H. Beecher Hicks III’s professional experiences have included work in both the private, public and non-profit sectors where he has focused on building enterprises as a consultant, banker, investor and operating executive. Henry is now the president and CEO of the National Museum of African American Music (www.nmaam.org), also known as NMAAM, which is scheduled to begin construction this year (2017) and open in 2019. From Africa to hip-hop, the 56,000 sq. ft. experiential museum will highlight the many contributions African Americans have made to American music and culture.
Henry is also a partner with Red Clay Capital Holdings, LLC (redclaycapital.com), a private equity firm with offices in Atlanta, GA and Nashville, TN that is focused on making control investments in the southeastern United States. Previously he was an operating principal with Onyx Capital Ventures, where he achieved top-line growth of more than 25% for portfolio companies; and he was formerly an investment banker with Bank of America in Charlotte, NC, closing more than $1 billion in middle market transactions as principal and advisor. In 1998 Mr. Hicks was appointed by President William J. Clinton to be a White House Fellow. In this capacity he was Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for National and Community Service and launched the AmeriCorps Promise Fellows program on behalf of the President and General Colin Powell. Henry is a member of the boards of directors for Leadership Nashville, University School of Nashville and the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee. He served previously on the board of directors for the Nashville Convention and Visitors Corporation and United Therapeutics Corporation (NASDAQ: UTHR) where he served on the audit and compensation committees.
Henry, who has a Bachelor of Arts in Marketing from Morehouse College and an MBA in Finance from the University of North Carolina, enjoys writing on his blog dreambigthenexecute.com, and tweeting from @hbeecher3. He also takes delight in playing tennis, golf, and reading modern biographies and fiction. He is married to Crystal, an elementary educator, and they have two sons whose voices seem to get deeper every day.