Matt Marshall

Board Treasurer
Matt Marshall serves as President/CEO of the United Way of West Tennessee.  He was formerly Executive Director and Head of School at Hands Up! Preschool, a non-profit Early Childhood Education program in Jackson, TN.   Before that, he spent eight years in Higher Education at his alma mater, Union University, where he did his undergraduate work in Christian Ethics and then earned a Master’s in Education.

He is passionate about our state and longs to see the day when every Tennessean has access to an equitable and healthy life, a quality education, and a financially stable home.

He’s the Co-founder and Past-Chair of the Jackson-Madison County Equity Project; Past-Chair of the United Ways of Tennessee State Association; Past-Chair of the Anti-Poverty Task Force for the City of Jackson; Board Member for the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth; Board member for the WestStar Leadership Program; Board member for AIMHiTN; Board member for TBI’s Handle With Care/Drug-Endangered Children Task Force; Board member for the Jackson Downtown Rotary Club; member of the United Way Black Professional Leadership Alliance, National Presidents’ Roundtable, the United Way Worldwide Transformation Task Force, and member of the Madison County Children’s Cabinet. He also serves on the Pastoral Team at the Historic First Baptist Church.

Matt is the recipient of the David Hallock Award for Outstanding Non-profit Leadership, The William H. Graves Humanitarian Award, the Tennessee Commission on Children and Youth Jim Pryor Award, the WestStar Emerging Leader Award, the Leadership Jackson Jewel Award, the Jackson Madison County Branch NAACP Race Relations Award, the Broadman & Holman Ministerial Award, and the United Way Exemplary Leader Award for the Southeast Regional Conference.

He is a 7th-generation West Tennessean, and when not serving in the community, he enjoys spending time with his wife, children, and extended family.
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.