Executive Director

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Executive Director	Mr. Justin Owen
E-mail	justin@beacontn.org
Term Start	May 2008
Justin's Experience: Justin Owen is President & CEO of the Beacon Center of Tennessee and Beacon Impact, advancing the strategic growth and mission of both organizations. He previously served as the Beacon Center's director of policy and general counsel. Justin advances Beacon's mission - empowering Tennesseans to reclaim control of their lives - by promoting free market solutions at the state and local level. In his time as president & CEO, Justin has helped bring about Tennessee's first ever private school choice program, stop an expansion of Medicaid under Obamacare, usher in comprehensive tort reform, scale back government licensing red tape, and assisted in the repeal of collective bargaining by government unions. Under his leadership, Beacon also helped repeal Tennessee's Hall Income Tax and death tax, saving taxpayers more than $3 billion to date. Justin frequently represents Beacon on television and radio, as well as in opinion pieces for newspapers across Tennessee. He has appeared on all four major network news stations in Nashville, as well as stations in Memphis, Knoxville, Chattanooga, and the Tri-Cities. His columns have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, the Daily Caller, the Tennessean, the Commercial Appeal, the Knoxville News Sentinel, and the Chattanooga Times Free Press. Prior to joining Beacon, he served as a law clerk to the U.S. Attorney in Memphis and at the Pentagon as a legal intern to the General Counsel of the United States Navy. He recently served a four-year term on the Tennessee Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. In 2011, Justin was honored with the Nashville Business Journal's "Forty under 40" award and in 2020, he was named to the Nashville Post's "In Charge" list of the top influential government and policy leaders across Middle Tennessee. Justin received his J.D. from the Cecil C. Humphreys School of Law at the University of Memphis and obtained his undergraduate degree from Middle Tennessee State University.

Senior Staff

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Name	Title
Mr. Braden Boucek	General Counsel
Mrs Jamie McPherson	Vice President, Development
Mr. Joe Kirkpatrick	Development Associate
Mr. Mark Cunningham	Director of Communications & Marketing
Mrs. Meggan DeWitt	Staff Attorney
Mr. Ron Shultis	Director of Policy and Research
Mrs. Stephanie Whitt	Executive Vice President
Ms. Suzanne Michel	Director of Operations
Ms Taylor Dawson	Director of Outreach and Digital Media

Staff

Full Time Staff	12
Part Time Staff	0
Volunteers	0
Contractors	0
Retention Rate	90%

Plans & Policies

Does your organization have a Fundraising Plan?	Yes
Does your organization have a Strategic Plan?	Yes
Years Strategic Plan Considers	2
When was the Strategic Plan adopted?	December 2019
Does your organization have a Management Succession Plan?	Yes
Does your organization have a Policy and Procedure Plan?	Yes
Does the organization have a Nondiscrimination Policy?	Yes
Does the organization have a Whistle Blower Policy?	Yes
Does the organization have a Document Destruction Policy?	Yes

Evaluation

Is there a formal evaluation for...		Frequency (if applicable)
CEO/Executive Director	Yes	Annually
Senior Management	Yes	Quarterly
Non-Management	Yes	Quarterly

Awards

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Award / Recognition	Organization	Year
Award of Merit	Best Short Film Festival	2017
Best Issue Campaign	Bob Williams Award	2018
July 2017 Film of the Month	Oasis Short Film Festival	2017

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

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The Beacon Center of Tennessee is an equal opportunity employer. The Center will provide an equal opportunity of employment to all and will not discriminate based on race, national or ethnic origin, color, religion, age, marital status, sex, sexual orientation, or any other characteristic protected by law. All employment decisions are made solely on the basis of qualification.