Who’s Making a Difference? Meet the 2026 Strobel Finalists

Sergio Lopez is an exceptional youth mentor whose weekly commitment to an 11-year-old student, Malachi, reflects uncommon dedication and empathy. Every Tuesday before school, Sergio arrives at Stewartsboro Elementary to tutor, listen, and create a safe emotional space for Malachi—helping him grow academically, build confidence, and navigate family challenges. With more than 60 hours of consistent mentorship this year, Sergio has fostered Malachi’s measurable academic gains and meaningful emotional progress. His leadership extends beyond their match: he became the first High School Big chosen to speak at the organization’s annual fundraiser, where he advocated for youth mentorship before 1,000 community members. What sets Sergio apart is the quiet intentionality behind everything he does—preparing materials, showing up without fail, and supporting Malachi through vulnerable moments, including helping him face the fear of speaking on stage. Sergio’s steady presence and sincere compassion have transformed one child’s life and demonstrate the profound power of showing up with heart.

Aurora Pfeiffer is a young artist who channels her talent into healing, advocacy, and community uplift. In 2025 alone, she completed more than 350 volunteer hours, creating impactful artwork for hospitals, shelters, grieving families, and fundraising campaigns. At just 16, she founded Painting It Fwd, Inc., a nonprofit that mobilizes artists across multiple states to bring comfort and hope through creative service. Aurora has raised tens of thousands of dollars for causes including cancer research and support for families affected by the AA Flight 5342 tragedy, that killed rising stars in US Figure Skating, where her memorial artwork became a source of unity and emotional recovery within the figure-skating community. Beyond art, she rescues food for the Nashville Rescue Mission and mentors young students at a music camp. Aurora stands out for her ability to turn compassion into action—using creativity as a tool for connection, healing, and largescale impact. Her service is both deeply personal and remarkably far-reaching.

Ily Davis is a dynamic youth leader whose 2025 service—237 hours across multiple organizations—centers on brain health, resilience, and community compassion. Inspired by her own recovery from a traumatic brain injury, she blends advocacy, movement, and education to support a wide range of people, from women and children in shelters to veterans, families in crisis, and young athletes. Ily mentors more than 100 youth skaters, assembles brain health care bags, donates clothing and essentials, and volunteers as a Junior Docent at Belle Meade Historic Site. She raised $5,700 for brain cancer research and helped deliver over 200 floral arrangements to seniors in care facilities. With over 700 lifetime volunteer hours, Ily demonstrates maturity and generosity beyond her years. What sets her apart is her intentional, purpose-driven approach—transforming personal adversity into a lifelong mission to foster healing, connection, and access to care for others.

Gaurav Mittal is a highly skilled data science professional who uses his expertise to strengthen nonprofits and expand access to technical education. In 2025, he dedicated more than 200 volunteer hours to pro bono data strategy projects, mentorship, and open-access educational work. Through platforms like Catchafire, he supported over 20 nonprofits across several countries, building dashboards, evaluation frameworks, and analytics tools that help organizations measure their impact and operate more effectively. He ensures every project includes documentation and staff training, leaving nonprofits with sustainable, long-term solutions.

In Nashville, Gaurav serves as an active mentor with Nashville Software School, leading technical workshops, conducting mock interviews, judging Demo Day, and coaching students preparing for tech careers. His February 2025 Lunch & Learn reached 38 students and continues to support future cohorts through its recorded version. He also contributes to global learning communities, judging international hackathons and publishing widely read educational articles.

What sets Gaurav apart is his commitment to bridging the digital divide through accessible, open-source tools and empowering others to become self-sufficient. Whether supporting nonprofit teams or early-career technologists, his work multiplies impact—building skills, confidence, and capacity far beyond his individual contributions.

For nearly 10 years, Matt Madden has been the essential behind-the-scenes volunteer who keeps Gilda’s Club Middle Tennessee safe, functional, and welcoming for families facing cancer. As the organization’s only volunteer handyperson, he donates his professional building-maintenance expertise to handle electrical repairs, plumbing fixes, safety improvements, furniture assembly, and countless other specialized tasks that would otherwise require costly contractors. Matt visits every two weeks—often more—responding to urgent needs and proactively ensuring that the 40-year-old clubhouse remains a dignified space for support groups, community meals, and programming.

His service is deeply rooted in honoring family members affected by cancer. At 59, he has contributed thousands of hours and saved the organization an estimated tens of thousands of dollars—resources that are redirected to free cancer support services instead of maintenance costs.

