Greater Nashville Technology Council’s Emerging Leaders in Technology (ELITE) program has officially kicked off its 2023 cohort made up of 30 local technology professionals from 29 local employers. The new cohort was announced to hundreds of tech professionals at annual NTC Summer Party, Presented by IDR.

In its 8th year, NTC’s ELITE program aims to foster and develop Nashville’s next tech executives through a 10-week program that includes classroom curriculum, application of lessons learned, one-on-one mentorship with veteran executives and peer support groups.

“Many organizations do an excellent job of developing their teams with internal training programs,” explained Elise Cambournac, President and CEO of the Nashville Technology Council. “The ELITE program pulls together exceptional mid-level managers from a variety of the represented tech companies in Nashville and matches them with a mix of local seasoned professionals from a wide spectrum of industries. The ELITE program trains new leaders and broadens their perspectives.”

The program has grown since its initial invite-only tech roundtable for emerging tech leaders conceived by John Anderson, Meg Chamblee, Suzi Earhart and Joanne Eckton. Today, Emerging leaders learn an academic curriculum taught by professional C-suite trainer Jennifer Patterson in a classroom setting and then apply those concepts as they work through and solve real-world leadership scenarios with their peers and mentor professionals.

Companies represented in the 2023 ELITE Cohort include:

 

Past participants have called the program “life-changing” and openly credit the course for the growth in their careers. Several have gone on to win awards, including the coveted annual NTC Awards in their professional category.

“ELITE provides the back-to-basics curriculum and community atmosphere that catapults individual careers,” said former participant and Principle at Slalom Consulting  Cody Asbury.

More than 130+ local tech professionals have graduated from this annual program which intentionally keeps cohorts small.

“One of the reasons this program has been so successful is because it is competitive and we only take the cream of the crop. We don’t want to dilute that,” Anderson said.

The 2023 ELITE program is underwritten by AllianceBernstein, Amazon, and HCA Healthcare. This year, the ELITE program will be hosting an ELITE End of the Year Celebration for the cohort graduates on November 2, 2023.