The Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce announces Lorne Steedley, M.S., M.A., as vice president, Diversity and Inclusive Growth. 

“Lorne Steedley brings a depth of experience in economic and community development, urban studies and equity-focused collaboration in the business and philanthropic sectors to our talented Chattanooga Chamber team. Lorne will help us move our community closer to the Velocity2040 and Chattanooga Climbs vision of an inclusive economy and collaborative leadership – a community where every resident is thriving,” said Christy Gillenwater, president & CEO, Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce.

Velocity2040 is a community-wide visioning process that included a survey to which some 5,000 Hamilton County residents responded, expressing their dreams for the future of Chattanooga. Chattanooga Climbs is a five-year economic and talent development strategic plan.

“We are looking forward to working together and I’m excited about the fresh perspectives he will bring to our community,” Ms. Gillenwater added. 

Mr. Steedley, who has worked in Atlanta, Boston and Baltimore, is an equity leader with applied program and project management experience in community building, philanthropy and civic participation. Mr. Steedley also served as a board member for the Four Corners Development Corporation, which developed the Langham Court project in Boston’s South End community and he served as a project manager for Boston’s Department of Neighborhood Development.

Mr. Steedley worked with the Council on Foundations as member relations director, managing philanthropic relationships in the Southeast. He served as program officer with the Annie E. Casey Foundation in Baltimore, Maryland, examining and reporting on the e?ects of gentrification, regionalism and sprawl on vulnerable families in both high growth and no-growth communities. In Baltimore, he served as Chatham Neighborhood Association president, as Enoch Pratt Free Library trustee and board member, and as a member of the Baltimore Workforce Investment Board Youth Council. Mr. Steedley also led Motus Consulting USA, LLC, a management consultancy that provided management, operations and training services to groups engaged in transformation, including nonprofit organizations, corporations and government entities.

Mr. Steedley is a former research fellow in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and a former international fellow of the Emerging Leaders Program in the Graduate School of Business at the University of Cape Town, Cape Town, South Africa. He received a bachelor of arts from the University of South Carolina, a master of science in human services from the University of Massachusetts-Boston, and a master of arts in sociology from Boston College.