
2022 Annual Hall of Fame Gala
A Celebration of Making Tennessee a Better Home for All
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2022 HALL OF FAME HONOREES

JOHN TISHLER
JOHN TISHLER
John Tishler is known in law and business as the go-to lawyer for negotiating complex financial transactions and creatively resolving intractable conflicts. Led by a deep compassion for others and passion for justice, John has shared that same expertise with TJC with a generosity that is difficult to capture in words. Whether saving the home of TJC’s clients facing foreclosure or serving on our Board of Directors, he has repeatedly turned disaster into triumph. John has helped TJC meet tough financial challenges with a cool head and wise counsel. Squeezed by soaring office rents, ownership of our own office seemed an impossibility, but John saw opportunity where we saw only peril. He challenged us to acquire our own building and to see it as far more than a workspace. John envisioned it as a tangible declaration that, “TJC is here to stay,” and an inspiration to all who share our dream of a more just and inclusive Tennessee. John spent countless hours over the next three years negotiating with contractors, connecting us with experts and navigating through complex financial arrangements to turn the vision into reality. John has provided for TJC a future we never imagined, could not have achieved, and for which we are immeasurably grateful.

MATT HARRIS
MATT HARRIS
Matthew Harris has been an essential member of the dream team of counsel, advisers and servant leaders who have enabled TJC to acquire, finance and build our forever home. Widely respected as one of Tennessee’s top real estate attorneys, he was just what TJC needed but could never afford. No matter. Matt has freely donated his time and talents to overcome challenges we could not begin to understand, much less resolve. He has helped TJC obtain financing with new market tax credits of mind–boggling complexity. He has negotiated a lease with our valued tenant, Napier Kitchen Table, enhancing the value of the new building as a resource for the neighborhood. Matt negotiated successfully with the city codes department when we had lost all hope of ever resolving a long list of building codes and environmental problems. Throughout it all, Matt has modeled for us the sort of reassurance and support that TJC tries to provide to our clients. His expertise has helped make TJC’s new home possible. His kindness and empathy have helped sustain our hope and resolve through the long and chaotic journey to get us there.
KEN LEISER
KEN LEISER
The Nashville Business Journal described real estate developer and broker Ken Leiser as the most influential guy in the room when the region’s top office deals were being made. He was way out of our league, but when TJC lost its lease and scrambled to find new offices, friends assured us of his generosity and insisted that we seek Ken’s help. He had just decided to retire, but that did not stop him from using his invaluable connections on TJC’s behalf, or from sharing his invaluable insights. Ken helped secure for us another realtor at a discounted rate, then went to work himself helping to find us a home. For more than a year, Ken looked at properties for us all over town, assessing them with his keen eye and deep experience. He helped negotiate with contractors and prospective tenants. Ken led in the development of a budget for the project and then helped launch the capital campaign that has funded it. He has given TJC the best guidance and support that money could not buy.
MIKA MOSER
MIKA MOSER
As the Chief Operating Officer for Tennessee Justice Center, a nonprofit public interest law firm and advocacy center serving families throughout the state, Mika’s primary focus is to ensure that the internal operations align with the strategic goals and mission of the organization. Prior to joining the organization, she served as a TJC board member and development committee co-chair for over four years.
During her ten-year tenure at Bank Director, an educational resource for financial leaders across the country, Mika was instrumental in developing and overseeing the strategic direction of the business. As the President, she was responsible for the development of Bank Director’s editorial and research products, enterprise technology solutions and data resources. As a member of the board and the executive team, she focused on strategic planning, fostering key partnerships, and spearheading new product offerings for the organization. She regularly shared her professional insights by speaking, moderating discussions and commentating on key issues including diversity and inclusion, financial technology, growth opportunities and talent development.
With a dual background in marketing and technology, Mika’s 20-plus years’ of professional experience includes business intelligence, organizational development, client relations, data management and project management for companies such as Bytes of Knowledge, Board Member Inc. and Private Business Inc.
Mika was born and raised in Tennessee and has called it home for over 20 years. She graduated from the University of Georgia with a bachelor’s degree in Journalism.
2021 HALL OF FAME HONOREES

