Collaboration Comes Alive: Nashville’s Unique Partnerships for Community Growth

Nashville Region organizations collaborate to build stronger communities through programs supporting early literacy, youth sports and veterans.

By Cynthia Yeldell Anderson on October 28, 2025

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Some of the Nashville Region’s largest and most influential organizations are working together to offer unique opportunities for residents. From early literacy and youth sports to veteran employment, these innovative partnerships are transforming lives and building stronger communities.

Supporting Early Literacy: The Begin Bright Program

The Nashville Public Library Foundation is working to ensure all Davidson County children are reading-ready by the time they start kindergarten.

Begin Bright is a new program launched by the Nashville Public Library in collaboration with the Nashville Public Library Foundation, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library and Vanderbilt University. The program is built on three goals: establishing Little Libraries stocked with Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library books in every child care center; delivering digital and in-person literacy training for educators and parents; and studying the initiative’s impact in partnership with Vanderbilt University’s Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center.

“This is going to be transformational for our community,” says Shawn Bakker, president of the Nashville Public Library Foundation. “With the foundation’s help, the library can touch the entire ecosystem of a child – themselves, their teachers and their parents.”

The Dollywood Foundation committed $4.5 million and a full supply of books for each Begin Bright Little Library in 400 Davidson County child care centers. In total, more than $20 million has been raised.

“Any time you invest in a child’s education, you’re really investing in the future of your city,” Bakker says. She says the partnership leverages strengths across sectors – from public schools to corporate leaders – to build a more literate, better-prepared generation.

“We can do far more together,” Bakker says.

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Youth Sports Programs: Bringing National Leagues to Local Kids

Generations Next/Robertson County Sports Alliance has built powerful partnerships with national sports leagues to bring affordable, high-quality youth programs to the Nashville Region. Through RCX Sports, which owns the licensing for NFL, NHL and MLB youth programs, the organization launched NFL FLAG Football, NHL STREET and MLB Pitch, Hit & Run.

Randall Alexander, president of Generations Next, says the program’s NFL connection gave it credibility from the start.

“The kids have the cool Patriots uniforms; they have the cool Titans uniforms – having that gave us a lot of leverage when we first started going into these places.”

Now entering its third year, the NFL FLAG Football program in Robertson County has grown from 100 kids in the first season to more than 300 kids in the most recent season.

The group continues to offer community events and remains the lowest-priced sports program.

“Keeping kids busy is the biggest benefit,” Alexander says.

Courtesy of HCA Healthcare

Opportunities for Veterans

HCA Healthcare has long been recognized as a military-friendly employer, a designation earned in part through its military affairs program launched in 2011.

The program has led to the hiring of more than 65,000 veterans, National Guardsmen, reservists and military spouses since its inception.

“Since 2022, I have been able to lead the program where we have hired more than 20,000,” says Jonathan Snider, HCA’s director of culture and workplace programs.

Of that number, 10% reside in Tennessee, with more than 85% living in the company’s TriStar Division, which includes people in areas from Bowling Green, Kentucky, to Spring Hill, Tennessee, that commute to Nashville.

Key partnerships bolster this effort, as HCA Healthcare partners with many organizations that support veterans, transitioning service members and their families. These include Operation Stand Down Tennessee, The Honor Robertson County Sports Alliance Foundation, 50strong, Armed Services YMCA at Fort Campbell, the USO, Hiring Our Heroes, REBOOT Recovery, K9s For Warriors, Wounded Warrior Project, Special Operators Transition Foundation, Fisher House and numerous colleges and universities across Tennessee.

“You have a community of employers within the greater Nashville area that are standing behind this commitment to become a veteran-ready business and hire military-affiliated talent. That makes Nashville a great market to move into,” Snider says.

Though the recipients of the benefits are varied, the collaborations taking place in the Nashville Region aim to create stronger, happier, more close-knit communities where residents can thrive.