President and Chief Executive Officer
Tara Scarlett serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Scarlett Family Foundation, a Middle Tennessee-based foundation working to ensure all students have access to a high-quality education. She has been an active advocate for education reform for twenty years and has served as a Foundation board member since its founding in 2004. Scarlett has an extensive private sector track record of innovative leadership and a proven ability to bring people together to achieve results. She pairs this experience with a passion for creating opportunity for students of all ages and backgrounds.
Under Scarlett’s leadership and direction, the Scarlett Family Foundation has made a major and meaningful impact on early literacy, public education, and college and career readiness and success across Middle Tennessee. Scarlett’s dedication to making a positive impact on the lives of students and families and to transform education has also led to her appointment as a Chairwoman for Tennessee Higher Education Commission, and as Chairwoman for Tennessee’s Education and Innovation Commission.
Scarlett also serves as a chairwoman for Communities in Schools of Tennessee, and a board member for Tennessee’s State Collaborative on Reforming Education (SCORE), the FRIST Art Museum, and Studio Bank. She is a past board member and continued supporter of the Tennesseans for Quality Early Education, YWCA, and Nashville Zoo. She is a member of International Women’s Forum, the Tennessee Learning Circle, and volunteered as a “Big” with the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. Scarlett is an alumna of Leadership Nashville, Leadership Tennessee, and Harvard Young American Leaders Program.
Prior to joining the Scarlett Family Foundation in 2016, Scarlett spent 20 years in marketing leadership roles for two of the world’s largest consumer packaged goods companies: The Coca-Cola Company North America and Mars Petcare North America. Scarlett attended Scales Elementary, is a graduate of Harpeth Hall School, holds a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Wesleyan University, and a Master of Education Policy and Leadership from American University. She lives with her husband, two children, and two dogs in Nashville.
