SOLD OUT

Brenda is passionate about women’s representation in elected office. She is the national board president of Emerge America and co-founder of Emerge Tennessee. Both dedicated to recruiting and training women to run for office and changing the face of politics as usual. She is also the President of Rethink Public Strategies, a nationally recognized public affairs group with nationwide reach influencing public policy through advocacy at all levels. With 20 years of experience leading award-winning advocacy and political campaigns and co-founding the prestigious lobbying firm Civic-Point at Frost, Brown, Todd law firm, she brings experiences successfully lobbying for national clients as well as working to help non-profits and socially conscious companies by navigating the political, policy and advocacy landscape. Brenda has worked at every level of government and brings a life of long-standing relationships with her. She has been recognized for her leadership as a recipient of the ATHENA award for young professionals, Nashville Business Journal’s Women of Influence, The Advocacy Association’s Top 20 in 2020 and named to Nashville Post’s 2022 In Charge list of the city’s power brokers in Government and Politics.  She serves on several boards such as Nashville Cable as past president, Women’s Business Collaborative, Nashville Women’s Breakfast Club as president, The Sycamore Institute as a founding board member, The Equity Alliance Fund, Tennessee Equality Project and works to advance gender equity and eliminate poverty through her work. Brenda is an alumna of Maryville College, Yale University and Nashville School of Law. 

Freda Player graduated magna cum laude in political science from Fisk University, where she was also Student Government President.  In 2003, she graduated from George Washington University with a Master’s of Arts degree in Political Management.

She began her professional political career with the Al Gore 2000 Presidential campaign.  Freda continued her political career first as the Voter Outreach Coordinator and then as the Political Director at the Tennessee Democratic Party until 2008.  In 2007, she ran for a seat on the Metro Council. 

In 2008, she was State Director of the Tennessee Change that Works campaign.  Freda led a grassroots campaign to persuade the Tennessee Congressional Delegation to vote for the Affordable Care Act. 

She has attended four DNC Conventions.  In 2012, she was elected as a Barack Obama Delegate for 5^th Congressional District and in 2016 she was elected as a Hillary Clinton Delegate.   

From 2010 to 2018, Freda was the Political Director of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 205. She is responsible for all lobbying, advocacy and electoral efforts for Local 205 in the state of Tennessee and served on the International Public Division Leadership Board. 

In April 2018, joined the Mayor David Briley’s administration as his Senior Legislative Advisor and continued for the transition for Mayor Cooper’s administration. She was the second woman and first African-American to hold this position.  

Player have also served as the Chair of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, co-founder of Fisk University Young Alumni Association, former co-founder and co-chair Nashville New Leaders Council, former Membership Chair of Nashville League of Voters, former Member At-Large Board Member of the Tennessee League of Voters and a former Steering Committee Member of A.W.A.K.E, former Treasurer of Tennessee Citizen Action and co-founder and Vice Chair of Emerge Tennessee. 

Currently, Freda Player serves on the Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools Board of Education as  Vice-Chair and represents District 7^th.  She works full time as the Executive Director of Emerge Tennessee.