Click Here To Listen Rutherford Business 100 Leading African Americans LaShan Mathews Dixon
Mrs. LaShan Mathews Dixon a graduate of Middle Tennessee State University received her Bachelor’s degree in Exercise Science, Graduate Certificate in Health Care Management, Graduate Certificate in Gerontology, and her Master’s degree in Health and Human Performance.
Mrs. Dixon has held many crowns including Miss Black & Gold, Miss Middle Tennessee Blue Raider, Miss Black Tennessee USA, Miss Tennessee Pearl USA, Miss Spirit of the South and is the reigning National Ms. Unite and Mrs. Tennessee United States and placed 1st runner up to Mrs. United States 2017 this past July. She is very passionate about serving minorities and those with disparities and has made her platform Beauty Behind Bars™ which is a self-esteem program created to help women and girls break away from mental incarceration & self-imprisonment of low self-esteem, doubt, depression, suicide, and dream killing. Beauty Behind Bars™ teaches forgiveness, accountability, and the importance of loving self from the inside out.
Professionally, Mrs. Dixon works as the Assistant Public Health County Director for the Rutherford County Health Department and as an Adjunct Professor at Middle Tennessee State University in the College of Health and Human Performance. In 2017, Mrs. Dixon was honored to receive a proclamation from the Murfreesboro City Mayor as well as from the Rutherford County Mayor who proclaimed December 4th as LaShan Mathews Dixon Day for her professional and personal commitment to improving the quality of life for others in the community. For the past seven years, she has designed and conducted research studies to determine community health education needs, and planned and instructed health education programs using technology into teaching and learning. LaShan has been a leader in the Rutherford County community hosting many community events for minorities and those underserved. She has contributed towards several grants that the Health Department has received including the Partners in Faith and Health with Minority Communities awarded by the Tennessee Department of Health, Public Health: Partnering to Promote Primary Prevention with Minority Communities awarded by Tennessee Office of Minority Health and Disparities Elimination and the Tennessee Tobacco Settlement Grant.
Currently LaShan serves as a liaison for the Rutherford County Health Department for S.M.A.R.T. Moms – Smart Mothers are Resisting Tobacco, an award-winning prenatal tobacco cessation program which was implemented by Middle Tennessee State University’s Center for Health and Human Services. The program is an evidence-based intervention for healthcare providers who work with pregnant smokers. The program since then has help smoking mothers realize the healthiest thing they can do for themselves and their baby is to stop smoking. The S.M.A.R.T. Moms program in 2013 was identified as a “Rising Star” program by the Tennessee Department of Health.
LaShan stays very active with a number of organizations serving as Graduate Advisor and Health CoChair for the Pi Nu Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, Resolutions Committee Member of Tennessee Public Health Association, Board Member of the Community Anti-Drug Coalition of Rutherford County, Coordinator of the Rutherford County Health Department Employee Wellness Council, Advisory Board Member of Murfreesboro City Schools Farm2 School, Ambassador for Saint Thomas Rutherford Commonwealth Society, Member of the Tennessee Nutrition and Consumer Education Program Coalition, Advisory Member of the Tennessee Department of Health Block Grant and Member of the Community Wellness Council of Rutherford County.
LaShan is a member of First Baptist Church –Murfreesboro where she active in the Dance Ministry. In her spare time she enjoys traveling with her husband, and spending time with her family and friends. A native of Nashville, TN she currently lives in Murfreesboro, TN with her husband Lamar and beautiful little girl Londyn.
“Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
Such quotes, I believe, are indispensable to my personal and professional development and my unwavering dedication to the mission of the Tennessee Department of Health to protect, promote and improve the health and prosperity of people in Tennessee. As a leader in my community I have recycled this concept, which was spoken over 50 years ago by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. to help me pursue my passion of fierce advocacy towards improving the quality of life for others.
Personally, I am very active with a number of female empowerment organizations including Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and Beauty Behind Bars™. Alpha Kappa Alpha’s mission is to cultivate and encourage high scholastic and ethical standards, to promote unity and friendship among college women, to study and help alleviate problems concerning girls and women in order to improve their social stature, to maintain a progressive interest in college life, and to be of “Service to All Mankind”. Serving as Graduate Advisor and Health Co-Chair for the Pi Nu Omega Chapter, I directly affect change in our community by participating in programs of service impacting countless lives. As an official spokeswoman for Beauty Behind Bars™ I strive to meet women where they are without judgement, while being a compass guide to help them through any life situation. Beauty Behind Bars™ is a self-esteem program created to help individuals break away from mental incarceration & self-imprisonment of low self-esteem, doubt, depression, suicide, and dream killing. Through this movement I am able to positively change lives, while transforming women to be positive reinforcements in their home and community. This includes providing careers and life changing opportunities.
Professionally, as a Community Outreach Worker and Health Educator, I had the opportunity to work with community members, leaders, coalitions and other stakeholders to design, implement and evaluate programs for the community. In my current role as the Assistant Public Health County Director, I have designed and conducted research studies to determine community health education needs. I have also planned and provided instruction for health education programs reaching over 80,000 residents of Rutherford County annually. Additionally, for the last three years, I have served as an Adjunct Professor at Middle Tennessee State University in the College of Health and Human Performance inspiring our future generations to see health as the interrelated practice of promoting individual, family, organizational and community health behavior change. My public health work experiences have afforded me a number of opportunities to learn and grow within my profession.
Working for the Rutherford County Health Department for the past 10 years has illuminated in me a respect for diversity and a burning desire to be an advocate for women and for those underserved in my community. Understanding that health is a major part of our society, I strive to be one of the changing agents to help our changing health care system. Three years ago I helped develop, implement and host one of our largest community events for at-risk mothers called Community Baby Shower. The Community Baby Shower provides resources for healthy beginnings and education to the mothers to maintain a healthy lifestyle with their newborns. Receiving early and regular prenatal care along with education improves the chances of a healthy pregnancy and is one of the best ways to promote a healthy birth. In addition to the essential baby supplies, the Community Baby Shower has included more than 50 local organizations participants in the resource fair and educational workshops. As lead for this event, I collaborated with United Way of Rutherford and Cannon Counties and Saint Thomas Rutherford Hospital to give new mothers and babies born in Rutherford County a positive start in life. Since 2015, we have reached more than 1,200 families, assembled 1,500 bags with essential baby supplies and brought together more than 450 volunteers to assist with the event.
Throughout my life, I have made every effort to demonstrate personal and professional excellence in all that I do, while understanding that “I can never be what I ought to be until you (others) are what you ought to be.” For me, my purpose is to aim high and work hard to help others reach their goals, while making a direct impact on the lives of others that will never be erased.
