New Members of the Chattanooga Chapter
Francine Brown
Francine Brown and her husband. Reginald, spend their time between Chattanooga and Florida homes during their retirement. Their son, Jalen, attended Tennessee Technological University and is presently a commissioned officer in the Army. Francine received a Master of Business Administration in Finance and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration from University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. She retired from Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) in 2013 where she was the Director of Supply Chain Contracts and managed over 100 employees with nine direct reports. This position included procuring, writing, negotiating, and managing material and service contracts for TVA fossil, nuclear, and hydro plants. uring her 33-year career at TVA, Francine
worked in business analysis for 10 years and in Supply Chain for over 20 years. She continues to participate with various volunteer organizations and has served on various boards such as Desti and Christian Women’s Job Core in Chattanooga. Francine is a member of Second Missionary Baptist Church where she serves as Vice Chairperson of the Trustee Board and is involved in various ministries at the church. She is a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. who enjoys reading books and traveling.
Karlene is a native of Peoria, Illinois, one of the country’s leading test markets. Since 2001, she has made the Scenic City her home. Karlene is the founder and President & CEO of Chattanooga based marketing and public relations firm, Claridy Communications. Karlene and her team develop and execute customized communication strategies for clients ranging from corporations to nonprofit organizations. Prior to founding Claridy Communications in 2007, Karlene was the Public Relations Manager and spokeswoman for EPB. Prior to EPB, Karlene produced successful marketing and public relations campaigns as well as managed special events for Nissan Motor Corporation (Southern California), Central Texas Council of Governments (Belton, Texas), and the Virginia Department of Agriculture (Richmond, VA). Karlene’s passion of serving the community compliments her personal life, as she presently serves on the Board of Directors for the Chattanooga Chamber of
Karlene Claridy
Commerce Board and the Siskin Children’s Institute. Previously, she has served on the following boards: ArtsBuild, The Bright School, the University Tennessee at Chattanooga Marketing Advisory Board, Creative Discovery Museum, Chattanooga Tourism Company, The Women’s Fund, the Public Relations Society of America – Lookout Chapter, First Things First, The Ochs Center, The University of Chattanooga Foundation, and Weekend Academy. Karlene is a 2007 graduate of Leadership Chattanooga, a Diamond Life member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and a member of Orchard Knob Missionary Baptist Church. Karlene attained a bachelor’s degree in marketing from Hampton University (Hampton, VA) and an MBA from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Karlene is married to Lorenzo Claridy and they have two children, LaRyn and Kollin.
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Shara M. Claybrook
Shara M. Claybrook, a Chattanooga native, is currently an Advisory Consultant supporting Sanofi North America Consumer Healthcare. She has more than 15 years of experience in the Human Resources field spanning various roles and industries. Shara is a graduate of the University of Memphis and alumna of Leadership Chattanooga. She is an active member of the Society of Human Resource Managers, as well as the American Staffing Association. In her spare time, Shara is passionate about youth athletics, mental health initiatives, and women’s empowerment. She is currently serving on committees for Dress for Success and the American Cancer Society. She is an avid traveler and enjoys expressing her creative side through fashion, interior design, and decor. Shara is the proud mother of an adult daughter, Dylann Arielle and French Bulldog fur baby, Sushi.
Arielle Garcia Hayes is a wife, mother, and current school administrator at Chattanooga High School: Center for Creative Arts. Arielle has more than ten years of administrative and leadership experience and holds a B.S. and M.ED. from Tennessee Technological University. Her current
community involvement includes serving on the Board as Vice-Chair for Latina Professionals of Chattanooga; Vice-President of Programs for the East Brainerd Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce Council; and planning committee member for Habitat for Humanity’s Women’s Build Annual Fundraising Breakfast. Arielle serves on Tennessee Tech’s Advisory Council for Education (ACEd) and received the College of Education’s Alumna Award in 2022. While Arielle is not a native of Chattanooga, she is committed to the city and to serving its residents by providing access to and opportunity for an excellent public education and overall comfortable quality of life. She truly believes that the biggest change we can make as a community is to support all efforts and actions towards inclusivity for all.
Arielle G. Hayes
Althea R. Jones
Althea Jones is Senior Manager of Public and Community Engagement at Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) and is responsible for TVA public and community engagement, programs, processes and staff. She externally maintains relationships with special interest groups and with other stakeholders representing public power; industry; supplier and trade associations; economic development; environment; and federal, state and city governments. She advises and alerts TVA Board and executives of interests, issues and trends of stakeholders concerning energy, environmental, economic development and natural resources covering policy, programs and actions. Additionally, she leads TVA’s efforts to manage and resolve outcomes regarding strategic stakeholder issues that could negatively impact TVA reputation or operations. Althea manages TVA’s Federal Advisory Councils, including the Regional Energy Resource Council and the Regional Energy
Resource Stewardship Council. Serves as TVA’s Federal Advisory and Communications Act (FACA) Committee Management Officer (CMO) and acts as TVA’s Federal Designated Officer (DFO) in the absence of the DFO. Internally, Althea manages and coordinates enterprise-wide strategies for public and community engagement across the company. She works with all TVA organizations to develop and implement approaches to stakeholder engagement, including an enterprise-wide employee community engagement strategy and community contribution initiatives. Over her 20 year career in the energy industry, Althea has served as TVA’s Supplier Diversity Manager, where she developed and managed all aspects of TVA’s supplier diversity policy and strategies, which included promoting inclusion of small, diverse (as defined by the US Small Business Administration) and valley based businesses; leading all outreach activities at the national, regional, state, and local levels; and collaborating with business partners, business councils, advocacy organizations, local and state government officials, and federal agencies to maximize participation of small, diverse, and valley based suppliers; and a TVA Human Resource Recruiter, where she was responsible for the vacancy requisition process for the Corporate Nuclear and Generation Construction organizations. Althea and her husband Marcus will celebrate 14 years of marriage in August. He is the Managing Partner of Magnolia Developments, LLC. They are the proud parents of sons, McCorey and Myles.
Takeyla Nicole Williams is a board certified General Surgeon who is fellowship trained in Breast Surgical Oncology. Dr. Williams’s undergraduate education began at the College of Charleston in Charleston, South Carolina where she completed a Bachelor of Science in Biology in December 2004. She then returned to her home town in Augusta, Georgia where she worked at the Medical College of Georgia as a research assistant until her acceptance into medical school in 2006. Dr. Williams went on to attend Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, Georgia from July 2006 to June 2010. Upon completion of her Medical Doctorate she went on to complete a preliminary year in general surgery at East Tennessee State University (ETSU) in June of 2011. Dr. Williams subsequently completed her general surgery training at ETSU in June of 2016. During her 5 year residency she was awarded the Eric R. Manahan Outstanding Surgical Resident Award, which is an honorary award given yearly to a senior resident for outstanding performance as a surgical house officer. She was also appointed the 2015-2016 administrative chief resident. She continued her
Takeyla N. Williams
education and went on to complete a breast surgical oncology fellowship at Mount Sinai Icahn School of Medicine in New York City in of August 2017. She is currently on staff at CHI Memorial Breast Care Associates as one of two fellowship trained breast surgical oncologist. She specializes in benign and malignant diseases of the breast. Dr. Williams relocated to Chattanooga, TN in December of 2019 to join CHI Memorial Breast Care Associates with her husband, Steven Sutton, and three children Sydney Sutton, Savannah Sutton, and Logan Sutton. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated. In her free time she enjoys doing arts and crafts with her children.