Monica Mackie

Monica Mackie’s creativity and generosity carried the Tennessee Justice Center through a financial crisis, and her warmth and stature have won TJC friends and partners in the legal community across the state. In 2013, TJC’s faced a grave budget deficit, and lay-offs loomed. Monica stepped forward and offered to organize a fundraising event. TJC had never put on a fundraising event and had been warned against it. But Monica assured us that she would organize it and refused to take no for an answer. She proceeded to make TJC’s fundraiser “the event of the season” that year, and for each of the next 8 years. That first event kept TJC solvent, and each event was a success, making lasting friends for TJC and drawing enthusiastic partners to our work. A visionary board member, Monica was an early proponent of buying a building and making it a beacon of justice for the community. As respected executive director of the Nashville Bar Association, Monica spread the word about TJC’s work, further expanding the network of TJC partners. When the NBA Young Lawyers Division commissioned Nashville artist, Omari Booker, to create a mural in response to the George Floyd murder, they reached out to Monica for guidance on securing a location for the mural. Monica took the initiative to contact TJC, serving as the crucial link that brought the powerful Lady Justice mural to life on our building. The mural reminds us of all that Monica has done to preserve and expand TJC’s work for justice.