Board

Gail Carr Williams - Chair

Gail Carr Williams has been a member of the Nashville MTA board since 2002 and is Associate Director of Community, Government and Neighborhood Relations in the Division of Public Affairs at Vanderbilt University. She is responsible for building community relationships on behalf of the university. Prior to her work with Vanderbilt, Williams had similar responsibilities at Ohio State University. She also has been a Human Resources Employee Relations Specialist with an emphasis on conflict resolution and mediation, and she practiced law in Oakland County, Michigan for 10 years. Williams also is a member of the following public service and community boards: University School of Nashville, The YWCA of Nashville and Middle Tennessee, Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee, Tennessee Performing Arts Center, and Frist Center for the Visual Arts. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan in 1979 and her Juris Doctor from the University of Detroit School of Law in 1982.

Janet Miller - Vice Chair

Janet Miller, who was named to the Nashville MTA board in December 2014, is CEO and Market Leader of Colliers International. She previously spent 20 years with the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce in various roles with her most recent position as Chief Economic Development Officer. Miller also is an active member of the Nashville community and is a supporter of the YWCA, Friends of Radnor Lake and the Tennessee Women's Forum. She is an a highly sought-after lecturer and has spoken on economic development around the country, including Georgia Tech, University of Oklahoma, University of Kentucky, and University of Tennessee. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Tennessee with a Bachelor of Science in Economics. She also attended the Economic Development Institute at the University of Oklahoma and received her Certified Economic Developer accreditation in 1999.

Walter Searcy - Member

Walter Searcy, who was named to the Nashville MTA board in November 2015, is president and chief executive officer of the WALAR Group. He has spent the past 23 years with the consultant firm, where he remains today as a principal member. Searcy has served on the National Advisory Council of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and National Institute of Allergic and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). He also has served as a board member of the Nashville Chapter of the Red Cross, treasurer of Senior Citizens, Inc. and president of Second Harvest Food Bank. Searcy has been a Boy Scout master, served on the board of the Cumberland Valley Boy Scouts and is the recipient of the Whitney M. Young Award for the promotion of scouting in the inner city. He is a former director of the Nashville Bar Association, is a member of the State Legal Redress Committee of the Tennessee NAACP, and chairs the Criminal Justice Task Force of Nashville Organized for Action and Hope (NOAH). He received his undergraduate degree from Fisk University with a Bachelor of Science in Political Science and received a Doctor of Jurisprudence from Vanderbilt University Law School. He also attended the University of Illinois, Chicago and the University of Ghana, West Africa.

Mary Griffin - Member

Mary Griffin, who was named to the Nashville MTA board in October 2020, is a dedicated public servant, currently serving the State of Tennessee and formerly serving Metropolitan Nashville-Davidson County. Her experience includes complex litigation, strategic process improvement, regulatory and fraud investigations and information governance. She has tried cases as both an assistant public defender and as a special prosecutor. Griffin is a Life Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. She has received a Tennessee Supreme Court Attorney for Justice award and has chaired the Tennessee Bar Association Attorney Well-Being committee, the Law Office Technology and Management Committee and the Metropolitan Davidson County Transportation Licensing Commission. Griffin is a proud WeGo commuter and enjoys the friendships that she has made with other riders. She remains an advocate for underserved communities and individuals, with a special place in her heart for people who have disabilities and, particularly, people on the autism spectrum. Griffin is fluent in Spanish as the result of serving as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Honduras during the Central American Crisis. She received her undergraduate degree in Fine Arts and Photography from New York University, Tisch School of the Arts in 1987, her Juris Doctor from the University of Tennessee School of Law in 1994 and her LL.M. in Litigation Management from Baylor Law School in 2020.

Jessica Dauphin - Member

Jessica Dauphin, who was named to the Nashville MTA board in May 2021, is the President and CEO for the Transit Alliance of Middle Tennessee and has served on the Transit NOW Nashville Board for three years. Dauphin has spent her time working to support nonprofits and the individuals and communities they benefit. She is particularly passionate about public transit and believes it is the key to sustaining growth, building economic competitiveness, and preserving a high quality of life. Born in Nashville and raised in Pegram/Kingston Springs, she resides in Bellevue near the Riverwalk Greenway where you can find her out with her husband, son, and their poodle, Buster. If she’s not out walking, she’s running on her treadmill or lifting weights. For fun, Dauphin enjoys reading, singing, and sometimes drawing with charcoal. She received her undergraduate degree from Middle Tennessee State.