Welcome our new Executive Director!

We are thrilled to welcome a leader as accomplished as Kelli Nowers to the executive director position of AWAKE. Kelli has already hit the ground running in our mission to advocate for the advancement of women and kids through education and policy change.

Prior to joining AWAKE, Kelli was the VP of Inclusion and Community Relations at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center. Her time at the EC was spent establishing their diversity and inclusion program, fostering relationships within local and international entrepreneurial ecosystems, and managing programmatic grants.

Kelli graduated from Lipscomb University with her BA in Public Communication and Leadership and recently completed her MS in Women, Peace and Security at the London School of Economics and Political Science. Her Master’s Degree focused on the promotion of justice, human rights, and participation of women in conflict-affected areas around the world. Her research included exploring how women’s civil society organizations and other social movements effectively partner with state governments to establish transformative change. 

You are likely to find Kelli either enjoying the outdoors or in the kitchen cooking a new recipe or making up her own. She loves to write, practice yoga, try new restaurants in town, and travel with her husband, Ryan. 

If you'd like to reach out to Kelli and wish her a warm welcome, she can be reached at kellinowers@awaketn.org.