Tennesseans for Student Success announced Tuesday that Adam Lister will be the organization’s next executive director.
Mr. Lister is currently the vice president of Policy at the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce where he directs public policy and government relations initiatives and leads the Chamber’s political action committee and independent expenditure work to advance and support critical business advocacy priorities. A Nashville native and graduate of Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools, Mr. Lister will join Tennesseans for Student Success on Dec. 3.
“Tennesseans for Student Success is fighting for the people, policies, and priorities that will lead Tennessee to a more prosperous and secure future by focusing on what is best for our students,” said Austin McMullen, chairman of the board for Tennesseans for Student Success. “Adam Lister has the right policy and advocacy experience to lead our efforts in the coming years and to play a key role in ensuring that every Tennessee child is ready for life after graduation. We believe the education gains made in the last few years are worth celebrating, worth repeating, and worth defending, and with Adam’s leadership and the work of partners across the state, I am confident that will happen.”
Prior to his current role, Mr. Lister was director of Policy at the Nashville Chamber where he led and implemented policy and research initiatives in K-12 education, higher education, transit, quality of place, and livability as well as local, state, and federal issues that impact economic prosperity. Earlier, Mr. Lister worked as a local government coordinator and fiscal analyst at the Tennessee General Assembly, and worked on a number of political campaigns, including for U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. Mr. Lister received a bachelor of science from Kentucky Wesleyan College and is married to Dr. Amanda Lister, a public school teacher in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools.
"Tennesseans for Student Success is committed to protecting the policies and priorities that have made academic gains for Tennessee's kids possible, and I am grateful to be a part of that work,” said Mr. Lister. “We will work to continue and expand our efforts with Tennessee’s parents, educators, students, elected officials, and community leaders, ensuring that every child in Tennessee is successful. There is no more important issue than preserving and accelerating Tennessee’s gains in education.”