“The Lord brought me to Nashville and he used Trevecca to do that.”
— Jeremy Harrell
Whether it’s working to get officials elected to key government positions in Tennessee or advocating for statewide adoption reform, alumnus Jeremy Harrell has a way of making a mark through his professional endeavors.
Harrell was recently named to the 2024 Hall of Fame class for the Tennessee Independent Colleges and Universities Association (TICUA). This award highlights the contributions of alumni from Tennessee's 34 private nonprofit colleges and universities who have built lasting legacies through their leadership, philanthropy and dedicated service to their communities.
Harrell is the founder, president and chief executive officer of The Adoption Project, where he works with advocates for adoption and foster care to build support for changes in adoption policy. He co-founded the organization with his wife and fellow Trevecca graduate, Michelle (’03). He is also a seasoned political leader and strategist who has worked on senate and gubernatorial campaigns in Tennessee.
As the grandson of a Nazarene pastor, Harell heard about Trevecca while growing up in South Carolina. He came to the University as a transfer student right before Dan Boone began his presidency.
Since he was a child, Harrell says he loved campaigning. He started a College Republicans club at Trevecca with his roommate, Tyler Jones. But since the University wouldn’t allow exclusive clubs on campus, the group morphed into a political melting pot where students with varying views could gather and discuss ideas.
“It forced us to interact with people with whom we might not necessarily agree,” Harrell said. “Through that interaction, we started liking each other. Once you get to know someone, you can disagree without disliking one another.”
Harrell says the experience provided a foundation in the art of civil discourse. After graduating from Trevecca in 2006 with a Bachelor of Arts in history and political science, he volunteered with the state Republican party. He thought it would be a temporary role before returning home to South Carolina. But as his work unfolded and he made more connections across Tennessee, he discovered he had a knack for navigating the world of politics and campaigning.
In 2008, Harrell successfully managed the record-breaking senate campaign for U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander. He was then tapped to serve as deputy campaign manager and political director for Governor Bill Haslam’s 2010 gubernatorial campaign.
As a member of the Haslam administration, Harrell oversaw the appointment process for boards and commissions, including the Tennessee Board of Regents, and contributed to several key policy initiatives.
In 2014, he became the campaign manager for Haslam’s re-election campaign, which resulted in Haslam securing the largest margin of victory of any governor in the nation. That campaign set a record for the highest percentage of the vote won by a statewide candidate in recent Tennessee history.
Harrell went on to serve as the founder and executive director of a nonprofit advocacy organization focused on K-12 education reform. He then co-founded a public affairs firm in Nashville where he worked until 2021. At that point, he felt a calling to turn his energy toward a cause that has impacted him personally—adoption.
He’d always known he wanted to adopt a child. “We talked about adopting on our first date,” Harrell says as he recalls his initial interaction with his wife, Michelle. The couple met in 2008 and married in 2010. Two years later, they had a biological son, Wesley (12) before adopting daughters Ruby (4) in 2020 and Rosie (2) in 2022. The girls are biological sisters. Yet when they began the adoption process, they quickly encountered a sobering reality.
“Our experience was that it takes too long, it costs too much and there’s too much uncertainty in the process,” he said. “I was complaining to a friend one day about this. At one point in the conversation he asked, ‘When are you going to do something about it?’”
A stirring in his heart to use his experience and expertise to advocate for adoption reform was confirmed one morning in the spring of 2021, when Harrell was reading the biblical account of Nehemiah in the Old Testament.
As cupbearer to the Babylonian king, Nehemiah had access to power and resources. He approached the king and asked if he could return home to Jerusalem to rebuild the city wall—and the king replied with a yes.
“I started calling people I knew and doing something that was really uncomfortable for me: asking them to give money to something that didn’t exist yet. And the right people said yes,” Harrell explained. Among those supporting his new venture were former Governor Bill Haslam and his wife, Crissy, who were instrumental in getting The Adoption Project up and running. They remain involved in leadership positions today at the nonprofit.
Since the organization officially launched in 2022, Harrell’s mission has been to make Tennessee the most adoption-friendly state in the country. He’s off to a solid start. Among the initiatives he’s most proud of accomplishing so far is a change to a state law that allows courts to shorten the waiting period for an adoption to be finalized. Thanks to his advocacy work, that span has changed from six months after a child is brought into the home to only three months.
He’s also worked to expand the venue options where adoptions can be finalized. “Before, it could take up to a year to get a court date because the courts were so backed up,” Harrell explained. “But now families can now travel to adjacent counties for a hearing and the hearing can be scheduled in as little as three weeks. I’ve had many lawyers tell me what a difference this has made.”
Beyond that, Harrell wants to bring more support to those who often face trauma in adoption—biological mothers and their babies.
“Even a newborn baby immediately placed with an adoptive family faces losing the only audible voice they’ve known—the voice of their biological mother. That’s a traumatic experience that could possibly manifest in their life somehow. We need to make sure they have the right therapies and support. And for the birth parent, this is not different from a person giving birth to a child and that child dying. That’s the kind of loss they’ve experienced.”
This idea clicked for the Harrells when three-week old Ruby was first placed in Michelle’s arms. “At that point we realized that one of the very best days of our lives was one of the hardest days in someone else’s life,” he said.
Harrell remains grateful that God directed him to Trevecca almost 20 years ago. “The Lord brought me to Nashville and he used Trevecca to do that. He puts us in places to prepare us for the future. Even though we may not understand it at the time, He has a plan.”