Matt stands out for his quiet consistency and humility. He solves problems without fanfare and brings in additional volunteers when needed. His impact is not only practical but cultural—he creates an environment where families feel safe, supported, and valued during their most difficult moments.

For four years, Dawn Warner has been a steady, caring presence for young adults in Monroe Harding’s Independent Living Program, ensuring each one feels celebrated, remembered, and valued. She organizes personalized birthday celebrations—complete with a custom cake, thoughtful gift, and decorations—for every young adult in the program. For many who aged out of foster care without consistent support or recognition, Dawn’s celebrations are the first personal milestone acknowledgments they’ve ever experienced.

Her generosity extends beyond birthdays. Dawn mobilizes friends and resources to create meaningful moments throughout the year, such as coordinating a Chick-fil-A holiday meal for residents in supportive housing and helping provide move-in kits, baby shower support, and event assistance across Monroe Harding’s programs.

What sets Dawn apart is her relational, not transactional, approach. She learns each young adult’s preferences, shows up year after year, and brings a warmth that restores a sense of belonging. Her consistent presence reinforces stability at a time when young adults are navigating independence without traditional family support. Through simple acts delivered with great intention, Dawn offers joy, dignity, and reassurance to youth who need it most.

Gene Levine is a steady, compassionate force behind Conexión Américas’ twice-monthly food distributions, where he has volunteered nearly every single time since 2023—through heat, rain, and freezing temperatures. At 75, Gene reliably shows up to sort, lift, and distribute hundreds of food boxes to immigrant-origin and Latino families, contributing more than 200 hours of service to address food insecurity. His consistency allows these entirely volunteer-run sites to operate smoothly, reaching up to 500 families at each event.

Beyond the physical work, Gene brings warmth and connection to each distribution, practicing his Spanish with families and fostering a welcoming environment for volunteers and community members alike. When immigration-related fears reduced attendance in 2025, Gene was one of the first to volunteer for emergency home deliveries so families could still access food safely.

What sets Gene apart is his blend of resilience, humility, and heart. He doesn’t view his service as extraordinary—he simply believes it’s what community requires. His presence strengthens trust, lifts morale, and ensures that families across Nashville receive care “box by box.”

David Donoho exemplifies lifelong commitment to service through his weekly volunteer work with both the American Red Cross and Portland Pay It Forward. At 71, he transports Whole Foods donations every Friday, ensuring a reliable food supply for the Portland Pay It Forward pantry. He also serves as an essential biomedical courier for the Red Cross, delivering lifesaving blood products across the region. Since 2022, he has completed 336 deliveries—over 50 of them urgent STAT routes—and logged more than 5,000 volunteer hours since 2018.

David’s giving extends beyond deliveries. He donates platelets regularly, advocates for volunteer recruitment, and staffed the Red Cross tent at Nashville Pride, helping expand awareness of inclusive blood-donation guidelines. His consistency ensures both a stable food pipeline for one organization and lifesaving responsiveness for another.

What sets David apart is the sheer breadth and rhythm of his weekly service. Each week, he donates platelets, transports food for families, and completes blood deliveries—acts that directly support patients, food-insecure households, and the region’s emergency medical network. His dedication demonstrates the profound impact of routine, unwavering volunteerism.

At 68, Anita continues to bring warmth, organization, and leadership to her work. Her efforts have strengthened the structure of NSF’s volunteer program, built long-term relationships with community partners, and even connected the organization with corporate volunteer teams that now support essential administrative projects. She leads by example as both a volunteer and a recurring donor, inspiring others to give their time and resources.

What sets Anita apart is her deeply empathetic leadership. She learns each volunteer’s strengths, accommodates their needs, and helps them shine—whether they are seasoned helpers or brand-new participants. Her calm, personal, people-first approach enables her to coordinate diverse personalities during largescale events like Shakespeare in the Park, transforming a complex volunteer operation into a joyful, community-centered experience. Anita’s stewardship has shaped not only NSF’s volunteer corps but also the culture of the organization itself.

Dr. Allison Quintanilla Plattsmier is a multifaceted leader whose volunteer service advances justice, economic mobility, and opportunity for historically underserved communities. In 2025, she provided hundreds of hours of unpaid leadership spanning youth development, immigrant justice, wealth protection, and equitable career access. Through board roles with ALPFA Nashville and Futuro, she creates pathways for Latino and first-generation professionals to access career networks, mentors emerging leaders, and strengthens partnerships that expand representation in leadership spaces.

