Leslie Hafner

Board Member
Leslie Hafner has served in senior leadership roles for multiple Tennessee governors and top lawmakers during an extensive career in and around state and local government. Having staffed campaigns in various positions since age 11, Leslie is native to the world of election analysis, political insight, booth-manning, and issue advocacy.

Leslie is currently senior vice president, governmental affairs for OMNIA Partners, Public Sector, the largest group purchasing organization for public and private sectors. In this role, she leads OMNIA Partners’ nationwide efforts in lobbying, government, and regulatory affairs.

She has worked in both chambers of the Tennessee General Assembly, most recently as chief policy officer to the first female Speaker of the House of Representatives, Beth Harwell. In this role, she focused on juvenile justice reform and steps to address the growing opioid crisis.

For the six years prior, Leslie served as senior advisor and chief lobbyist to Governor Bill Haslam. She maintained a 95% passage rate of all administration legislative initiatives, recruited and trained a network of professional departmental liaisons, and coordinated the daily agenda for the governor’s senior staff.

Leslie also served in the administration of Governor Don Sundquist. She held positions on the governor’s communications, legislative, and special projects teams before moving to the Department of Finance and Administration as the commissioner’s executive assistant and lead lobbyist.

Since 2013, Leslie has helped to host groups from Israel, Japan, and the Philippines as an ambassador for the American Council for Young Political Leaders.
OUR TEAM
MORE ABOUT SYCAMORE
Why Our Work Matters

We all want thriving communities where people enjoy good health, social and financial well-being, and the chance to make meaningful contributions to society. Most of our disagreements are about how to get there.

Sycamore plays a unique role in Tennessee’s civic life—bridging those divides by equipping decision-makers, journalists, citizens, and public and private sector leaders across the state with impartial, data-driven resources to identify, understand, and solve big challenges. We empower people to more effectively weigh—and weigh in on—the policy and institutional questions that shape our daily lives.

Tennesseans with wide-ranging perspectives rely on Sycamore’s clear and actionable insights and analyses.  Over the years, our work has informed public and private sector decisions on state and local education funding, TennCare, medical debt, philanthropy, transportation, criminal justice, the state budget, and more.

Many nonprofit organizations also rely on Sycamore for trusted, objective information about issues that affect their work—including both policy analyses and technical assistance on strategic and program planning.

No matter how you use Sycamore’s work, we are proud to help Tennesseans make informed decisions and navigate complex challenges.

What Is Public Policy?

Public policy is what governments choose to do (or not do) about public problems. It includes laws, regulations, funding priorities, and any actions of our governing institutions and the people who run them. Public policy affects almost every aspect of our lives—where we live, where we learn, where we work, and where we wander.

How We Engage

By fostering open dialogue and providing unbiased, data-driven insights, we empower Tennesseans to participate in the policy-making process and advocate for their communities. We do this by:

1. Producing and communicating relevant, accessible, impartial, and data-driven research and analysis.

2. Engaging and building strong relationships with decision-makers and stakeholders from across Tennessee.

3. Convening and equipping Tennesseans to thoughtfully assess and address public challenges.

To get involved with Sycamore’s work, subscribe to our emails, follow us on social media, attend our events, and join the ranks of our donors!

Our Origin

The Sycamore Institute grew out of the bold vision of a diverse group of community leaders from across Tennessee who saw the need for an independent, nonpartisan public policy research center focused on our state.

With the leadership and support of The Healing Trust, approximately 80 of these leaders representing a broad range of professions, political views, and personal experiences engaged in a 3-day collaborative design process. Their goal: design an organization to inform and support the creation of sound, sustainable public policy for Tennessee through reliable, accessible, and data-driven research and analysis.

The name they chose reflects the strengths of Tennessee’s native sycamore: a unique, long-lived tree with strong roots that stands tall and spreads seed far and wide.

The Sycamore Institute launched in 2015 and quickly built a reputation as a reliable source of unbiased information about issues that affect and connect Tennesseans’ health, prosperity, and public policy.