Joey Woolley is no longer the CEO of the Nashville LGBT Chamber of Commerce as the Board of Directors of his organization voted to fire him. In a recent email, Woolley told chamber members that he was not in line with the Chamber Board, and particularly with executive committee members over the direction and operation of this organization. This situation followed months of professional and personal conflict between Woolley, the committee and the board that was not resolved.
Woolley wanted to continue as the CEO until June 2022 to aid in a transition of leadership but this request was declined. Woolley was a chamber board member for four straight years before becoming the CEO.
His stint as the CEO has included bids to make major business enterprises lobby against policies against the LGBTQ+ community at the Tennessee State Legislature.
Woolley also told in the email that his personality might have played a part in a relationship with this board that did not work. Woolley admitted that he approaches all aspects of his personal and professional life with passion, and occasionally with too much passion. Woolley added while that it was part of what made him good at his job, it could create conflict when not in line with something.
Woolley added that he wished to transform the organization into a force throughout the state and that the current leadership did not support his initiative. The current leaders of this organization kept him moving forward with it.
Woolley said that all organizations have strategic disagreements while describing how some executive committee members managed this disagreement as being unprofessional, plus unnecessarily personal and aggressive.
In an interview after his exit, Woolley said that he had been having tension with this board for about 14 months until the arrival of new board leaders.
Woolley chose to hire an attorney around a month before. Since then, negotiations were fruitless partly since the chamber wanted a non-compete clause (NCC) that would keep him from doing a job on behalf of a member organization.
Woolley said that he chose against walking away when the relationship became progressively unpleasant as he felt much obliged toward his organization and its people.
Woolley also said that he needed to cope with a toxic and micromanaging work environment involving the current leadership of his organization. He also claimed that one of the board members made slanderous comments against him and the company and that the board did not protect him from that situation.
At the center of the organizational conflict was a debate about whether it should become a pro-business advocacy group with moderate policies or a much more progressive organization that paid less attention to business problems and more to LGBT issues. Woolley said that the latter organizational approach went against whatever he had spent his energy and time on.
Board leaders issued a statement instead of giving direct replies to questions on the reasoning behind the dismissal of Woolley.
They said that Tennessee and Nashville require strong champions for the community more than before. According to them, the choice to fire Woolley was made as part of the commitment and the obligation of the board to perform what is for the benefit of their chamber. May 06, 2022, was the final day at work for Woolley. Claiming that every organization has change, the leaders said that they would make the changes they should to make their organization more inclusive and impactful as well as stronger for its work ahead.
There are strong leaders at the chamber who represent small businesses, entrepreneurs, LGBTQ+ professionals and corporations from across Tennessee. As they search for the next CEO of their organization, many volunteers and fifteen board members are confirming that the great education, events and programming that their community and members love are going on as planned. One of those events is the Pride in Business award ceremony this June.
As per the email from Woolley, Lauren Bland stepped down as the membership manager of the chamber as a consequence of the recent situation. In a recent message that Woolley shared, Bland said that she felt saddened and disappointed to leave. Bland also did not reply to requests for comment.