She tackles wage inequity by offering free salary negotiation workshops that equip women and professionals of color with tools to advocate for fair compensation, leading to meaningful increases in long-term earnings. Through Habitat for Humanity’s Wills Clinic, she provides pro bono legal support to help families protect generational assets. As an unpaid intern with Tennessee Justice for Our Neighbors, she supports immigrant families navigating complex legal systems. During a period of organizational uncertainty, she even served as volunteer CEO to ensure families continued receiving food, essentials, and youth programming without interruption.

What sets Allison apart is her systemic mindset paired with deep humility. She strengthens people and infrastructure simultaneously—building pipelines, safeguarding rights, and expanding access in ways that outlast any single project. Her service consistently advances dignity, justice, and lasting structural change in the communities she serves.

For four years, Nathan Foust has been a steady and compassionate presence as an introductory ESL teacher for adult learners at the Nashville International Center for Empowerment (NICE). Week after week, he arrives prepared and patient, creating a welcoming classroom where newcomers feel safe practicing English as they navigate new systems and new lives. Teaching an introductory ESL class requires flexibility and individualized support, especially for students who may have limited literacy in their first language. Despite working full-time as an engineer, Nathan meets these challenges with grace, curiosity, and a genuine desire to help his students succeed.

His consistent leadership has grown class enrollment, strengthened retention, and inspired programmatic improvements—including additional volunteer support and exploration of new literacy-focused class offerings. Beyond the classroom, Nathan quietly supports other community initiatives, from serving with People Loving Nashville to helping with outreach efforts across the city. He does this without recognition or self-promotion; his service simply reflects who he is.

What sets Nathan apart is his deep attentiveness to the whole person. He advocates for vulnerable learners, checks on students when he senses something is wrong, and shows up for community members experiencing hardship. His volunteerism is marked by humility, compassion, and sustained commitment—qualities that have shaped lasting impact for Nashville’s immigrant and refugee communities.

Through The Black Book Project, Meredith McKinney has transformed a personal realization into a communitywide movement for literacy equity and representation. Since founding the initiative in 2020, she has organized book drives, built partnerships with schools and organizations, engaged volunteers, and ensured that thousands of culturally affirming books reach students and families who need them most. Her work bridges awareness and action—educating the community about disparities in children’s publishing while mobilizing collective support to address them.

Meredith’s leadership has directly improved representation in classroom and home libraries across Nashville, distributing more than 12,000 books that reflect the identities and experiences of Black children. Teachers have stronger libraries without bearing additional financial burden, and students gain access to stories where they can see themselves reflected with pride and possibility.

What sets Meredith apart is her deep belief that representation is a form of justice—and her willingness to build the systems needed to make it real. She does the quiet, thoughtful work behind the scenes so that a child can pick up a book and say, “She looks like me.” Her approach blends advocacy, action, and community stewardship, turning a gap in children’s literature into a sustained movement for belonging and educational equity.

Case White is one of Second Harvest’s most dedicated and impactful volunteers, contributing more than 1,100 hours in just two years—more than any other volunteer in a database of over 26,000 people. He serves regularly at both the Nashville and Smyrna locations, showing up with humility, reliability, and an unwavering commitment to feeding neighbors in crisis.

During the 2025 SNAP disruption, when thousands of families faced sudden food insecurity, Case volunteered three to five times per week, alternating locations based on where help was needed most. He led the assembly lines for disaster relief boxes, motivating volunteers and helping produce tens of thousands of boxes—translating into hundreds of thousands of meals for affected households.

What sets Case apart is not only his stamina and consistency, but also his thoughtful attention to process improvement. He studies workflow, optimizes table placement, suggests efficiency upgrades, and helps Second Harvest staff deploy volunteers strategically. His practical mindset elevates everyday operations and becomes indispensable during disaster response. Case is the rare volunteer who brings both heart and operational brilliance—and Middle Tennessee families are safer, fed, and supported because of him.

Rob Coleman is a fully engaged disaster responder who serves across every phase of the disaster cycle: preparation, response, and recovery. In the past year alone, he has been activated for 45 disaster cases across multiple counties, responding at all hours to support families coping with crises such as home fires. He manages emergency shelters, staffs Emergency Operations Centers, and serves as a government liaison at the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency during major disasters.

