Featured Volunteer

This week, we kick off a special two-part podcast series spotlighting Persist Nashville, an organization dedicated to helping students not just get to college, but persist through it and graduate. Based in Nashville, Persist Nashville was founded to address a critical and often overlooked gap in higher education: the distance between enrollment and completion. College success isn’t just about academics. It’s about navigating financial stress, balancing work and family responsibilities, managing mental health, and learning...

For Laurie Brown, community service is a natural response to gratitude. Now the CEO of Intrepid College Prep in Antioch, Tennessee, Brown credits her passion for service to the many people who supported her along the way. Originally from the United Kingdom and later moving to the U.S. for high school, she experienced firsthand the power of mentors and advocates who showed up when it mattered most. Today, her volunteerism is about paying that support...