Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett
Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett will address this year’s Leadership Cleveland Alumni Association Scholarship Luncheon. The luncheon will take place Thursday, May 18, at noon at the Cleveland Country Club and will serve as the graduation ceremony for the current class of Leadership Cleveland participants.
“Each year funding from this luncheon enables the scholarship committee of the Leadership Cleveland Alumni Association to award a scholarship for the Leadership Cleveland program to a nonprofit executive in Cleveland and Bradley County,” Bernadette Douglas, coordinator of the Leadership Cleveland program, explained. “This year’s scholarship recipient is Rachel Brannen, programs manager for Junior Achievement of the Ocoee Region.”
Secretary Hargett, elected by the Tennessee General Assembly to serve as Tennessee’s 37th secretary of state in 2009 and re-elected in 2013 and 2017, is chief executive officer of the Department of State with oversight of more than 300 employees. He also serves on 15 boards and commissions, two of which he is the presiding member. The services and oversight found in the Secretary of State’s office reach every department and agency in state government.
In 2010, Secretary Hargett was chosen as a Henry Toll Fellow, an honor given to 40 of the nation’s top state government officials. Additionally, he is a member and former president of the National Association of Secretaries of State, on the board of directors of the YMCA Center for Civic Engagement, a member of the Union University Advisory Board, as well as former chairman of the executive committee of the Republican Secretaries of State Committee.
Previously, Secretary Hargett chaired the Tennessee Regulatory Authority. Before joining the Tennessee Regulatory Authority, he was regional vice president for a publicly traded emergency services provider. He served in the Tennessee House of Representatives for a decade, representing District 97 (Bartlett and Memphis) and was twice elected Republican Leader by his colleagues.
He earned a BBA in Accounting with honors from Memphis State University and an MBA from the University of Memphis.
Deadline for LCAA luncheon reservations is Tuesday, May 16. Details about tickets and corporate tables is on the Chamber’s community calendar, www.clevelandchamber.com. Funds raised at this luncheon along with alumni donations support the scholarship. All Chamber members may support the alumni association efforts by attending the luncheon.