Friends of Franklin Parks Adds Five to Board of Directors

friends of franklin parks

Friends of Franklin Parks, the non-profit organization dedicated to supporting the city’s public park system with private community resources, has added five new members to its Board of Directors.

1Hamilton Bowman

Hamilton Bowman, a native of Franklin and chief operating officer of Franklin-based EnableComp, is a graduate of Battle Ground Academy and Vanderbilt University, where he earned two advanced degrees. He is a member of the Board of Trustees at BGA, a fellow on the Nashville Health Care Council, and a graduate of Leadership Middle Tennessee. Bowman and his wife, Emily, have two young daughters and enjoy spending time outdoors together as a family.

2Ken Chin

Ken Chin is president of KAC Sports & Events, LLC, a consulting firm that leverages his 25-year sports business career that began with the National Hockey League’s events department. He later served as vice president of events and business development with the Atlanta Sports Council. After a stint as executive director of Denver Sports, he and his wife, Ellie, relocated to Franklin. Chin is currently a consultant for the Williamson County Sports Authority and has previously consulted for the Nashville Predators and the 2016 NHL All-Star Game held in Nashville. He holds a master’s degree from The Ohio State University, as well as a certification in sports and special event marketing from New York University.

3Clay Harlin

Clay Harlin brings a lifetime of affiliation with Harlinsdale Farm, as a member of the namesake family. He was involved professionally with the horse-breeding operation from the time he was a teenager until the farm was sold, and later was president of Mid South Uniform Service in Tullahoma, Tennessee. Harlin holds a degree in Bible and preaching from Lipscomb University, and has worked as a teaching pastor and director of missions, which has allowed him to teach and lead short-term missions in Haiti, Honduras, India, Romania and Ukraine. He retired in 2017 to care for his ailing father, the late Bill Harlin, and enjoys spending time with his wife, Faye, their three adult children and eight grandchildren.

4Jan Marshall

Jan Marshall, a native of middle Tennessee, was admissions director for Franklin Road Academy for more than a decade, prior to moving to Leiper’s Fork to open Puckett’s Gro. & Restaurant with her husband, Andy. Marshall’s father was a member of Nashville Mayor Beverly Briley’s administration and worked closely with Metro and Tennessee State Parks, and she remembers hiking and camping in parks across the state as a child. Later, she was introduced to significant projects that improved public resources such as Nashville’s Centennial Park and Fort Negley. A. Marshall Hospitality, her family’s business, has grown to include eleven restaurants spanning six concepts across the state. She is the mother to three children who all work in the business and have provided five grandchildren.

5Matt Roberts

Matt Roberts works in the Franklin office of Stites & Harbison, PLLC, practicing in the firm’s real estate and banking service group. He grew up in Nashville and Memphis, attended the University of Georgia and then earned a law degree from the Washington and Lee University School of Law. Roberts joins the Friends of Franklin Parks board having served on its Riverwalk and Trails Committee since 2016. He has also served on the board of Williamson County CASA since 2010, and is a past president and chair of the legislative committee of the Tennessee Association of Property Tax Professionals, a member of the Trustee’s Council of the Land Trust for Tennessee, and a member of the Franklin Noon Rotary. Roberts lives in Franklin with his wife, Lauren, and two daughters.

Founded in 2011, Friends of Franklin Parks, Inc. exists to cultivate stewardship within our community to preserve our cultural and natural resources, enhance the park experience and expand its legacy for future generations. For more information, vis