The 2026 theme for Black Philanthropy Month was “Many Voices. One Movement.” It honored the many people, communities, and forms of generosity that carry Black philanthropy forward.
The Gamechangers 2026 cohort reflect that range. Their work reaches across education, law, cultural preservation, youth development, recovery services, mental health, and spiritual life. Each has chosen a different path of service, but all are helping build a stronger and more connected Middle Tennessee. Over eight weeks, we will share an in-depth profile of each of our eight Gamechangers 2026 cohort, carrying the celebration from Black Philanthropy Month in August into National Philanthropy Month in November.
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Rev. Dr. Omaràn D. Lee – Managing Director, Centers for Wellbeing
Rev. Dr. Omaràn D. Lee founded Centers for Wellbeing, a counseling practice supporting people navigating grief, trauma, burnout, relationship strain, and major life transitions. As a minister and North Nashville native, he has spent fifteen years working to connect community service, mental health, and divinity.
Lee previously served as director of spiritual care at Nashville General Hospital, where he established the hospital’s first chapel in its 130-year history. He is also senior pastor of NewWork Fellowship AME Church and continues his community health work through Reach One Teach One Foundation and its SíCare initiative.
Lee’s nomination looks at a common thread that may look very different on the surface than you would expect. Lee often creates the relationships that allow people and institutions to work toward a shared purpose, whether he is helping churches address clergy wellness, connecting families with behavioral health services, or bringing partners together around health equity.
“What distinguishes Dr. Lee is not simply the number of organizations he serves,” his nomination reads. “It is his ability to inspire people from different backgrounds to work together around a common purpose.”
That trust also extends into civic life. In 2026, Lee became the first African American president of the Mount Juliet Breakfast Rotary Club, he completed Leadership Middle Tennessee, and he continued serving as president-elect of the Interdenominational Ministers Fellowship of Nashville and Vicinity. His nomination describes philanthropy as he practices it: “the intentional investment of time, relationships, expertise, and resources to improve the lives of others.”
In the conversation below, Lee reflects on the community that raised him and how its care continues to shape the way he gives.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
How would you describe the work you do?
The work that I do is pastoral, also as a counselor, and as a connector and convener of persons that need support in a myriad of ways.
Tell us about your journey. What brought you to where you are today?
I am a lifelong Nashvillian, born and raised in 37208, at Meharry Hubbard Hospital, a graduate of Pearl-Cohn High School, a Fiskite. So much was poured into me from mentors and persons in the community, through Bethlehem Centers and Boys and Girls Club. It was the community that helped to raise and drive me to what I’m doing now.
I made my way into hospital health care, into chaplaincy. That work helped me connect first with veterans through the VA, and then to see the strong intersection between spirituality and medicine, and how much of what people need to be made whole and healed actually occurs with their spirit being kept.
As an AME pastor, I’m planting a church, NewWork Fellowship, to minister to those who have had church hurt and feel marginalized. We’ve been planting it for five years. We started in my living room, then the clubhouse in my neighborhood, and now we’re on the historic campus of Scarritt Bennett.
I also have a nonprofit called Reach One Teach One. I started it with my best friend on Feb. 6, 2001, to mentor young kids, because we had come through programs and we wanted to give back.
What does an ordinary day look like?
I can start off on Monday helping persons navigate health care and mental health support, and then by Friday be with a family that is struggling with issues of spirituality, and then trying to inspire hope over the weekend.
What does giving mean to you personally?
Everything that we have, none of this is ours. Not our children, not our clothing, the articles that we accumulated. It’s all a gift from God. And what we’re charged with is to be stewards of it.
Where does your giving begin?
Family is my first give back. It’s my first ministry, making sure my wife and my children are well. That’s how I’m able to function in all the other spaces in life to help others. It’s my reason, because that’s my first place of stewardship.
How have you seen Black generosity show up in ways that might not be recognized as philanthropy?
It’s the quiet stuff that happens in the church, simply feeding people, having the doors open, making it a safe place for people to show up. Running tutoring programs, giving young persons a chance to take the lead in areas where their voice has traditionally been silenced. It’s not always about meeting something with dollars. We have a lot of sweat equity we can put in.
It’s often unsung, the persons who show up consistently without the cameras, without the soundbites or social media. It’s who’s doing it when the weather is bad, when the weather’s good, when the opportunity doesn’t seem most appropriate. That’s where I see it show up most in the Black community, the people who are boots on the ground doing the hard work.
This year’s theme is “Many Voices, One Movement.” What does that mean to you?
Many Voices, One Movement means we can all collectively come together. It’s really more of it being like a song. We have to find our harmony, find our place where all our voices blend together.
What does legacy mean to you?
Legacy is really about how we put breath and air and love into one another, and then that is transcended to others.
Finish this thought: “I give because…”
I give because I was given to.
To learn more about Centers for Wellbeing and the work that Rev. Dr. Omaràn D. Lee is doing, visit https://www.ctrswb.com/.
Join us each week as we celebrate each of our 2026 Gamechangers. Keep an eye out for their stories and the many ways these leaders show up every day to help build a thriving Middle Tennessee.
About Black Philanthropy Month
Celebrated each August, Black Philanthropy Month is a global observance of giving to and by people of African descent. It recognizes Black generosity in all its forms while inviting individuals, families, organizations, and communities to invest in Black-led change.
The 2026 theme, Many Voices, One Movement, reflects the idea that the strength of Black philanthropy comes from the people who carry it forward. Giving may take many forms, but it is united by collective care, community-led investment, and a shared commitment to justice and opportunity for Black people everywhere.
The theme also reminds us that this work does not belong to one person or organization. It grows when people come together to give, build, serve, and share their voices in support of a common purpose.
Since 2019, Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee has celebrated Black Philanthropy Month by highlighting Black leadership, connecting donors with Black-led organizations, and creating space for conversations about the future of giving in our region.
This year, CFMT will bring community members together for conversation, connection, and recognition of Black leaders shaping Middle Tennessee. Guided by Many Voices, One Movement, we will consider how donors, nonprofit leaders, businesses, families, and neighbors can each contribute to a stronger and more connected future for Black philanthropy.