MARVIN BERRY, JR.
MARVIN BERRY, JR.
Since 1998, Marvin Berry, Jr. has inspired, supported, and led TJC, first as a client, and then as a volunteer, donor, and board member. When Marvin was seven years old, an accidental shooting left him paralyzed from the neck down. He persevered through a childhood marked by multiple surgeries and medical crises. He was poised to attend college when TennCare notified him he would be spending the rest of his life in a nursing home. TennCare told him, as it routinely told other young adults with severe disabilities, that it would no longer provide the services and supports needed to continue living in the community.
Marvin hadn’t let a bullet destroy his life, and he wasn’t going to let bureaucracy do that either. He became a plaintiff in TJC’s Newberry case, challenging the state’s practice of institutionalizing people with disabilities. A 2003 settlement in that case led to TennCare’s investment of hundreds of millions in home and community-based services, enabling thousands of Tennesseans to continue living in their homes and avoid nursing home placement.
With the support of services won in his lawsuit, Marvin attended Austin Peay State University, where he received the Valor Award and a degree in business administration. A resourceful entrepreneur, Marvin generously shares his gifts as a motivational speaker, volunteer tax preparer, and TJC Board member. Though he just left the board, he remains a valued part of TJC.

JUDGE RICHARD DINKINS
JUDGE RICHARD DINKINS
Judge Richard Dinkins began his legal career in 1977 working with the legendary civil rights attorney, Senator Avon Williams, Jr., in the private law firm that would become Williams and Dinkins. During his two decades at that firm, he served as a cooperating attorney with the NAACP Legal Defense Fund in numerous civil rights cases and handled the legal affairs of Fisk University and many other respected individuals and institutions. As lead attorney for the plaintiffs during the last decade of the historic Kelley school desegregation case, he improved equity and opportunity for a generation of Nashville school children. He was a judge in the Chancery Court for Davidson County from 2003-2008 and has served on the Tennessee Court of Appeals since 2008. Judge Dinkins has received numerous awards for his devotion to justice and service to the community.
Judge Dinkins made it possible for TJC to open its doors 25 years ago. When he learned of the effort to launch TJC and that we had no home, he invited us to share part of Williams and Dinkins offices for nominal rent. During those lonely early years when a vulnerable TJC was struggling to get off the ground, his generosity provided not just an office but validation, moral support, camaraderie, and the opportunity to share space with inspiring colleagues. TJC and its clients will always be indebted to Judge Dinkins for extending us a crucial helping hand.
FRANK & AMY GARRISON
FRANK & AMY GARRISON
Frank and Amy Garrison’s generosity and public service have enriched lives and strengthened communities across the globe. For years they have invested time and made strategic, far-sighted investments in institutions and projects that advance justice and promote equity. At Vanderbilt Law School and Fisk University, Frank and Amy’s generosity will help develop future champions of justice. In South Africa, they are helping sustain a foundation that advances justice, human rights and reconciliation through artistic expression.
The Tennessee Justice Center is proud and grateful that our clients are among the thousands of families who benefit from the Garrisons’ efforts. Frank and Amy helped establish TJC’’s Charles Warfield Fellowship, enabling new lawyers to launch careers in public interest law. For years, Frank has been our mentor and coach. When TJC lost its lease, Frank urged us to look for a permanent home. Then, early in the pandemic, Frank and Amy both contracted COVID. With the economy in freefall, TJC dropped its plans to purchase a building, hoping merely to survive. But Frank, whose personal survival was very much in doubt, wasn’t having it. He communicated l from the hospital with encouragement, financial analyses and crucial advice. Their terrifying encounter with COVID only deepened the Garrisons’ commitment to health justice and made them even more concerned for those who lack access to lifesaving medical care. Our new forever home simply would not – could not – have become a reality without their courage, compassion and generosity.

DR. ROBERT MILLER
DR. ROBERT MILLER
Dr. Robert F. Miller is a compassionate healer and visionary advocate for health justice. A Vanderbilt researcher, teacher, and clinician, Dr. Miller is Board Certified in Internal Medicine, Pulmonary Medicine, and Critical Care. His colleagues have expressed their respect for him by repeatedly electing him to positions of professional leadership, and he is the recipient of numerous awards. His patients leave glowing, grateful reviews online. For all of that, Dr. Miller is modest and unassuming. In 2004, he established the Shade Tree Clinic in Nashville, where volunteer faculty and students from Vanderbilt Medical and Nursing Schools serve uninsured patients. Even as Dr. Miller has dedicated himself to these and other volunteer efforts, he has kept his eyes on a larger prize. He has advocated for a more just and inclusive health care system in which such private charity will no longer be necessary because everyone is assured of receiving care as a matter of human right. Dr. Miller imparts that vision to his medical and nursing students, inspiring them by personal example.
Dr. Miller inspires us, too. As a member of TJC’s board for the past 15 years, he has provided invaluable insights and strategic direction. He and his wife, Dr. Bonnie Miller, who is also a respected Vanderbilt physician, honor TJC by their generous, unstinting support. Our goal is to one day achieve for all Tennesseans the excellent, compassionate care they give their patients.
PAST HONOREES
2020

