This article was originally published by the Students United News Network (SUNN) in the first citywide student-led newspaper in the USA, Nashville SUNN (NashvilleSUNN.com).
When Winter Storm Fern tore through Nashville in late January, exploding trees and snapping powerlines, the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee’s (CFMT) CEO, Hal Cato, found himself sitting in the dark, stripped of electricity and running water.
That was when Erica Mitchell called.
While emergency crews struggled to remove trees from homes and major roadways around Cato’s neighborhood, the United Way of Greater Nashville (UWGN) CEO was already on the phone, rallying the city’s power players and engineering a financial lifeline that would become the Winter Storm Recovery Fund. As the leader of one of Tennessee’s leading nonprofits, Mitchell knew that she needed Cato’s help. When Cato answered the phone, he agreed immediately, remembering how he had been called to serve during past disasters.
A career built on service
Born and raised in Nashville, Cato found his calling as a public servant through trial and error. After graduating from Ole Miss in 1987, Cato tried building a career in commercial real estate. He soon realized that the industry wasn’t a fit for him, quit his job, and started delivering food for Meals on Wheels. That simple act of service led Cato to found Hands on Nashville. This nonprofit now connects thousands of volunteers annually to more than 200 nonprofits, schools, and civic organizations throughout the city.
Cato’s homegrown organization is now under the leadership of Erica Mitchell. “Hands On Nashville was my baby that I started a long time ago, and it merged into United Way a few years ago. So, it’s kind of a full circle moment,” said Cato.
Hal Cato has been the CEO of Thistle Farms since November 2015. Before that, he helped form Hands on Nashville in 1990 before serving as CEO at Oasis Center for troubled teens.
Rebuilding trust, strengthening ties
After Hands On Nashville became part of United Way, Cato doubled down on his commitment to helping his community. As CEO of CFMT, he distributes more than $100 million in grants annually to nonprofits throughout the region. When Cato took over as CEO of CFMT in late 2022, he faced the aftermath of a controversy over the foundation’s prior handling of funds following the 2020 tornado. He worked to rebuild trust by partnering with United Way to create a joint relief fund after the deadly tornado that roared through Nashville in December 2023.
“One of my mantras in doing this work for 35 years is that organizations need to do what they do best and partner for the rest. This gives us a chance to each do what we do best and then lean on the other,” said Cato.
Fast-forward to Feb. 23, and Cato and Mitchell announced they had raised over $2 million in funds from nonprofits and business organizations across Middle Tennessee. Out of that $2 million, $312,449 in funding has already been deployed to 343 families.
“United Way has a deep network of nonprofit partnerships… as well as the volunteer horsepower. CFMT has the breadth and depth to raise money from individuals… That’s why I think this partnership is so important,” said Cato.
Cato added that being involved in projects like this always makes him feel good.
“I feel better at the end of the day if I know that what I focused on that day was gonna make this community a better place… It’s the opportunity to serve and know that what I did that day mattered to someone besides me,” said Cato.
Working with Mitchell makes him feel even better.
“Erica is an amazing leader. We have a lot of respect for one another. I always enjoy working with her,” Cato said.
Erica Mitchell
A shared vision
Mitchell is equally seasoned in navigating complex challenges. A strong-willed leader, Mitchell was one of the architects of “Blueprint for Early Childhood Success,” a first-of-its-kind citywide initiative to double the number of Nashville third-graders reading at grade level. In a 2025 interview with WPLN’s This Is Nashville, Mitchell shared a sentiment similar to Cato’s: seeing positive results in the community is one reason she felt compelled to enter nonprofit work.
“That’s why I came to United Way to begin with, I wanted to be closer to the community,” Mitchell said. “Are there things that are positive, strong, that we should accelerate? Where are the gaps? And being rooted at the community level.”
Even in her high-profile role as the face of UWGN, the long hours and high-stress logistics are no problem, especially when the causes and initiatives her organization leads are targeted towards helping Middle Tennesseans.
“Being community-centric is so critical from a leadership standpoint because it gives us our ‘why’,” Mitchell told This Is Nashville. “It makes it much clearer why we’re doing what we’re doing.”
Leadership that shows up
Angela Stacy, Chief Marketing Officer of UWGN, says that on day one, Mitchell’s work ethic differentiated her from past administrations.
“I have never had the opportunity in my 30-year career to work with a CEO like Erica,” Stacy said. “She shows up in her community. She knows this community well, she knows how to convene the right thought leaders to solve a problem, and she does so thoughtfully, but quickly.”
Arguing that the role of a CEO is to listen rather than presume, Mitchell said that this approach keeps the foundation of her work intact and the communities she represents strong.
“We need community more than ever, but we also need not to make assumptions about what community needs,” Mitchell told This Is Nashville. “So if we are truly going to work in the service of, we need to be connected in a very real way.”
Praise or not, Mitchell reassures Middle Tennesseans that she will always be a reliable leader, no matter the climate.
“Political winds may change, but my mission remains very much the same,” Mitchell told This Is Nashville.
Jaylan Sims
Jaylan Sims is a senior at Vanderbilt University majoring in Communication Studies and Communication of Science & Technology with a minor in Jewish Studies. The Nashville SUNN (NashvilleSUNN.com) is the first citywide student-led newspaper in the U.S. and a publication of the Students United News Network.
This article originally appeared on Nashville Tennessean: How Nashville nonprofit leaders responded to Winter Storm Fern
