The Vital Drive Towards

a more sustainable future

Join us at Rivian’s new showroom for an evening dedicated to transforming the future of transportation.

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PANEL DISCUSSION: TECHNOLOGY, PRODUCT DESIGN

Day Two

Tuesday, Oct 29

Happy Hour Session, 5:00 pm-6:30 pm
Rivian Showroom
905 Gleaves St Nashville, TN 37203

hosted by:

Rivian

Ariele Foster is the General Manager and Field Sales Manager for the Spaces Nashville and Franklin Service Center locations for Rivian. She has a background in hospitality, opening 4 hotels in Nashville prior to joining Rivian in 2023.
With a background in software development fueled by an intense passion for tech, Charles has found a unique spot for himself. He is a Field Sales Guide at Rivian, assisting Heidi with events and programming and delivering a stellar customer experience.
Heidi Zima is a Rivian Field Sales Advisor at the Spaces Nashville location, where she leads events and programming to help grow Rivian's presence in the Middle Tennessee area. Before joining Rivian in 2023, she worked in coaching and retail management.

contributors:

As The Nature Conservancy's Tennessee State Director, Laurel Creech leads a talented staff focused on long lasting land, water and biodiversity conservation in the Volunteer state. In this role, Laurel cultivates relationships with donors, trustees and partners representing the government, business, academic, philanthropic and non-profit sectors. She also provides leadership for fundraising and advocacy initiatives that support TNC’s local, regional and global priorities.
Michael Briggs serves as the Director of Transportation Planning in the Metro Nashville Mayor’s Office. Along with staff at WeGo, NDOT, and Planning, he leads the development of Mayor O’Connell’s Choose How You Move program. He is advising in this role at the Mayor’s Office while continuing as Director of Mobility at Vanderbilt University. Michael spent nearly a decade with the Metro Nashville Planning Department working on transportation elements of NashvilleNext, the Major and Collector Street Plan, nMotion, and WalknBike with many Metro departments. He eventually led Planning’s new Multimodal Transportation Planning division that developed Nashville Connector, now housed at NDOT. He has over 20 years of experience working on a range of comprehensive plans, transportation plans, and corridor studies throughout rural and urban settings in Middle Tennessee.
During Brandon's thirteen-year tenure at MTE, he has had the opportunity to serve in engineering and economic development roles before joining the Strategy Group as Manager of Strategy Execution and Analytics. Brandon has been able to work alongside MTE teammates to create a variety of electric vehicle initiatives, including the nation's first cooperative EV Car Club, a residential overnight rate popular among EV drivers, and MTE's EV Ready program that provides a bill credit for drivers who install a 240-volt service in their garage. Brandon holds a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering and a master's in engineering management.
Andy Burke joined WeGo Public Transit in 2021 as the Chief Operating Officer in Nashville, Tennessee, where he oversees the daily operations and maintenance for the agency serving over 8 Million riders annually. Andy has recently been leading the agency in its initiative to develop a Zero Emission Transition Plan for WeGo. This is a comprehensive project taking into consideration infrastructure requirements, current technology limitations, identifying energy sources & storage solutions, all while taking into consideration current conditions and limitations as it relates to topography, current and future route planning, staffing and training, as well as operational efficiencies and costs.
With nearly two decades of experience in public transit, Andy has held senior roles in various private & public spaces in the transit industry including: Santa Clara Valley Transit Authority, Greater Hartford Transit District, Essex County Division of Senior Citizens, and Central Area Transit Authority. Andy’s expertise spans fixed route, paratransit systems, fleet maintenance, contract management, and fostering internal & external stakeholder collaboration.
Andy holds a proven track record of managing complex transit systems, implementing innovative solutions, and driving sustainable transportation initiatives.
Ryan Davenport is a Sr. Service Engineer, specializing in advanced driver assistance systems and propulsion. In this role, he helps to build out the overall service strategy for the vehicle, ensuring that the vehicle can be fixed as soon as it is launched. He grew up in a small town in west Tennessee called Paris that has a replica Eiffel Tower before moving to Nashville after graduating from the University of Tennessee at Martin. Ryan has worked in automotive for 10 years, with four of those years being at Rivian. In addition to being in service engineering, Ryan also works with Tread Lightly! Here at Rivian, ensuring that Rivian vehicles are used and shown being used in a manner that promotes responsible off-road ethics. Ryan lives with his wife and his two dogs on a micro-farm in Joelton.

We are faced with a difficult environmental state that requires extraordinary steps to overcome.

The event will start with networking, light-bites and drinks, followed by a panel discussion with experts from various sectors in the transportation industry. Panelists will dive into the future of mass transit, explore the electrification of vehicles, and learn about Rivian’s unique design for their electric adventure vehicles. Rivian is inspiring industry-wide change for a vital move towards a more sustainable future.