Leadership

Melanie Shinbaum, founding NEEC Executive Director, is an active contributor to the nonprofit and early education sectors, with 25 years of experience in various leadership roles, including CEO of St. Luke's Community House, Executive Director at Fannie Battle Day Home for Children, and positions at United Way of Metropolitan Nashville, among others. Melanie’s commitment to the community is evident in her roles on several influential committees and boards. Her tenure as Board President for Nashville’s NAEYC and her leadership in community-wide solutions for underserved populations echo the coalition’s goal of enhancing childcare quality and accessibility. Melanie holds a master’s degree in public administration (MSP) from Cumberland University, and a bachelor’s degree in nonprofit administration from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.

Away from work, Melanie enjoys spending time with her husband and two children. On any given evening or weekend, she can be found on the sidelines of one of her children’s various sports activities. She is a serial-hobbyist, "crazy plant lady", and loves to curl up with a good book or work a jigsaw puzzle on a rainy day. Melanie is an avid lover of the outdoors and enjoys a beautiful weekend camping at one of our amazing TN State Park campgrounds.

Jen Fisher joins the Nashville Early Education Coalition (NEEC), a Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee initiative, as Program and Operations Manager. With nearly 25 years of experience in nonprofit and educational settings, Jen brings a strong background in program coordination, stakeholder engagement, communications, and operations management. Her career spans a range of local non-profit organizations — from United Way of Metropolitan Nashville and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society to Vanderbilt University, where she spent a decade supporting senior advancement leadership and university-wide fundraising initiatives. Most recently she served as Communications Manager for The Arc Tennessee's Family Engagement Project, managing contract-driven initiatives, cross-functional communications, and statewide stakeholder engagement. Her passion for mission-driven work and her deep roots in the Nashville community make her a natural fit for NEEC's work on behalf of the city's youngest children.

A Middle Tennessee native, Jen lives in Franklin with her husband Charles, sons Raleigh and Edison, and their rescue pup, Rosie. She's a sports mom through and through, a devoted (some might say obsessive) plant collector with specimens claiming every available corner inside and out, and finds her creative outlet in hand embroidering tea towels. When she's not doing any of that, she's also the self-appointed travel planner in her circle, happily mapping out adventures for family and friends alike.