Music City Baseball, LLC was established in 2019 with the objective to bring a Major League Baseball franchise to the Nashville market. The organization developed the Stars brand to pay homage to the Negro Leagues teams that played in Nashville and throughout the country.
The organization has worked to become a partner with the Nashville community by building a vast team of advisors and community leaders who are supportive of the effort.
Alberto R. Gonzales
Chair, Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Alberto R. Gonzales served as the 80th Attorney General of the United States and former Counsel to the President. He is the Chair of the Board of Directors of MCB and brings experience dealing with the media and governmental entities and addressing complex legal and business issues.
Presently, Gonzales is the Dean and Doyle Rogers Distinguished Professor of Law at Belmont University College of Law.
John Loar
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
John Loar is responsible for all day-to-day business operations of MCB. He has 30 years of experience in the real estate development, sports and entertainment fields.
He led the acquisition efforts on behalf of investment groups for two Major League Baseball franchises and executed both the acquisition and sale of the Seattle Seahawks. Loar served as Vice President of Blackhawk Corporation, one of the country’s largest residential and commercial real estate developers.
Lee Barfield
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Lee Barfield is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt Law School and served as an antisubmarine warfare officer in the United States Navy.
He practiced law in Nashville for forty years trying medical, business and other civil cases in state and federal courts until retiring in 2015. Barfield has worked with the Tennessee General Assembly to promote job growth and economic prosperity since 2011.
Eddie D. Hamilton, MD, FAAP
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Dr. Hamilton, a senior healthcare executive, has practiced general pediatrics in Nashville since 1988. He received his medical education and pediatric training at the Vanderbilt School of Medicine and Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital. Dr. Hamilton has been active in pediatric advocacy, including his tenure as president of the Tennessee Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (2010-11). As founder of Centennial Pediatrics, Dr. Hamilton created a regional network of multi-specialty pediatric services for children that included the development and operation over 250,000 sq. ft. of commercial healthcare real estate. Dr. Hamilton currently operates his new private practice, ICON Pediatrics, and serves as an advisor and consultant for numerous for-profit and not-for-profit entities, focused on equitable development for historically disinvested communities.
Stacey Garrett Koju
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Stacey Garrett Koju concentrates her law practice in the areas of corporate transactions, labor and employment law, employment practices, healthcare, and higher education.
She is a founding member of Bone McAllester Norton PLLC and chair of the firm’s Board of Directors. Stacey says that founding the law firm is one of her most personally satisfying accomplishments. She is driven by her law partners and the firm’s staff who truly embody the firm’s motto, Law. Life. Passion.
Stacey believes deeply in community investment through charitable and civic activities. She began her commitment to community service at the age of 14, volunteering in a nursing home. There she learned the value of service to others and continues to participate in charitable activities throughout the state. Stacey is a vocal supporter of diversity, inclusion and individual empowerment.
Amish Purohit
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Amish R Purohit is the managing partner of Alpha Development, LLC, a diversified investment company he founded in 2015.
He has more than 20 years of experience in commercial real estate acquisition and development with a focus on hospitality. In addition, Dr. Purohit is heavily involved in the medical field serving as a consultant to several Fortune 500 healthcare private sector and venture capital companies.
Nancy Schultz
Board of Directors/Executive Committee
Nancy Schultz is a retired management consulting corporate executive with over 37 years of documented success in the Healthcare, Manufacturing, Retail, Hospitality and Public Sector arenas.
A Vanderbilt University graduate holding a BE in Electrical Engineering and Mathematics, Nancy spent 23 years at North Highland Consulting as Vice President and founder of the Nashville office. Prior to North Highland, Nancy was an Associate Partner at Accenture for 11 years and a Director at Arthur Andersen Business Consulting for two years.
A proud mother of two college graduates who played NCAA Division I baseball, Nancy resides in Nashville with her husband Walter. They are both involved in numerous civic and charitable endeavors.
Danielle Whitworth Barnes
Board of Directors
Danielle Whitworth Barnes is the President and CEO of the Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee. She began that role in 2023 after serving as the Executive Director for Ernst & Young in the Government and Public Sector Practice, where she set strategy for market development, led business operations, and managed relationships across various state and local government entities.
Prior to EY, Danielle served as a member of the Governor’s Cabinet as the Commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Human Service. Under two different Governors, she led the operations and strategic direction of the state’s second largest agency, providing services to approximately two million Tennesseans each year.
She earned her undergraduate degree from Spelman College and her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law. She is active in the Nashville community, serving as a Board Member for the Tennessee Center for Performance Excellence, Douglas Henry State Museum Foundation, Governor’s Early Literacy Foundation, and Think Tennessee. She is also an active member of Jack and Jill of America, Inc. and the Nashville Rotary.
Eddie George
Board of Directors/Real Estate Development Advisor
Eddie George is the head football coach at Tennessee State University. He was a Heisman trophy winner and first round draft choice out of Ohio State, earning Rookie of the Year honors in 1996.
Eddie was the starting running back for the Tennessee Titans until 2003; he was selected to four consecutive Pro Bowls and still owns virtually every Titans rushing record.
Eddie earned an MBA at Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University and developed a number of successful businesses including the Edward George Wealth Management Group. He also developed the Business of Professional Sports at the Fisher School of Business at The Ohio State University for aspiring professional athletes and future business executives.
Bob Kendrick
Board of Directors
Bob Kendrick is President of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum (NLBM) in Kansas City, MO.
A 2014 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Kendrick is responsible for the museum’s day-to-day operations, development and implementation of strategies, and to advance the history of Negro Leagues Baseball history and its connection to issues relating to sports, race and diversity in addition to honoring Major League Baseball greats who played the game in the spirit and signature style of the Negro Leagues.
Steve Smith
Board of Directors
Stephen B. Smith is Chairman of Haury & Smith Contractors, Inc., a 60 year-old building and development company.
He is active in the community, having served on a number of boards, and is involved in both local and national politics, serving as finance chairman for numerous campaigns. He currently sits on the Board of Directors of CapStar Bank and the Williamson County Sports Authority.
Mr. Smith is a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University, where he was an accomplished baseball player, elected to the MTSU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2004, and serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees.
