Meet Jeff
Jeff is an attorney with the Nashville law firm of Bass, Berry & Sims. Having represented some of Nashville’s largest employers, he is acutely aware of the challenges facing Tennessee businesses. He has also been deeply committed to providing free legal services to those who cannot afford to hire an attorney—representing Nashvillians involved in property and collection disputes. He has been a leader within the law firm in establishing a formal Pro Bono program to facilitate the law firm’s provision of legal services to the indigent.
What Jeff Cares About
Through Nashville’s Pencil Partner program, Jeff became a volunteer tutor at Antioch Middle School. Beyond working directly with students and teachers, he has been deeply involved in education reform, working with Alignment Nashville to redesign MNPS’s comprehensive high schools and to implement smaller learning communities. He chairs the Partnership Council, organized by the Pencil Foundation and the Chamber of Commerce, to involve Nashville-area businesses and non-profits in education reform. Recognizing that improving our schools will take the coordination of every part of our government, Jeff has served as an education adviser to Mayor Karl Dean.
He also serves on the board of Nashville’s Metropolitan Transit Authority. In January 2008, Jeff helped to found Nashville’s Kitchen Cabinet, which gathers progressive Nashvillians together once a month to exchange ideas and focus substantively on the challenges facing Nashville and Tennessee. With Jeff’s leadership, the Kitchen Cabinet played an active role in the fight against the English-Only initiative in January 2009.
Previously, he served as a campaign aide for Al Gore’s presidential campaign and for Harold Ford, Jr.’s campaign for U.S. Senate.
Jeff’s Roots
Jeff grew up in Dyersburg, Tennessee and is a graduate of Tennessee public schools. His mother, Joetta Yarbro, is a social worker who has dedicated the last twenty-two years to serving at-risk children, first as a child abuse investigator for the state and then as a Family Resources coordinator for the public schools. His father, Paul Yarbro, is a farmer—one of the 342,000 Tennesseans employed in agriculture.
He attended Harvard University where he earned a B.A. in Government, studying public policy and public service at the Kennedy School of Government. Jeff is also a graduate of the University of Virginia School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Virginia Law Review.
Jeff lives in Sylvan Park with his wife Tyler, and son Jack (a seventh-generation Tennessean). They are members of Christ Church Cathedral, where they have spent the last three years as Sunday School teachers to high school students. Jeff has been an active volunteer with the Red Cross, Room in the Inn, and St. Luke’s Community House.
