By Lauren Means • Photo Courtesy of Brian Marshall
Brian Marshall, who recently earned his doctorate of education, has an extensive resume. He’s a social and behavioral health educator and researcher, community organizer, and civic leader. He’s served on a multitude of community health initiatives such as the Community Advisory Board for Vanderbilt Vaccine Trials, the Coordinating Committee and Leadership Team for Ending the HIV Epidemic Equity Workgroup, Neighborhood Health’s Board of Directors Quality Committee, Community Health Ambassador for the Meharry Department of Family and Community Medicine, and the Needs Assessment Committee Chair for the Regional Ryan White Planning Council.
He’s the portrait of a true community leader. He gives more than he takes and his purpose in life is serving his community. He has a passion for people but that’s not where his story began.
Although he has an extensive background in nonprofit leadership and education, Marshall started out his career in the mass communications field. “Initially when I went to college as an undergraduate student, my dream was to become a news anchor or tv personality. I actually made history at Clark Atlanta University being one of the first students to start the first-ever student-produced news program for the campus cable TV channel, CAU-TV,” he recalled.
From there, he went on to work as a production assistant for WBBJ-TV in Jackson, Tennessee. However, he wasn’t able to reach his goals in this field so he returned to Nashville to do some purpose searching.
A Career Pivot
Marshall has always had a desire to help people. This desire led him to be a volunteer for different organizations. Volunteering actually opened the door to his first job as a case manager at the First Response Center in Nashville. It was here that Marshall worked on a Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services (SAMHSA) grant. He said, “My purpose in life was literally birthed at First Response Center because I was able to see firsthand the array of complex challenges minority LBGTQ youth and young adults face on a daily basis.”
This was when he changed course in his education focus. He knew if he was going to have a greater impact on his community, he needed to further his education to match the scope of his work. He started by earning his Master in Civic Leadership which equipped him with the skills to effectively lead and serve his community. “From that program, I was able to implement a job readiness and training initiative with my clients who were homeless and unemployed,” stated Marshall. He continued, “The skills and tools I learned during my master’s program also prepared me to successfully launch my nonprofit organization, MashUp! Nashville.”
As he progressed in his career, he became interested in research to learn best practices for addressing the needs of vulnerable populations. He also started to toss around the idea of possibly teaching on a collegiate level. “This led me to pursue my Doctorate in Education in Leadership and Professional Practice. I am now a course instructor for students at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, teaching them about health equity,” said Marshall. And his bachelor’s degree in mass media still came in handy for the educational component of his nonprofit organization known as MashUp! TV.
Making Education a Family Affair
Education is something that was important to both Marshall and his grandmother. While he was the first in his family to earn a doctorate he gives credit to his “Big Momma” as his biggest inspiration for obtaining his doctorate. “She started her doctoral journey in education at Tennessee State University but was not able to complete it.” He kept Big Momma close by throughout the program. “When I defended my dissertation, I had a picture of her right beside me. I believe I completed the journey she started! That was my gift back to her for being my chief inspiration and biggest cheerleader.”
But humble as he is, Marshall said he’s the same person he’s always been. He isn’t really used to the title and people referring to him as Dr. Marshall. His hesitation with accepting that designation stems from how titles can unintentionally divide and separate people who have had opportunities and access in life from those who have not.
“Titles can stifle making valuable connections with different groups of people. I don’t ever want people to feel like I am any better than them because of a mere title I have acquired,” explained Marshall.
Ultimately, he wants the focus of his doctorate degree to inspire others — that is what brings him happiness. “I will say the joy I do have from obtaining my doctorate is that I am now an example to people who share my same hue, that they too can accomplish this goal. I was never the smartest in school. I never made over a 17 on the ACT, but I was always the person who saw a dream and went after it.”
Marshall’s seen countless achievements professionally, personally, and academically, however, those aren’t the accomplishments that spring to his mind first when asked of which he is most proud. It’s not the awards or accolades, but the moments that occur in private when a previous client or mentee shares their success stories with him that validate his work. “When I’ve made a positive influence on someone’s life,” he said, “that’s when I know my purpose has been fulfilled.”
Nashville and the LGBTQ+ Community
With his involvement and influence within the Nashville LGBTQ+ community, Marshall is able to give perspective on the changes he’s seen within the LGBTQ+ community, and more specifically the Black LGBTQ+ community. Some of the positive changes include more open dialogue about PrEP and U=U (undetectable = untransmittable) and individuals from the Black LGBTQ+ community taking ownership of their health. “I am encouraged when I see billboard signs and commercials using Black LGBTQ+ individuals to promote sexual health,” said Marshall.
With the good, there’s still work to be done. One of the things Marshall cites as needing improvement is homeless LGBTQ+ youth. An important step he sees to help overcome this is an LGBTQ+ center that could provide holistic services. He does credit current programs with trying to bridge the gap. “I am encouraged that we have amazing organizations like LaunchPad that are leading the way to ensure our youth are not sleeping in the cold and dangerous streets of Nashville,” he remarked.
He also encourages leaders in the community to take a health equity approach to health disparities, in addition to creating equality spaces. Health equity ensures all people have the same resources and opportunities. Health equity also recognizes that different groups of people — specifically LGBTQ+ youth of color — have different circumstances that require group-specific resources and opportunities to reach an equal health outcome as privileged groups. “I do have hope that Nashville will continue to strive upward,” Marshall declared.
“I want to encourage current and future leads in the field of LGBTQ+ health to walk boldly in their purpose and to not give up until we see complete victory for all minoritized groups.”
