TALS Announces New Executive Director
TALS names Ann Pruitt new Executive Director
The Board of Directors for the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services (TALS) is pleased to announce that it has hired Ann Pruitt as the agency’s new executive director.
Ann joins TALS after working for many years with Dell, Inc.
After several years in private practice, Ann started with Dell, Inc. as Senior Managing Counsel in 1999 and worked her way to become Executive Director of Ethics Investigations and Operations. While working at Dell, Ann served on the TALS Board of Directors for several years and organized pro bono events.
TALS is a statewide non-profit organization that supports the delivery of effective civil legal services for Tennesseans who have nowhere else to turn. TALS is a partnership of many organizations that provide civil legal services to Tennessee families. It provides training, coordinates targeted task forces and provides legislative monitoring and analysis on issues that affect low-wage men and women.
In announcing the hiring decision, TALS’s board chair Frank Cantrell said, “Because TALS is the voice and public face of the equal justice community in Tennessee; this is a critical position for Tennessee families and the advocates who represent them. We are pleased to have found someone with Ann’s skills, experience and commitment to lead us in the coming years.”
TALS, with active support of the Tennessee Bar Association, has also begun coordinating several statewide programs that serve low income Tennesseans. TALS offers an on-line website where people can get free legal advice from volunteer lawyers -- www.onlinetnjustice.org. It has also begun managing a statewide legal referral line, through which callers can reach their local legal aid program and other legal resources -- at 1-888-aLEGALz.
Ann has been a leader of TALS and many of the organizations it serves. She is currently the Board Chair Elect of the YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee. She also currently serves as the Board Secretary for Second Harvest of Middle Tennessee. Ann was also a member of the Tennessee Bar Association’s Pro Bono Initiative Working Group. She was also the founding chair of the Corporate Counsel Section for the Tennessee Bar Association.
Ann earned her law degree from the University of Tennessee College of Law where she was a recipient of the Charles Miller Clinical Achievement Award. While there, she served as the Student Materials Editor for the Tennessee Law Review. She earned her undergraduate degree from Clemson University.
For Further Information, contact: Stewart Clifton, TALS Interim Executive Director
615.305.2946