ROBERT ASHFORD (honored posthumously) & SADIATOU JALLOW
ROBERT ASHFORD & SADIATOU JALLOW
Robert Ashford and Sadiatou Jallow are honored for their incredible devotion to their child Binta, for their courage to fight for better health care for all families of kids with special needs, and for their amazing generosity.
Robert and Sadia were something of an unlikely couple. Robert was born in Knoxville and lived his whole life in East Tennessee. He faced many barriers as a boy and a young man, but he refused to let that dampen his light. Robert worked at the Union Carbide Y-12 Plant for many years. He was a force for goodness in the community and his church.
Sadiatou grew up on the other side of the world – literally – in Gambia. She and her immediate family came to Knoxville in 1990 with help from Alex Haley, author of Roots. Sadiatou’s daughter Binta is a direct descendent of Kunta Kinte, of Roots fame. (Binta is named after Kunta Kinte’s mother.) Binta was born with severe disabilities and needs around the clock care to keep her safe in the community.
For 24 years, Sadiatou has been a dogged advocate for her daughter’s health care. She has worked with Tennessee Justice Center to ensure Binta has the care she needs since shortly after her birth. She has been featured in state and national media, testified before courts and lawmakers, and courageously shared her family’s story to educate people and put a human face to policy issues impacting people with special needs. She has provided heartfelt advice to countless other parents. All while serving as Binta’s primary caregiver and struggling with her own health issues.
The stresses of caring for a child with special needs took a toll on Sadia’s life and relationships, and she spent many years alone caring for Binta and advocating for her. That is until she met Robert. Robert was a charmer, but his charm didn’t immediately work on Sadia, who was not ready for a relationship. She turned him down several times, but Robert eventually managed to get Sadia to go on a date.
Robert quickly became an integral part of their family. He was a rock for Sadia, helping her through many challenges and tiring days. He was beloved by Binta, for whom he served as a main caregiver. In 2017, Robert was diagnosed with cancer and went downhill quickly. He passed away in August. But Robert left a legacy gift to Tennessee Justice Center which came at a critical moment in the fight regarding the future for Medicaid in our state. Robert’s gift helped support a full staff position at TJC. Robert and Sadia’s amazing love and devotion to each other, to Binta, and to working for a state that protects the needs of children like Binta will have a long-lasting, life-changing impact.

TONY GARR
TONY GARR
As a young man, Tony led a coalition of patient advocacy organizations that helped win creation of a high risk insurance pool so that people with pre-existing medical conditions might have a chance to buy health coverage. He helped establish and in 1989 became the first executive director of the Tennessee Health Care Campaign, to advocate for affordable quality health care for all Tennesseans. He filled that role for 21 years, but after retirement continued to volunteer 60 hours a week helping connect people to coverage. After the Affordable Care Act took effect, he was part of an amazing volunteer effort across the state to help people sign up for the coverage available under the new law. Enroll America, the national organization supporting enrollment efforts, hired Tony to manage their activities across several states. He retired again in 2015, but as before, that only meant that he stopped being paid. As a volunteer, he has continued to enroll hundreds of people in insurance, and to advocate for more humane and effective state health policies.

JUDGE WILLIAM J. HAYNES JR.
JUDGE WILLIAM J. HAYNES JR.
As a judge, William J. Haynes, Jr. was entrusted with the responsibility of making decisions that critically affected the lives of his fellow citizens. He discharged that responsibility with compassion, courage, integrity, skill, a tireless work ethic and, most importantly, a passion for justice. Those qualities were never more needed, and were never more evident, than in the cases that the Tennessee Justice Center brought to Judge Haynes’ court. Our clients, too often disregarded and devalued outside of the courthouse, received the same full measure of respect and concern that he extended to the powerful institutions and individuals who were their adversaries. Hundreds of thousands of Tennessee mothers and children were never aware that Judge Haynes was responsible for their being able to get the quality health care guaranteed to them by law, but that powerful institutions would have denied them.

