jeff riddle — Serve901 director
Jeff Riddle
Jeff joined the team in August 2014 and is our Serve901 Director.
What I do for city Leadership
As the Serve901 Director at City Leadership, I lead the Serve901 campaign that hosts around 1000 people to Memphis annually for service-learning experiences.
Serve901 helps college student groups and church groups have a seamless experience serving around the city by being a conduit to many different organizations across the city. We hope to help people learn more about the city as they serve here during a break from school.
Our hopes are that Memphis nonprofits are served and that our groups experience a city they want to be a part of where they can be engaged while enjoying community and the big city amenities with a small town feel.
CONNECT WITH ME
How I got to Memphis…
I am from the East Tennessee city of Morristown, which is 45 minutes east of Knoxville and roughly 6.5 hours east of Memphis. Tennessee is a long state. I grew up a big Tennessee Vols fan and went to UTK after two years of community college at Walters State.
I finished a degree in communication studies without a real sense of what I wanted to do vocationally. I stayed in Knoxville and got a ‘big boy job.’ That job was collections, and boy was it the wrong fit for me. I discovered that I wanted my 9–5 to be personally connected to a greater mission.
Learning about education equity led me to discover the Memphis Teacher Residency (MTR) in 2011. A subsequent visit in May 2012 to see my best friend and attend Beale Street Music Fest was where I learned about other initiatives around Memphis where I saw people from various sectors working to make a difference in this city. I was hooked and quickly applied for the SOS Academy internship.
Why I Choose901
While always having been part of who I am, I fully recognized the gift that is my connectedness once I landed in Memphis. I had moved to a new city with only a handful of existing relationships. Through my time in Knoxville, I mostly deepened friendships I already had from my hometown. I didn’t get super involved on campus and feel like I’d missed out on the freshman experience having been a transfer to such a big school. It wasn’t until I was set on coming to Memphis that I began to grow in my involvement in the local Knoxville community.
Being a part of the SOS Academy allowed me the opportunity to meet so many people from all over the city. The tangled web of the Memphis nonprofit world was a fun game to learn for me. I loved meeting other communities of like-minded young professionals who were part of other gap year programs like MTR. It took me no time at all to feel embedded in the Memphis community.
I have loved every minute of the decade plus that I’ve invested in Memphis between the adoption of spaghetti as a side dish to fried catfish to uncovering new tidbits of Memphis history. Rooting for Memphis to thrive and helping others see the beauty of this place through Serve901 has been very gratifying.
MEET THE riddles
Riddle Family
Callie and I have a rambunctious little boy named Silas and a baby girl coming soon!
The game I play where I meet someone and play the name game ultimately led to my marriage. Long story short, I met Callie’s mom in December 2013, but I wouldn’t meet Callie until Choose901 Grizz Night in November 2014. My first date with Callie was a few weeks later at the East Memphis classic Casablanca, and it remains a favorite spot for us. Callie moved to Memphis for MTR and has grown very passionate about ensuring that every child learns how to read.