Proposed Officers

Proposed Officers

Proposed Board Officers

Chairman − Michael Edwards, CEO of the Knoxville Chamber of Commerce and the Development Corporation of Knox County
Assistant Secretary – Natalie Ethridge, Director of Operations, Institute for a Competitive Workforce

Michael Edwards

Mike Edwards is the President and CEO of the Knoxville Chamber and the Development Corporation of Knox County. Edwards has been with the Chamber since April of 2002 and assumed the role of President and CEO in September of 2002.

Edwards serves on the Tennessee State Board of Education, the Education, Employment and Training Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Tennessee Business Roundtable Board of Directors, the Board of Directors of the Public School Forum of East Tennessee, and the Board of Trustees for the Great Schools Partnership. He is a Ford Foundation Fellow focusing on regional sustainability and regional education partnerships. Edwards is also a regular speaker to state and national business organizations about the importance of improving education for our continued economic well-being.

Under his leadership, the Knoxville Chamber was named the 2011 Chamber of the Year by the American Chamber of Commerce Executives and also received Four-Star Accreditation from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. He directed the development of an Education Management Information System (EMIS) for the Knox County Schools district, which transforms the massive amount of data the school district routinely collects into actionable knowledge. With EMIS, administrators can create accurate budgets and educators are better equipped to manage to the student outcomes that the school system adopted in its 5-year plan.

Natalie Ethridge

Natalie Ethridge is director of programs and operations for the U.S. Chamber of

Commerce’s Institute for a Competitive Workforce (ICW), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit affiliate, dedicated to strengthening the nation’s educational standards and the quality

of its workforce. ICW promotes high educational standards and effective workforce training systems so that they are aligned with each other and with today’s rigorous business demands. In this position, Ethridge is responsible for financial and programmatic operations of the organization including budget management, grant reporting, and event production.

Previously, Ethridge worked as a program manager for the Chamber’s Global Intellectual Property Center.

Before joining the Chamber, Ethridge was the director of scheduling and travel for Governor Mitt Romney’s 2008 Presidential Campaign and director of operations for Governor Schwarzenegger’s 2006 reelection campaign. Ethridge started her career as a legislative assistant in the California State Assembly.

Born and raised in California, Ethridge received a Bachelor’s of Science degree in Community and Regional Development from the University of California at Davis.

She is currently pursuing her Masters in Business Administration at George Mason University.