Nicholas Christian is Assistant Special Agent in Charge (“ASAC”) of the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation’s Cybercrime Investigation Squad. Cybercrime Investigation’s include, but are not limited to, business email compromises, ransomware, online threats, account takeovers, cryptocurrency theft, and money mule networks. The primary focus of the Cybercrime Investigation Squad is the disruption of transnational cybercrime organizations by targeting their domestic presence, criminal investigative response to cyber incidents, cyber intelligence-gathering, and general deterrence through prosecution of any local bad actors. The Cybercrime Investigation Squad is also responsible for government and private sector coordination, collaboration, outreach, and education. ASAC Christian received his bachelor’s degree in Computer Information Systems and Master of Science degree in Computer Information Systems with a concentration in Information Security and Assurance from Middle Tennessee State University.

Josh McKinney engages communities and vital stakeholders in addressing issues surrounding housing and financial stability and has helped thousands of individuals achieve, sustain, and succeed at safe, sound, and affordable housing. He serves Tennessee Housing Development Agency as the Real Estate Industry Advisor for East Tennessee.

Josh started his career at Eastern Eight Community Development Corporation as a Program Coordinator where he developed Tennessee’s first post-purchase housing education program. He went on to manage all housing education services and eventually served as a foreclosure intervention counselor while being recognized by USDA Rural Development as a Valued Partner in 2012. Josh also spent a year at United Way of Elizabethton/Carter County where he served as the Director, leading the organization to a successful 2016-2017 Fundraising Campaign and engineering a partnership to create a Community Resource Center for the city’s public housing communities.

When Josh came to THDA in 2017 to serve as a HUD Housing Counseling Coordinator for East TN, he helped develop and launch the Good Tenant Training program focused on helping ex-offenders become successful renters and in 2019 this program was selected as a finalist for the National Council of State Housing Agencies awards. Josh was one of the first HUD-certified housing counselors in the country which led to HUD choosing him to serve on a panel of industry experts to help them design study materials for the HUD Housing Counselor Certification Exam. He is an inaugural graduate of the State of Tennessee’s Criminal Justice Leadership Academy and in 2020 Josh graduated from LEAD TN. In his current role East TN Realtors chose Josh as their 2021 Affiliate of the Year and asked him to chair their Affiliate Committee in 2022. In that same year a Realtor training curriculum called “Increasing Minority Homeownership” that Josh helped develop won a Fair Housing Award from the Association of Real Estate License Law Officials.

Josh brings tremendous passion to his work in the housing industry because he grew up out of poverty, where his mother discovered affordable housing resources that led them to a better life. To Josh, passion is the most important piece of the puzzle; it is the compass for the mission, the glue that holds everyone together, and the heart that connects the message to the audience. His life’s goal is to stoke up a passion for affordable housing in everyone he comes into contact with.

Angie Javier has built a reputation as a premier real estate marketing strategist and advisor in the San Francisco Bay Area and beyond. From highly-effective sales tactics to traditional and digital marketing best practices, she has amassed a wealth of knowledge that she now shares with REALTORs as part of the extensive realtor.com curriculum. Angie presents to agents nationwide, sharing her insights and expertise on three critical keys of successful marketing: lead generation and conversion, increased online reputation and exposure, and building a strong personal brand.Angie is the host of the ‘Results Series’ at Realtor.com, a webinar series that provides real estate professionals relevant strategies in marketing, lead conversion, social media and emerging technology.

Dr. Jeff Sisk, who for nearly three decades has focused on helping students learn the skills necessary to be successful in the workplace, is the newly appointed Executive Director of the College System of Tennessee’s Center for Workforce Development.

Sisk assumed his new systemwide role after serving 11 years as president of the Tennessee College of Applied Technology (TCAT) at Jackson, where he expanded career and technical education programs, provided dual enrollment opportunities for high school students, established workforce training partnerships with employers, and helped plan the TCAT campus under construction at Ford’s Blue Oval City.

Appointed by Tennessee Board of Regents Chancellor Flora W. Tydings, Sisk is prioritizing assistance to Tennessee business and industry through several workforce training programs and activities. “Dr. Sisk is uniquely qualified to lead our enhanced Center for Workforce Development. The partnerships he established at TCAT Jackson with industries, local governments and economic development agencies have benefitted our students, employers and communities across West Tennessee. His work was critical in moving our Blue Oval City campus to the construction phase. He hit the ground running in leading the CWD as both a coordinating and operational unit in our mission of student success and workforce development,” Dr. Tydings said.

Sisk started as an instructor of computer technology at TCAT Jackson in 1996, beginning a career of working with students that has spanned nearly 27 years. He later worked as a student services counselor and information technology network administrator at TCAT Jackson, assistant director and director of TCAT Whiteville, and president of TCAT Jackson. He led the merger of TCAT Whiteville into TCAT Jackson in 2021, and served as interim president of Jackson State Community College in 2019-20 and TCAT Murfreesboro in late 2022. Sisk was a volunteer mentor for high school students applying for Tennessee Promise scholarships, and served on the boards of the Jackson Chamber of Commerce and other civic organizations. He served 10 years in the Tennessee Army National Guard.

He earned both a doctorate in higher and adult education and a master’s degree in educational leadership and policy studies from the University of Memphis. He holds a bachelor’s degree from Lambuth University and an associate degree from Jackson State, both in computer information systems.

In his new role at the Center for Workforce Development, Sisk also collaborates with system leadership and subject-matter experts to develop, deliver and evaluate the system’s economic development effectiveness, and provides strategic support for the colleges’ workforce development offices as we expand our partnerships with business and industry to prepare a competitive workforce across a wide range of occupations. And he collaborates with federal, state and local government entities to support their economic and community development efforts.

Lyndi Berrones, Regional Director for Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development.
Lyndi Berrones returned to her home state of Tennessee in 2017 to work for the Department of Economic and Community Development. Berrones started as a statewide recruitment director and is now the department’s regional director for Greater Nashville. She spends her days creating jobs for Tennesseans by recruiting new companies to her thirteen-county region and helping existing companies expand. Berrones has directly assisted in the creation of more than 30,000 new direct jobs and $6 billion in new capital investment for the State across various industry sectors from headquarters and I.T. to heavy manufacturing and distribution/logistics with wins under her belt to include Oracle, LG Chem, In-N-Out Burgers, Nashville Record Pressing, New Balance Athletics, Chick-Fil-A Supply, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and others. 

Prior to joining TNECD, Berrones lived and worked in Santiago, Chile and then served as the economic development director for Miami-Dade County until 2016. She received the prestigious Excellence in Economic Development Award in 2019, TEDC’s Volunteer of the Year Award in 2021, and was just recently awarded Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence in 2022 and the Governor’s Excellence in Service Award in 2023. Berrones holds a master’s degree in international business from the University of South Carolina’s Moore School of Business and an executive certificate from Harvard Business School. In her free time, she serves as the head cheerleading coach for the Hermitage Seahawks recreational league.