Chattanooga Mayor Tim Kelly has appointed Mike Compton as a senior adviser as part of a trio of new hires.
Compton will support the mayor, chief of staff and cabinet as a senior adviser on a variety of community, project, operational and political issues.
Compton previously served as chief of staff to former Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger from 2011 to 2022 and was also chief of staff under then-Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker from 2001 to 2005.
He has also served in leadership roles in the private sector, as chief administrative officer for Walden Security and as vice president of the Corker Group.
Kelly also appointed Nicole Heyman as the city’s chief housing officer. Heyman will help drive the mayor’s $100 million affordable housing initiative and work to unlock new housing options.
Heyman hails from New Orleans, where she led a team of policy and data specialists as it addressed problem properties and invested in equitable development.
In her prior role as vice president and director of Louisiana initiatives at the Center for Community Progress, she helped eliminate 10,000 vacant and abandoned properties in post-Katrina New Orleans.
Quentin Lawrence will lead the city’s strategy to increase economic mobility and to improve educational and employment outcomes for unemployed, underemployed and undereducated adults.
Lawrence formerly served as vice president of lending for Pathway Lending.
Austin Hatcher grows team
The Austin Hatcher Foundation for Pediatric Cancer expanded its team this month with the addition of three staff members: Melanie Hammontree, Anna Carrington and Georgia Moore.
Hammontree joins the foundation staff as the new director of development. In this role, she is responsible for developing and executing the foundation’s fundraising plans, managing sponsorships and identifying partners for events, grants and partnerships.
Hammontree also served as the director of development of the Chattanooga Area Food Bank for five years.
After serving as a child and family intern in 2019, Carrington returns to the foundation’s clinical staff as family services coordinator. Her responsibilities include managing and executing events for families, challenging children in educational activities and supervising volunteers.
Carrington earned her bachelor’s degree in child and family development from Georgia Southern University and works as the summer camp director of Athens Y Camps: Camp Chattooga for Girls.
Moore joins Austin Hatcher as events and community relations. She is tasked with managing the logistics and relations for the fundraising events the foundation holds throughout the year.
Moore graduated with her master’s degree in social work from the University of Tennessee Chattanooga in 2022 after earning her bachelor’s degree in family and consumer sciences from the University of Georgia in 2020.
Red Bank Fire Departments adds training instructor
The Red Bank Fire Department has hired Andrew Wood as its fire training instructor. In this role, Wood is responsible for ensuring Red Bank’s firefighters are skilled in firefighting techniques.
A native of Alabama, Wood lived in Wetumpka after spending six years in the U.S. Army. He was a firefighter for 11 years with the Eclectic Fire Department and the Jacksonville Fire Department in Alabama before moving to Northshore in Chattanooga in 2020.
The son of a veteran, Wood began looking for a way to serve his community after he graduated from high school.
Although he knew nothing about fire service, he knew a little about technical rescue and wanted to learn more. The only clear path for Wood to get into technical rescue was through fire service and the Alabama Fire College.
Assistant Chief Chris Roberts of the Jacksonville Fire Department impressed upon Wood the importance of professional development and training. Wood earned his Fire Instructor I and Fire Instructor II credentials through the Alabama Fire College and pursued a degree in fire administration.
Wood also completed other instructor-level courses, including Firefighter I, Firefighter II, Fire Instructor I, Fire Instructor II, Public Fire and Life Safety Educator I, Public Fire and Life Safety Educator II, Fire Officer I, Fire Officer II, Fire Inspector I, Fire Inspector II, Fire Investigator, Live Fire Instructor, Incident Safety Officer, Plans Reviewer, Apparatus Operator: Aerial, Apparatus Operator: Pumper, Hazardous Materials Awareness and Operations, Rescue Technician: Rope I, Rescue Technician: Rope II and Rapid Intervention Teams.
He has taught state certification courses in Alabama and Tennessee.
Gross joins CHI Memorial
Dr. Angelique Gross has joined the Buz Standefer Lung Center and CHI Memorial Lung Care Associates.
Gross earned her medical degree from Mercer University School of Medicine in Macon, Georgia. She completed her residency and pulmonary and critical care fellowship at Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond.
Gross is board-certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine, board-certified in pulmonary medicine and a member of the American College of Chest Physicians.
She is bilingual in English and Spanish.
The practice has locations in Chattanooga, Hixson and Ringgold. Call 423 495-2635 to schedule an appointment.