LaTanya Channel is Director of Economic Growth and Small Business Development for the City of Nashville. Formerly, LaTanya served as the Director of SBA’s Tennessee Office. There her office facilitated loans to small businesses through lending institutions; advocates federal government contracting for all small businesses and works with local communities in all 95 Tennessee counties on entrepreneurial development and growth opportunities.
LaTanya also served at the US Department of Agriculture in management advisory roles on human resources, large-scale agency reorganizations, and department-wide civil rights and EEO matters. Prior to joining the Tennessee District Office, LaTanya served as the Senior Advisor in SBA’s Office of Government Contracting and 8(a) Business Development and also as the Chief of Certification & Eligibility for the HUBZone and Small Disadvantaged Business (SDB) certification programs – all at SBA’s Washington DC headquarters office.
LaTanya was born and raised in Washington, DC, and has family roots in the South – Southern Maryland – where her family served as farmers for over 6 generations. Having graduated from Rutgers-Newark School of Law, she began her “small business career” by providing legal representation and counsel to small business owners in Maryland.
LaTanya earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Claremont McKenna College, in Claremont California, and her law degree from Rutgers University School of Law-Newark.
