Community Leaders and Tocqueville Society Members Celebrate his Legacy of Service
James Weaver, Partner at Holland & Knight and United Way of Greater Nashville (UWGN) Immediate Past Board Chair recently received the United Way Tocqueville Society Award for his outstanding and inspiring leadership and long-term commitment to serving the community.
Weaver has served as the 2023 Board Chair and held many other officer positions for the Board of Trustees for over 15 years, including Succession Committee Chair and General Counsel and Government Relations. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees for almost 20 years, a 12-year member of the Tocqueville Society, and is a Hickory Legacy Society member.
He has been instrumental in shepherding UWGN through a time of immense growth and change, including four UWGN mergers and the 2023 merger with Hands on Nashville. Weaver is an important champion for the United Way campaign at Holland & Knight, the top law firm campaign in our community.
The Tocqueville Society was started in 1981, when Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Jr. envisioned an alliance of community and business leaders who would work collectively to address our community’s most pressing needs. He partnered with 27 other Nashville visionaries to create the Alexis de Tocqueville Society Alpha Chapter. Since inception, Tocqueville Society members have invested more than $10 billion in the work of United Way worldwide and more than $160 million in Nashville.
“James is a shining example of a servant leader in our community, and it has been an honor to work alongside him. As my tenure ends this year, I am grateful to have shared this moment with him. I am confident that he won’t slow down, and he will continue to inspire his family, friends and colleagues,” said United Way of Greater Nashville’s Chief Executive Officer Brian Hassett.
The award was created in 1985 and has only been awarded to 25 individuals, companies or families over the last 40 years. Past recipients:
- 2022 – Ingram Companies
- 2011 – Mike Shmerling
- 2007 – Anne Russell
- 2006 – Lynn and Ken Melkus
- 2005 – Stephen S. Riven
- 2003 – Jack O. Bovender, Jr.
- 2002 – Robert E. McNeilly, Jr.
- 2001 – Joe Thompson, Jr.
- 2000 – William S. Cochran
- 1999 – Joel C. Gordon
- 1998 – David K. “Pat” Wilson
- 1997 – Cal Turner, Jr.
- 1996 – Ben R. Rechter
- 1995 – Jean and Denny Bottorff
- 1994 – Annette Schaffer Eskind
- 1993 – Raymond Zimmerman
- 1992 – R. Clayton McWhorter
- 1991 – Edward G. Nelson
- 1990 – Martha R. Ingram
- 1989 – Ridley Wills II
- 1988 – Nelson and Sue Andrews
- 1987 – The late Anne Potter Wilson
- 1986 – The Werthan Family
- 1985 – Dr. Thomas F. Frist, Jr