Judy Komisky Orr, LMSW, (Linked In) became executive director of Catholic Charities, Diocese of Nashville in May 2019. Orr’s previous professional experience includes two years as vice president for mission-based services for Alive Hospice, 20 years as assistant vice chancellor for creative services at Vanderbilt University, 10 years at Ingram Book Company, and 4 years at the Country Music Hall of Fame as a publications assistant, all in Nashville.

A Nashville native, Orr graduated from St. Henry School and Father Ryan High School. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Vanderbilt University and a master’s degree from the University of Tennessee College of Social Work. She is licensed social worker in the state of Tennessee.

After a successful decades-long career in communications, Orr switched gears after obtaining her master’s in 2014 and earning licensure in 2015. A stint on the Board at nonprofit Alive Hospice led to a staff position in 2017, which included oversight of the grief counseling services department, outreach and education activities, as well as communications and fundraising. Though passionate about her work in end-of-life care, she felt a calling to join Catholic Charities when the executive director role became vacant.

Orr joined the Board of Father Ryan High School in 2006, and she proudly served as its first female chairman 2013-17. (FRHS became a coed school in 1970.) She remains an active board member. Orr is the sixth of seven children and is married to Jay Orr, retired vice president at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. They have three grown sons and three grandchildren. In her “spare time,” Orr enjoys exploring her ever-changing hometown Nashville, is an avid flower gardener, sewer/tailor, bicyclist, and voracious reader.