Rick Montague is a Chattanooga native and one of the City’s most prominent civic leaders, who has championed the City’s urban renewal efforts, provided access to housing for low income residents and led the City’s efforts to improve the lives of impoverished children. 

     While in college, Rick started volunteering at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga Highland Park Clubhouse as a playground monitor. As a young teacher, Rick became an assistant Scoutmaster to an inner city Boys Scout Troop, and witnessed firsthand the many challenges faced by Chattanooga’s low income children and families. This experience combined with his volunteer time at Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga transformed Rick and ignited a passion to help underserved youth.

     In 1972, his then father-in-law, Jack Lupton asked Rick to join the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga’s Board of Directors, and since then, Rick has been highly engaged with the Boys & Girls Club. Rick made many significant contributions to the Boys & Girls Clubs of America movement, some of which include championing the desegregation of all Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga locations, facilitating healthcare and annual exams for Boys & Girls Club members at no cost to families, establishing 3 new Boys & Girls Club sites in Chattanooga’s public housing complexes, implementing the Boys & Girls Club’s Leader of the Month Program, coordinating the Board’s Executive Committee efforts to expand Club membership to include girls, and recruiting new board members, many of whom are business and civic leaders in Chattanooga.

     Rick was the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga’s Board Chair in 1976-78 and again during 2004-2005. He co-chaired the Boys & Girls Clubs’ $4,000,000 capital campaign in 1994 & 1995 which funded the construction of 2 new Clubhouses in the East Lake and Highland Park neighborhoods of Chattanooga. During his 30+ tenure as a Board Member, Rick chaired numerous board committees including Club programming, government, investments, facilities, safety, board development and the Steak ‘N Burger Dinners.

    Rick’s professional life has always been focused on improving the lives of Chattanooga residents. Early in his career, he was member of the teaching faculty of the Baylor School in Chattanooga. In the early 1980s, he was appointed the first Executive Director and President of the Lyndhurst Foundation, one of the largest private foundations in the South. In 1982, Rick was jointly appointed by Hamilton County and the City of Chattanooga to lead an economic development and conservation plan focusing on the 20-mile corridor of the Tennessee River and the revitalization of Chattanooga’s downtown. In 1986, Rick co-created Chattanooga Venture which institutionalized public participation in the transformation of Chattanooga. Shortly thereafter, he founded Chattanooga Neighborhood Exchange, a nationally recognized leader in providing housing for first-time homeowners and low income applicants. He was appointed by Florida Governor Lawton Childs to the South Walton Conservation and Development Trust, responsible for 15,000 acres of public forest, preservation of all wetlands and coastal dune lakes, 4 miles of public beach, 3 new state parks and 4 new urbanist townships. In 2014, he received the James S. Dockery, Jr. Southern Environmental Leadership Award.

     Rick Montague is a graduate of the McCallie School, and received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Virginia, and a Master of Arts from Johns Hopkins. Rick and his wife Cannon Wann currently reside in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee and cherish spending time with their children Tom & John Montague, and Chris & Alexis Chappell. Rick and Cannon belong to the Church of the Good Shepherd Episcopal Church in Lookout Mountain, Tennessee.

   As you can see, Rick has dedicated his life to helping others. He has provided leadership, not only to the Boys & Girls Clubs of Chattanooga, but also to our entire region. Rick continues to make a difference in the lives of many, not only in our area but throughout the southeast. We are proud to have a difference maker like Rick in our community.