CAROL WESTLAKE
CAROL WESTLAKE
Carol Westlake is the founding executive director of the Tennessee Disability Coalition, which is about to celebrate 30 years of advocacy under Carol’s dedicated leadership. When Carol organized the Coalition, there were dedicated disability advocates in Tennessee, and good work was being done to improve opportunities for people with disabilities. But Tennessee lacked an organized disability movement, a structure to enable collective action that would move our state forward. That was the need that Carol recognized, and she brought her formidable talents to the creation and development of the Disability Coalition. The coalition recognizes that disabilities are distinctive, and it is founded on respect for the uniqueness of every person with a disability. But it also reflects an understanding that, when everyone brings their gifts and insights to the table, the results are better for all. The Coalition has enabled people with disabilities to make their voices heard, and to create opportunities where none existed before. It is impossible to count all of the ways our state is better, and lives are better, because of the Tennessee Disability Coalition. Carol has been crucial to the Coalition’s success.
TJC and the Disability Coalition worked for many years for the creation of a Katy Beckett program, named for a little girl who inspired President Reagan to expand Medicaid to serve children with special health care needs. Last year, with extraordinary moms and kids taking the lead, we won, and the Coalition’s skill and reputation among state leaders were critical to that success.
2019

Nancy Anness
Nancy Anness


Rev. Henry Blaze, III
Rev. Henry Blaze, III


Pamela Cardoso (honored posthumously)
Pamela Cardoso


David Manning
David Manning


Manny Martins
Manny Martins

2018

Honorable Shelia Calloway
Honorable Shelia Calloway


Rev. Kaki Friskis-Warren
Rev. Kaki Friskis-Warren


Dr. Craig Anne Heflinger
Dr. Craig Anne Heflinger


Linda O’Neal
Linda O'Neal


Russell J. Overby
Russell J. Overby

2017

Don Enright and Cheryl Rowley
Don Enright and Cheryl Rowley


Ruth Ann Harnisch
Ruth Ann Harnisch


Greg Horowitz and Ellen Levy
Greg Horowitz and Ellen Levy


Robin and Bill King
Robin and Bill King


Nancy MacLean
Nancy MacLean


Jeanne and Steve Thomas
Jeanne and Steve Thomas

2015

Margaret Behm
Margaret Behm

After beginning her legal career in 1976 at Legal Services of Middle Tennessee, Inc., Behm and Marietta Shipley in 1980 founded Shipley and Behm, the city’s first all-woman law firm.
Behm’s advocacy has been lauded locally and nationally. In 2001, she received the John C. Tune Public Service Award, the highest honor given by the Nashville Bar Association. She also received the prestigious Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award, given nationally to five lawyers a year by the American Bar Association. Behm has been honored with the YWCA Women of Achievement Award and the Athena Award. In 2011, Tennessee State University named her one of its Women of Merit and Legend. In 2012, the she received the David C. Rutherford Award from the Nashville Bar Foundation, recognizing the highest standards of professionalism, charitable contribution in the legal field and community as a whole. In 2013, she was named a member of the Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame, an honor given to women who have made outstanding, unique and lasting contributions to the economic, political, and cultural well-being of Tennessee.
Currently, Behm is general counsel for the Metropolitan Development and Housing Agency in Nashville and the Metropolitan Transit Authority. From 1996 to 2002, she served on the board of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Cincinnati, which serves banks and thrifts in Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio, and chaired the Audit and Budget Committees. In 1994, Behm was appointed by the Speaker of the House to the Tennessee Judicial Selection Commission. She was the Commission’s first chair and served as a member for ten years.
Behm also serves as the 2015 Campaign Chair of the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands’ Campaign for Equal Justice, an annual initiative that raises funds for Legal Aid Society, Tennessee’s largest non-profit law firm.
In April 2009, Behm was appointed by the Tennessee Supreme Court for a three-year term as Chair of the newly created Access to Justice Commission to help address the growing civil legal needs crisis in Tennessee. In 2006, she was one of three finalists for appointment by the Tennessee Supreme Court as state Attorney General.
Behm was named by Mayor Bill Purcell as co-chairman of Celebrate Nashville, Nashville’s year-long celebration of its 200th birthday in 2006. She has been a key advisor to numerous political candidates and is particularly known for her encouragement of, and support for, women candidates.
A big basketball fan, Behm co-chaired with Vice Mayor Diane Neighbors the city’s successful effort to host the Women’s Final Four in 2014. She chaired the Nashville Sports Council’s sponsorship of the 2002 S.E.C. Women’s Basketball tournament and served as legal counsel for the Nashville Sports Council. Currently, she is a board member and Vice Chair of the Metropolitan Sports Authority, which oversees the professional sports facilities in Nashville.
Behm recently completed service on the board and executive committee of the YWCA. For many years, Behm has been involved with scouting as a Girl Scout leader and member of the board and executive committee of Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, Inc. From 1999 to 2008, Behm served as a member of the Board of Health for the Metropolitan Health Department.
Behm’s practice concentrates on employment, business law, municipal law, bankruptcy, estate planning, land use and general litigation. She has taught legal writing, trial advocacy, and clinic at Vanderbilt University Law School for more than thirty years. In addition, she taught Professionalism and Practice from 2008 to 2014.
Behm has been selected by her peers for inclusion in editions of The Best Lawyers in America in the field of labor & employment law each year since 2001. She was named the 2013 Best Lawyers® Nashville Lawyer of the Year for Labor and Employment Litigation and the 2016 Best Lawyers® Lawyer of the Year for Municipal Law in the Nashville area. For the 2016 edition of the publication, she was selected for inclusion in eight practice areas: corporate law, employment law (for both employees and management), municipal law, labor & employment litigation, non-profit/charities, and commercial litigation.
Behm received her B.A. and J.D. degrees from the University of Tennessee. She is married to her law partner Harlan Dodson. The couple has two children.

