Tony Nichelson - Founder, CEO
Born in Memphis at the start of the turbulent 1960’s, Tony Nichelson began his career of public service to students during the mid 1980’s, after graduating from LeMoyne-Owen College in 1984 with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English. He served first as a Legislative Intern in the Tennessee General Assembly in 1985, and later as a United Way “Loaned Executive” in Washington, D.C., and suburban Maryland. In 1987, Tony was appointed Chairman for the "Juvenile Justice Committee" of Concerned Black Men of Washington, Inc., a mentoring organization, working alongside fellow Committee member, and current United States Attorney General, Judge Eric Holder.
From 1988-1990, Tony was Director of Recruitment for an Allied Health Occupations High School in the nation’s capital, and also served as Director of Dropout Prevention Programs for the Washington, D.C. school system. Nichelson’s nationally published article, “Saving the Young Ones”, appeared in the June 1995 edition of “Black Issues in Higher Education”, which led to his being a highly sought presenter for his “Graduation Success Seminars”, shared with more than 20,000 D.C. students. Later that same year, he was appointed to serve as Coordinator of Vocational Educational programs for D.C. schools, and authored, “110 Tasks Every Young Man Should Know How to Do… Before Ninth Grade”.
In 1998, Tony founded “The 110 Institute”, in Washington, and later moved its headquarters back to his hometown of Memphis, Tennessee. He served as the first Program Manager for the STAX Music Academy (Soulsville) in 2000-02, and authored, “The Shirtless Boyz of Soulsville”. In 2001, Tony joined the Citadel-Memphis Radio Group as Moderator and Host of all Public Affairs radio programs for three of the top radio stations in the Group, a position he still holds today. His commitment to young people and his love of music, led him to organize, manage and produce one of Memphis’ most popular young (teenaged) Jazz performance bands, South Soul in 2002. The band performed regularly at festivals, and at Isaac Hayes’ restaurant. They were invited to perform at the renowned Poretta Soul Festival in Poretta, Italy, in the summer of 2006.
Upon his return to Memphis after thirteen years of residing in Washington, Tony expanded the urban pre-teen development model, “110 Tasks”, to include a Literacy Workbook & Behavior Guide for teens, educational products, seminars, and a full curriculum for single-parent families. He served as a Case Manager for the Tennessee Department of Children’s Services from 2002 to 2006, assisting more than 400 families. Tony Nichelson is currently the in-studio producer for the top-rated “Steve Harvey Morning Show” on WRBO-FM in Memphis. He is a past site Coordinator for the After-School Memphis urban youth initiative through Memphis City Schools (MCS), and is a past Committee member of the Memphis City Schools Telecommunications Advisory Council. Tony's philosophy is to make our children “more literate and more considerate”, and to teach them “a little about a lot of things”.