April Meredith

A professional profile image featuring April Meredith, identified as an Information & Referral Coordinator. She is a Caucasian woman with shoulder-length brown hair, smiling warmly. She is wearing a dark gray sweater and silver hoop earrings. The background is a muted green color with abstract black hand-drawn accents. Her name, "APRIL MEREDITH," is displayed in large black capital letters on the right side. Below her name, a paragraph describes her role in connecting individuals with disabilities, their support networks, and public/private agencies to essential resources and social services in Tennessee. She also provides training presentations and helps maintain Pathfinder’s online directory of services. A gold compass emblem is placed near the center of the image. The bottom section has a torn-paper effect revealing a bold pink background with the word "Specialities:" in large white script. Below it, a list in white serif font highlights her expertise in International Relations, Family Engagement, Social Services, and IEP Evaluations. An arrow points toward this section, emphasizing her areas of specialization.

April Meredith brings both professional and personal experience to the position as a former Independent Living (IL) Specialist at Empower Tennessee, the Middle TN Center for Independent Living, and as a self-advocate with multiple disabilities. She is also the National Federation of the Blind Tennessee (NFBTN) Nashville Chapter Treasurer, a member of the NFBTN State Legislative Committee, the Chair of the WeGo Access Policy Advisory ADA Compliance Subcommittee, a former Japan Exchange and Teaching (JET) Program participant, and a Partners in Policymaking Leadership and Advocacy Institute graduate. In her role, as an Information & Referral Coordinator, April connects individuals with disabilities, their support networks, and public/private agencies to appropriate resources and other related social services in Tennessee; provides training presentations; and assists in maintaining Pathfinder’s online directory of services. April is a devoted wife of Dr. David Meredith and a loving mother of 3 human children – daughter Kayla plus sons Asher and Kannon – and 2 fur babies – cats Monkey and Daryl.

Specialties: Disability Specialist of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) National Trainer Leadership Network, USA Certified Adult Mental Health First Aider, information & referral, empowering persons with disabilities and intersecting identities

Interests: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, & Accessibility (DEIA); initiating/fostering positive, lasting professional partnerships; disability advocacy; women’s rights; Japanese language & culture; cats

Fun Facts about April

Hobbies: reading audio books on BARD; watching gameshows & audio-described films; writing, especially poetry; playing games; listening to NPR

Favorite Book: I love so many but the first book I checked out of my elementary school library over and over again was Where the Sidewalk Ends by Shel Silverstein. Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland also holds a special place in my heart. My favorite book genre is psychological thrillers.

Favorite Music or Song: It depends on my mood and the occasion. I like artists in every genre. If I had to pick one song, I suppose it would be “The Rose” by Bette Midler because it reminds me of my mom.

Favorite Movie(s) or TV Show(s): A few favorite movies are Beaches, An American Tale, My Neighbor Totoro, LOTR series, and Beetlejuice. Some favorite TV shows of all time are X-files, Law & Order SVU, Criminal Minds, Friends, Jeopardy, The Twilight Zone, and Netflix’s Black Mirror.

You can reach April Meredith at April.d.meredith@vumc.org.