledge, wisdom and leadership to the chamber. These are very exciting times for Nashville and its economic growth and development, and we certainly are excited to have Jacky and Thomas serving with us,” says Carolyn Waller, President of the Nashville Black Chamber of Commerce.
Jacky Akbari is a nationally recognized leader with a track record of achievement in strategy consulting. Recognized for her expertise and influence, Jacky develops and executes mission critical strategy impacting transformational growth for leading organizations, including top tier universities, innovative business start-ups and Fortune 500 companies.
With a focus on business attraction, relocation and expansion, Jacky leads collaborative impact initiatives. She is a workforce economic development thought leader, speaker and trusted advisor to c-suite executives, elected officials, nonprofit and academic leaders. Her expertise relative to inclusive workforce impact is widely respected.
As Founder and Managing Principal of Worthington Advisory, she provides vision at the business consulting firm. Her role includes strategy consultation, strategic planning facilitator, government affairs lead. Prior to launching Worthington Advisory, Jacky held senior positions in government relations, workforce economic development, human capital consulting and national sales and marketing teams. An experienced economic development strategist, she developed and executed key stakeholder partnership strategy for business expansion and relocation projects with Dell, Mars Petcare, AT&T, Nissan North America, UBS, Alliance Bernstein, Amazon, Oracle, Microsoft, Asurion, Vanderbilt University, and many others. As a senior level manager at Xerox, she trained over 5,000 sales people in consultative sales skills.
Thomas Okokhere, began his career at Hoskins in 2011 as a staff auditor, where he has had the opportunity to collaborate with clients representing various industries, including for profit and not-for-profit organizations. He has a successful record of providing valued-added services to our clients, including providing strategic direction and operational efficiency that enhances business development and profitability.
Thomas began his accounting career with Ford Motor Company as a Financial Analyst in their Finance Leadership Development Program. For more than 15 years, he had a dynamic leadership career in global, billion-dollar organizations with a rich mix of financial reporting, analysis, forecasting, budgeting, cash management, auditing, controls, and business development for multi-site operations. He is an expert in executing team-driven process improvements to increase revenue growth, operational efficiency, and overall profitability.
Thomas responds to operational and financial challenges with confidence, determination, and focus. His additional experience includes serving as a Cost Consolidator, Senior Financial Analyst, Finance Manager, Controller and VP of Finance.
“The Nashville Black Chamber is looking forward to Jacky and Thomas working with us in our continued efforts to help Black business owners position themselves to create more jobs and wealth within our community,” says Susan Vanderbilt, Board Chair.
