NASHVILLE:  The University Presidents Council convened for its annual meeting in the Board Room of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee on January 29, 2024.  The meeting, which is convened by Global Action Platform, included Presidents from ten major universities in the region, along with the Chairman of the Greater Nashville Chamber of Commerce, and the President and CEO of the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee.  

Freddie O’Connell, Mayor, Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County and Jan Rivkin, Professor of strategy and Co-Director of the Young American Leaders Program, Harvard Business School, joined the Council as guests and speakers.  

Highlights of the program presentations are shared below.

Regional Platform Advancing Regional Collaboration among Universities, Business, Government, Capital Markets, and NGOs

Dr. Scott T. Massey, Chairman and CEO, Global Action Platform opened the meeting with an overview of the creation and purpose of the University Presidents Council and the current programs of Global Action Platform.  

Global Action Platform was created by the area university Presidents and the Chamber in 2012 to operate as a neutral, trusted platform to convene the universities and to advance strategic collaborations among the academic, business, investment, government, and nonprofit sectors.

A Vision for the Future

Having recently completed the first one hundred days in office, Mayor O’Connell shared his administration’s findings and priorities, organized into three categories—

Ø  How We Move

Ø  How We Work

Ø  How We Grow

The full transcript of Mayor O’Connell’s comments can be found here.

National Findings and Recommendations for Regional Progress

Jan Rivkin, Harvard Business School, provided a national perspective for the local and regional issues presented to the Council. Four key findings from his work with leaders from fourteen major cities across the US are summarized below:

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1.      The Primacy of Cities and Regions

First, the most promising level of civic action in America today is the city and region—the level where the University Presidents Council convened by Global Action Platform operates.  In today’s world, the local level is where the most significant work for the wellbeing of our society is being envisioned, planned, and implemented.

2.      The Critical Role of Cross-Sector Collaboration

Second, local, cross-sector collaboration is the form of action with the greatest promise in America today.  Hence, this room—where university Presidents, the Mayor, the Chairman of the Chamber of Commerce, and the President of the Community Foundation gather to envision collaboration and action—is, in Rivkin’s view, the most important room in America.

3.      The Opportunity of Educators to Develop Collaborative Leaders

Third, educators have a significant opportunity to develop a generation of young people who understand how to be effective in local, cross-sector collaboration.  The most effective collaborations are transformational.  But the typical collaboration has mediocre results.  If educational institutions trained people to collaborate better and make the typical cross-sector collaboration as effective as the best ones today, the impact would be tremendous.

The skills of collaboration can be taught—in educational institutions like the ones represented in the room. Imagine what would happen if these institutions worked together to develop young leaders who make Nashville and Middle Tennessee the most effective collaborative region in the country.

4.      Trust as the Foundation

Fourth, in observing collaborations across the country, it is evident that one of the most important skills fo ryoung leaders to develop is the ability to build trust.  People need to learn how to build trust to become effective bridge-builders and silo-busters.

Cross-sector collaborations move at the speed of trust.  In good collaborations, leaders spend time up-front building trust across historical divisions.   In fact, effective leaders build trust before they need it.  Building trust early is critical because of what Rivkin calls “The Iron Law of Trust”: trust is hardest to build exactly when you need it the most.  So, if you don’t build trust until you need it, it’s too late.

America faces a potential pandemic of distrust.  The disease of distrust has taken hold in Washington, with symptoms of partisan dysfunction and animosity.  Historically, local communities have been spared much of the distrust that has taken hold at the national level.  At the community level, Americans still come together with their neighbors to get things done.

But in cities across the country, the disease of distrust appears to be spreading down to the local level. The communities that manage to resist that spread—that maintain trust, that teach young leaders how to build trust—will have a tremendous advantage in tackling challenges that require the combined efforts of multiple sectors--challenges like building shared prosperity, housing, transit, infrastructure, and climate resilience.

Thank you to the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee and to Barge Design Solutions as 2024 Luncheon sponsors.

The University Presidents Council is composed of the Presidents of the twelve major public and private universities of Middle Tennessee.  The Council was convened originally by the Greater Nashville Chamber of Commerce in 2012 to create Global Action Platform, an independent nonprofit to serve as the convener and collaboration platform for the region’s universities.  In addition, the Platform advances cross-sector collaboration connecting the university, business, investment, nonprofit, and government sectors to accelerate the wellbeing of the communities and citizens of Middle Tennessee.  The University Presidents Council Luncheon is an ongoing program of Global Action Platform.

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