Stories of Technology, Innovation, & Entrepreneurship in the Southeast

Julia Polk is well-known and respected in the Nashville community where she has spent four decades as a founder, operating advisor, board member, and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) across healthcare technology, biotech, and childcare. To say her resume is impressive would be an understatement.

Polk has served as:

• CFO of Corporate Family Solutions, the company launched by former Governor and U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander Bright Horizons to develop the industry of employer-sponsored, onsite childcare;
• Vice President of Solidus Company;
• CFO of Change Healthcare;
• Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Nashville Entrepreneur Center;
• Longtime member of the board of directors of Launch Tennessee;
• Co-Founder of IQuity and Decode Health; and
• Board member and advisor to Knoxville-based Shep Digital Solutions.

Today, however, Polk has turned her passion to a new venture she launched last December named ClimateWiser. Polk plans to become a leading connector in Tennessee and the Southeast for doers and thinkers focused on environmental sustainability. ClimateWiser will serve as the backbone for that ecosystem, which will include experts, companies, investors, non-profits and other leaders in the field. The combination of in-person events, curated content and a vetted list of the players will come together over the next year.

“ClimateWiser welcomes both newcomers and industry veterans,” she says. “Our mission is to deliver a combination of in-person events, curated content and a vetted list of the players which will come together over the next year. We believe that when committed networks grow together, small changes multiply.”  

Polk draws her inspiration from something that she heard from Knoxville’s Anca Timofte, Co-Founder of Holecene – during the 2023 edition of Launch Tennessee’s “3686 Festival.” That start-up, which is an alum of the “Innovation Crossroads” program at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, is developing a four-step process named direct carbon capture that is effective in removing CO₂ from the air and allowing it to be sequestered.

After hearing Timofte’s presentation, Polk spent the next 18 months deepening her understanding of climate change and its impact on our economy, health and safety. That included applying for and being accepted into the Climatebase Fellowship program’s 2024 cohort where Polk says she jumped on three capstone projects – one each in local energy generation and microgrids, health outcomes, and the climate capital stack.

Compelled by the opportunity, she started her newest initiative with a soft launch in December and a full launch on January 27.

“I spent 18 months becoming wiser about climate and now I want to help you become wiser,” Polk says. “There’s a lot of misinformation, and we are serving up vetted sources that people can trust.”

She adds, “My job is to stimulate curiosity and connect the doers.” It might be more than a job and more like a passionate cause.

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