Shannon Haynes

Current office and 2026 campaign

Shannon Haynes is a Republican candidate for the Tennessee State Executive Committee in District 25 ¹. She qualified for the ballot following the March 10, 2026, deadline established by the Tennessee Secretary of State ¹.

In May 2024, Haynes announced that she would be leaving her position at Emmaus Consulting PLLC to take on a new role at the Ayers Foundation Trust ². In this capacity, she leads the "Come Home Tennessee" initiative, which aims to attract educated scholars back to rural areas of the state to work and raise families ².

Background and education

Shannon Haynes self-describes as having spent a decade working to protect access to healthcare in rural areas ². She previously served with Emmaus Consulting PLLC, focusing on service to rural Tennesseans ². In 2024, she announced her move into a new role at the Ayers Foundation Trust to lead their "Come Home Tennessee" effort, which aims to bring educated scholars back to rural communities to work and raise families ².

Career

Prior to joining the Ayers Foundation Trust, Haynes spent a decade working to protect access to healthcare in rural areas through her firm, Emmaus Consulting PLLC ². In February 2024, she announced that she would be moving into a new role at the Ayers Foundation Trust ².

In this capacity, Haynes leads the "Come Home Tennessee" initiative, which aims to bring educated scholars back to rural Tennessee to work and raise families in their home communities ². The statewide initiative was launched on September 6 to support rural economic growth ⁴. Haynes is listed as the contact for the Scholars team at the organization ³.

Office history

Shannon Haynes served as a committee woman for the 25th Republican Primary District on the Tennessee State Executive Committee ¹.

Haynes self-describes having spent a decade working to protect access to healthcare in rural areas through her work at Emmaus Consulting PLLC before moving into a new role at the Ayers Foundation Trust to oversee their "Come Home Tennessee" effort ².

Business interests and wealth source

Shannon Haynes served as the Alumni Contact for the Ayers Foundation Trust, a private trust based in Parsons, Tennessee, which reported total assets of $5.1 million and annual income of $6.6 million in records from 2023 ⁵. In this role, she managed communications for the organization’s alumni network, distinct from the general contact handled by Raquel Stearnes or the scholars contact managed by Taylor Forbes ³.

Haynes previously spent a decade working with Emmaus Consulting PLLC to protect access to healthcare in rural areas before transitioning to her position at the Ayers Foundation Trust in 2024 ². In this new capacity, she oversees the "Come Home Tennessee" initiative, which aims to bring educated scholars back to rural Tennessee to work and raise families in their home communities ². The initiative was launched by the Ayers Foundation Trust in September 2023 alongside Governor Bill Lee and founders Jim and Janet Ayers to reduce economic distress in at-risk counties ⁴. Haynes states that she is looking forward to serving at-risk and distressed areas through this effort, which connects graduates of the Ayers Scholars Program with regional employers and remote employment options ², ⁶.

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