Rob strengthens the Red Cross long before emergencies strike. He evaluates and documents shelter locations, ensuring communities are ready when largescale disasters hit. As a certified instructor, he trains new volunteers in sheltering fundamentals and disaster assessment—critical infrastructure that supports the entire response network.

What sets Rob apart is the breadth and depth of his service. He moves seamlessly from statewide emergency coordination to the intimate work of handing a comfort kit to a family who just lost everything. Each activation means immediate financial assistance, safety, and hope for those beginning their recovery. Rob builds the systems, trains the people, and shows up in the hardest moments—making him an essential pillar of the Red Cross disaster response program.

In just over a year, Gabe has participated in 19 disaster-related volunteer leader opportunities, contributing 47 hours—30 of them in 2025—and showing up for projects in both Davidson County and Clarksville. He has also led major corporate volunteer efforts, including supporting a project with roughly 450 volunteers to better prepare for large groups of volunteers when disaster strikes.

What sets Gabe apart is his meticulous attention to safety and his calm, kind leadership. Whether teaching volunteers proper Personal Protective Equipment use or guiding a team through difficult cleanup work, he models responsibility and compassion. Staff trust him with critical tasks because he is reliable, humble, and completely invested in serving his community. Every time Gabe signs up for a project, it feels—quite literally—like a bright spot on a hard day.

For 30 years, Jimmy Parnell has been a steadfast, joyful force behind the Meals on Wheels program in Fairview, contributing more than 15,000 hours of service. Every weekday, he helps pack meals, organize cooler pickups, and clean the kitchen—work he approaches with enthusiasm, kindness, and an unwavering commitment to older adults who rely on daily nourishment. Jimmy completes all of this while navigating life in a wheelchair and living with muscular dystrophy, yet he refuses to let any physical limitation define what he is capable of giving.

Beyond the program, he is a beloved presence in his community. On sunny days he sits at the end of his driveway waving to everyone who passes—earning him the unofficial title of “Chester Road ambassador.” For many, that wave is a moment of connection, a reminder that someone sees them.

What sets Jimmy apart is the way his life embodies service as a way of being. He brings encouragement to volunteers, care to his neighbors, and joy to anyone who crosses his path. His example shows that dignity, generosity, and hope can be offered freely, every single day—and that no barrier is too great to prevent one person from becoming a light for an entire community.

Mary Walker has dedicated her life to ensuring children and families across Middle Tennessee have the opportunity to thrive. Her leadership and compassion have strengthened two essential community organizations—Renewal House and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee.

In the early 1990s, as a juvenile court judge, Mary saw mothers lose custody simply because treatment programs separated them from their children. Refusing to accept this, she led a multiyear effort that resulted in the founding of Renewal House in 1996—the first program in Nashville where women could recover while remaining with their children. For three decades, she has continued to guide the organization through board leadership, committee work, campaign support, and hands‑on service. Today, Renewal House has served more than 10,000 womenand children because Mary envisioned a better way.

Mary also transformed Big Brothers Big Sisters of Middle Tennessee. Even after her time as the VP of Programs, she continued to volunteer and lead the agency through significant growth – expanding matches from about 400 to more than 2,800. She lived the mission personally as well, mentoring two Littles with the same steady presence and compassion she brought to her leadership.

Across every role, Mary’s thread is clear: a belief that every woman and child deserves dignity, stability, and the chance to grow together. Her lifelong service reflects the same integrity, compassion, and commitment to community that defined Charles Strobel.

For 24 years, Andrea Overby has been a guiding presence at The Next Door Recovery (TNDR), helping shape the organization from its earliest prayer meetings to the comprehensive reentry and recovery program it has become today. As cofounder and the organization’s first Board Chair, she helped establish TNDR as an independent nonprofit, build its structure, and support its growth into a crucial resource for women returning from incarceration.

Andrea’s leadership has remained constant across decades—serving multiple board terms, guiding capital campaigns, supporting staff wellness, and personally mentoring women in recovery through weekly Spiritual Wellness groups. Each month, she helps women process their experiences, rebuild confidence, and find hope in moments of profound vulnerability. Her presence offers reassurance, dignity, and unconditional encouragement.

What sets Andrea apart is her view of service as sacred partnership. She meets each woman not with charity, but with respect—recognizing their strength, honoring their stories, and walking alongside them through transformation. Her calm wisdom, steadfast dedication, and decades of leadership have helped thousands of women navigate their “next door,” making her legacy a living testament to the spirit of Charles Strobel.