According to the progressive rights organization OxFam, Tennessee is now one of the “worst states for workers” in the U.S. This strikes one as strange since the Volunteer State is also the sixth-fastest growing state in terms of population since 2020. And, since OxFam’s top-ranked state for workers is California, which has sent millions of workers packing for the last five years, one is forced to ask: Why are so many workers fleeing these “pro-worker” states for “right to work” states?
In other words, the OxFam study confuses pro-worker policy with pro-union policy, accidentally producing a report that is a nearly perfect inversion of recent trends in population mobility and economic progress. One of the reasons Tennessee has attracted so many Americans in search of opportunity is a favorable policy environment—one that would not be so favorable were it not for the leadership and impact of the Beacon Center of Tennessee. For more than twenty years, the Center has empowered Tennesseans to reclaim and protect their freedoms so they can freely pursue their version of the American dream. A committed nonpartisan organization, Beacon pushes for sound public policy that solves the problems that impact real Tennesseans.
This includes listening carefully to their fellow citizens’ stated priorities. In 2024, a Beacon listening tour identified five core focus areas to advance reforms: educational freedom, housing and property rights, healthcare access, economic opportunity, and government accountability. These issues form the scaffold for their multi-year strategic plan, “The Land of Opportunity,” aimed at making Tennessee the best place in America to live, work, and raise a family.
Beacon supplements its policy work with an effective litigation program, polling, and storytelling media campaigns. Recognizing the need for a deeper bench in litigation, Beacon President and CEO Justin Owen launched a multi-state law clerk program that, in collaboration with other effective public interest groups, engages young attorneys with substantive work and mentoring by senior attorneys. Leadership and long-term vision like this may not impress OxFam, but it has attracted both the sustained support of several Impact Fund members and recognition from policymakers and civic leaders across the state and around the country.