Graduate Spotlight: Governor’s legislative director refined his leadership skills at Lipscomb
Brent Easley graduates as part of the college of Leadership & Public Service’s second Regional Scholars cohort.
Janel Shoun-Smith | 615.966.7078 |
Brent Easley (’07, MLPS ’22), of Lebanon, Tennessee, has used his unique blend of on-the-job experience and a Lipscomb bachelor’s degree to help craft the Tennessee Governor’s Office legislative agenda for the past four years. In 2023, he will continue that work with even more skills and influence as he graduates Dec. 17 with his Master of Leadership and Public Service from Lipscomb’s Regional Scholars Program.
“I am at a place in my career where I know I need more tools in my toolbelt to be effective and to be a good leader,” said Easley. “I also enjoy pouring into other people, and I feel like I needed to spend time investing in myself so I can be more effective at that as well.”
The Regional Scholars Program develops leaders across Tennessee with a particular focus on those from the state’s 70 rural counties. The program builds critical skills in leadership, communication and conflict resolution with courses focused on innovative leadership in rural and statewide settings. Topics of study include working productively in cross-sector settings, communicating to diverse interest groups, data analysis and connecting community to resources.
“I consider myself a lifelong learner and really had an urge to get back into the classroom when I heard about the program. I jumped at the opportunity,” said Easley. “Throughout the program I got the opportunity to sharpen my skills personally. That applies to the way I think through a problem, how I critique my own performance so I can improve and what data I consider as I approach a problem's possible solutions.”
As legislative director for Gov. Bill Lee, Easley oversees the governor’s legislative efforts and manages his legislative team and the team of legislative-facing staff members who work in all the executive branch departments of state government.
His senior capstone project addressed publicly financed projects and how they can be problematic for city and county governments.
“Using a case from West Tennessee, I was able to take a deep dive into the financial trouble that a publicly funded project can find itself in if certain things are not considered and mitigated as they mature,” said Easley. “Additionally, there are some clear best practices that I can relay after looking at some of the failures of the project I reviewed so that local governments do not repeat the same mistakes.”
On the way to his current role in state government, while he was still working on his bachelor’s degree in public administration, Easley worked as an intern for U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN) and with the U.S. Senate campaign for Van Hilleary.
Upon graduation in 2007, he landed a job as an assistant for two state representatives and worked his way up to senior research and policy analyst for the state’s House Republican Caucus.
In 2012, he moved into the education policy and advocacy space as state director for Students First and then executive director of TennesseeCAN (Campaign for Achievement Now). In these roles he traveled throughout the state working on K-12 education issues.
“Working in education policy was something I fell backward into but fell in love with. In 2018 I got a call from Governor Lee's team right after the election and was asked to join the transition team and have been a part of his office since then."
In addition to his own academic experience, Easley has a unique history with Lipscomb as he says his great-grandparents were the first married couple to graduate from then-David Lipscomb College, his wife, mother and sister are all graduates, and both of his children attend Lipscomb Academy.
“Outside of family and friends, there are professors at Lipscomb who had a big impact on my life and my ability to make it through as an undergrad,” said Easley. “I will never forget their grace, encouragement and kindness of Dwight Tays and Marc Schwerdt. They are definitely pieces of the puzzle that have lead to my time in politics and state government.”