Michael Cody
Michael Cody


Harlan Dodson III
Harlan Dodson III


B. Riney Green
B. Riney Green


David Herbert
David Herbert


Howard Vogel
Howard Vogel

He served as the president of the Knoxville Bar Association for 1993, and a member of the Board of Governors for 1978; 1981-82; and 1992-94. He served as president of the Barristers Club of the Knoxville Bar Association.
He was the president of the Tennessee Bar Association for 1995-96. He was a member of the Board of Governors of the Tennessee Bar Association for 1980-81 and 1990-97. He was the president of the Tennessee Young Lawyers Conference of the Tennessee Bar Association for 1980-1981. He is a member of the Founders of the Supreme Court of Tennessee Historical Society.
His first term of service in the American Bar Association House of Delegates was from 1983 through 1990. He served as a member of the Council of the ABA Section of Litigation and the Executive Council of the Young Lawyers Division of the ABA. Mr. Vogel served as Editor-in-Chief of the Barrister magazine of the American Bar Association from 1983 through 1985.
He served as a member of the American Bar Association Board of Governors from 1985 – 1988, and he was vice-chairman of the Board Finance Committee for l987 – 1988. He served as chairman of the ABA Special Committee on Meetings and Travel from 1988-90, and he served as the chairman of the ABA Standing Committee on Meetings and Travel for 1990-92. He served as the chairman of the ABA Task Force on Outreach to the Public for 1988 – 1989. He is a past member of the Board of Editors for the ABA Journal. He served as the chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Public Education for 1996-97. He is a former chair of the ABA Commission on Public Understanding About the Law. He was the chair of the ABA Committee on Scope & Correlation of Work for 1997-98. He is a former member of the ABA Standing Committee on Strategic Communications. He is a former State Delegate for Tennessee in the ABA House of Delegates. He is a former member of the ABA Standing Committee on Constitution & Bylaws. He is a member of the ABA Standing Committee on Governmental Affairs.
He served as the District 6 member of the ABA Board of Governors for a term from 2008 to 2011. He served as the chair of the Finance Committee and a member of the Executive Committee for 2009-2010.
He is a member of the American Bar Endowment Board of Directors.
Mr. Vogel participated as a member of the Domestic and International Law Commission at the US/USSR Emerging Leaders Summit in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in December of 1988.
He is a former member of the Board of Trustees for the Tennessee Bar Foundation, and he served as Chair of the Board for 2007-2008. He is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation, Knoxville Bar Foundation and Tennessee Bar Foundation. He served as President of the Fellows of the Tennessee Young Lawyers Conference for 1991-92. He is an emeritus member of the Hamilton Burnett American Inn of Court in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is a member of the American Counsel Association.
He was a member of the Leadership Knoxville Class of 1995.
Mr. Vogel is admitted to practice before the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and the United States Supreme Court. He is a Life Member of the Sixth Circuit Judicial Conference.
He is a Tennessee Supreme Court Rule 31 civil mediator and a member of the mediation panel for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee. He has mediated over 2000 civil disputes.
He is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, and a former president of that organization.
He is a member of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Commission of the Tennessee Supreme Court (2002-2016), and currently serves as the Chair of the Commission.
Since 2004, he has been recognized by various organizations that select Best Lawyer designees. For the past several years, he has been was recognized as one of “The Best Lawyers in America”.
He is a member of the American Law Institute.
He is a member of the Metropolitan Knoxville Airport Authority Board of Commissioners, and currently serves as the Chairman of the Board of Commissioners.
In December of 2007, he was presented with the Knoxville Bar Association’s Governors Award. In June of 2011, he was given the William M. Leech, Jr. Public Service Award by the Tennessee Bar Association Young Lawyers Division.