Charlane Oliver

Hailed as a “Now Generation Activist” and 2020 "Person of the Year" by The Tennessean and a 2019 Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal, Charlane Oliver is an award-winning community advocate, respected movement builder, and public relations strategist. Recently she was named to Nashville’s Power 100 list and is a rising star among Music City’s political scene. She is the co-founder and co-executive director of The Equity Alliance, a nonprofit focused on building independent Black political power by mobilizing Black voters to be engaged in the civic process in a state with one of the lowest voter participation rates in the nation.

With the recent election of President Joe Biden, Charlane was named among 8 women fighting for voting rights in the South.

As a trusted voice on voting rights issues, her work has been featured in The New York Times, Washington Post, Rolling Stone, National Journal, Pew Charitable Trusts, Huffington Post, the Associated Press, Think Progress, on NPR Weekend Edition, MSNBC, CNN, internationally and throughout Tennessee. She has graced the coveted stage at the inaugural TEDxNashvilleWomen and has been a featured guest on several television broadcasts, radio stations, and podcasts.

She is a partner with OEM Consulting Group, LLC and founder of the Power of 10 PAC, a political action committee dedicated to funding and supporting candidates of color. As a political strategist and public relations expert, she has helped to elect school board members, city council members, judges and state legislators.

Prior to taking the helm at The Equity Alliance, Charlane served as the community liaison and communications strategist for U.S. Congressman Jim Cooper. She led one of the most successful voter registration efforts in Congress called Project Register, a nonpartisan initiative that recruited over 215 Middle Tennessee companies to encourage their employees to register to vote online.

She serves on the board of the Metro Nashville Emergency 911 Communications District Board, Purpose Preparatory Academy, Stand Up Nashville, and Nurture The Next. She is member of the NAACP Nashville Chapter, Women’s Political Collaborative of Tennessee, Nashville Women of Color in Communications, and Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc.

A native of Little Rock, Arkansas, she graduated from Vanderbilt University and holds a Master of Public Administration from the University of Tennessee-Knoxville.