

Wed, Jan 15
|ZOOM
Collen Mayer, The Store
Addressing Food Insecurity with Choice, Dignity, and Community
Time & Location
Jan 15, 2025, 7:00 AM – 8:30 AM
ZOOM
About the event
Collen Mayer has dedicated his entire career to nonprofit leadership, championing organizations that
make a tangible impact at the crossroads of poverty, homelessness, and hunger. In his most recent role,
Collen took the reins as the Chief Executive Officer of The Store—a nonprofit founded by Brad and Kim
Paisley—where Collen focuses on combatting food insecurity in Nashville and beyond.
Before his tenure at The Store, Collen served as the Chief Operating Officer of Safe Haven Family Shelter.
In this role, he helped lead the agency's rapid growth, which included tripling the agency’s budget and
staff and significantly increasing the number of families transitioning from homelessness to permanent
housing.
In the earlier chapters of his philanthropic journey, Collen served as Vice-President of Resource
Development at United Way of Central Alabama and later as Director of Social Services at Catholic
Charities of Tennessee. A true enthusiast of nonprofit management, Collen finds joy in strategic
planning, systems building, program design, and fundraising. Equipped with an M.B.A. from the
University of Alabama at Birmingham and an M.Div. from the University of Notre Dame, he combines
strategic acumen with a deep sense of purpose and mission.
Collen, alongside his wife Aimee and their trio of energetic youngsters—twins Amat and Zoe and their
younger brother Jonah—calls Nashville home. As an ordained deacon in the Catholic Church, Collen
serves St. Ann's parish in West Nashville, supporting their poverty outreach work, mentoring young
couples preparing for marriage, and occasionally delivering sermons.
Beyond his direct roles, Collen's influence extends to various nonprofit boards on which he serves,
including Nashville Living Wage and Dove House Ministries. Collen also maintains a consulting practice
working with nonprofits beyond Nashville, focusing particularly on data tracking and analysis.
A proud Alabamian turned Nashvillian, Collen embraces Music City as his newfound home. When Collen
and Aimee are lucky enough to secure a babysitter, they can be found walking or biking along a
greenway, savoring the diverse Nashville food scene, or taking in top-notch bluegrass at the Station Inn.
Passcode: @NM9HFFm