College of Business

She led the Court through its innovative Access to Justice initiative and has presented Tennessee’s model to national and state conferences. In connection with her work in the access to justice arena, Memphis Area Legal Services awarded her the W. J. Michael Cody Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award, and the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services announced the creation of its Janice M. Holder Award to be conferred annually upon an individual who has made significant contributions to expanding access to justice in Tennessee. The Tennessee Bar Association awarded her its Frank F. Drowota III Outstanding Judicial Service Award for her work with Tennessee’s Lawyers Assistance Program and Access to Justice Commission and its William M. Leech Jr. Public Service Award for her strong commitment to access to justice issues, civics education, and programs that help lawyers. She received the Jurist of the Year Award from the Southeastern Region of the American Board of Trial Advocates, and in 2015, the University of the South awarded her an honorary Doctor of Civil Laws.

Justice Holder is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh and a graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law where she was Recent Decisions Editor of the Duquesne Law Review. She served as a law clerk for Judge Herbert P. Sorg of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In 2010, she was named a Legacy Laureate by the University of Pittsburgh and in 2012 received its 225th Anniversary Medallion. She received the 2015 University of Pittsburgh Kenneth P. Dietrich School of Arts and Sciences Distinguished Alumni Award. In 2015, she was inducted into the Tennessee Women’s Hall of Fame by the Tennessee Economic Council on Women. She is a member of the National Academy of Distinguished Neutrals.

Janice is active in the community, serving on the Metal Museum Board of Trustees and on the Board of Commissioners of Memphis Area Transit Authority. She holds a sixth degree Black Belt in the American Combative Arts System.

Katelyn spent the beginning of her career as an entrepreneur and business owner. After several successful years, she decided to close her business and focus on being a momma to her two beautiful children. 

It was during this time that Katelyn felt called to become more active in her philanthropic efforts. This decision led her to become a key facilitator for the non-profit, Food to the Rescue, an organization that focuses on feeding needy children during seasonal school breaks. This organization allowed Katelyn to advocate for her strong belief that there are two foundational needs for success- food and shelter. In addition to her work with Food to the Rescue, Katelyn also serves as a board member for the Putnam Education Partnership (P.E.P. Foundation), has a photography business, and has recently accepted a position as the Directory of Development and Communications for the Upper Cumberland Habitat for Humanity.

Katelyn’s love for her community and desire to give back can best be seen in her leadership with the Cookeville Strong movement. When Cookeville was hit with a devastating tornado on March 3, 2020, Katelyn found herself feeling helpless and it was this overwhelming feeling that moved her to create a resource where the community could share news, find lost items, identify community needs, and organize volunteers to help victims and clean-up neighborhoods.   Katelyn was single handedly responsible for getting all these needs and calls to action centered in one place.   Since that tragic day, the Cookeville Strong Facebook group has grown to over 26,000 members and continues as a voice of hope and light as the community works to recover. 

While Cookeville Strong began as a tornado relief effort, it has since grown into a platform that supports local non-profit efforts and identifies previously unknown needs in the community. Katelyn brings this type of effort and care to all aspects of her life. She is constantly seeking meaningful solutions to help others and pairs it with an uncanny ability to get things done—through her philanthropic work she changes the Upper Cumberland every single day.

As Deputy CIO, Dedmon was previously responsible for the Enterprise IT Transformation (EIT) initiative that furthered the State’s enterprise IT organization by transitioning over 800 Executive Branch Department IT employees to STS.  Prior to being named Deputy CIO in November of 2015, Dedmon served as the Director of Business Solutions Delivery (BSD), also within the Department of Finance & Administration.  BSD was created in late 2011 to build a team of experienced senior project directors, project managers and business analysts to help lead the state’s most complex IT/business solution implementations and improve project delivery success rates.

Prior to joining the State in 2005, Dedmon was an Associate Partner with Accenture in Nashville and served as project director on many public sector software implementations.  She holds a Master of Business Administration from Tennessee Technological University (TTU) in Cookeville, Tennessee and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, also from TTU.  She also received her Project Management Professional certification in August of 2012.

Dedmon is a member of the National Association of State CIOs (NASCIO) where she serves as a Director on the Executive Board and as Co-Chair of the Innovation Committee. She is also a member of the Nashville Technology Council, Women in IT Tennessee and the Nashville Project Management Institute (PMI) chapter. In March 2018, she was named one of Government Technology’s Top 25 Doers, Dreamers and Drivers for her work on the State’s IT transformation. Stephanie Dedmon was also the recent recipient of the George H. Bass award for Leadership in Tennessee State Government in October of 2019.

An alumnus of TN Tech, Coach Leah played basketball for the legendary Marynell Meadors and Bill Worrell. Under the direction of Meadors, the nationally ranked Golden Eaglettes with Coach Leah on the team, earned several trips to post season tournaments. Under Worrell, the Eaglettes advanced to the second round of NCAA Tournament where they lost to the eventual national champion, Tennessee Lady Vols in 1987. 

Coach Leah has spent her career dedicated to improving the lives of children and teens, especially teen athletes. As a teacher, coach, volunteer, and consultant Coach Leah has influenced and changed lives in the inner city and beyond.  From 1995-2006 she helped guide 92% of the students participating in the Frazier Foundation’s Diamonds in Rough program to college.  She has worked for the National Football Foundation’s Play It Smart program, serving as an academic coach and more recently the Texas Christian Athletic League – serving as Athletic Director to Texas’ third largest HS league.  Leah’s current focus is AALAX, an organization founded by her to create academic and economic opportunities for inner-city young women athletes as they are elevated as executives and professionals in a myriad of industries.   

A life-long learner, Leahjean holds multiple degrees, a bachelor’s degree from TN Tech in speech communications and broadcast journalism, a graduate teaching certification from the University of St. Thomas, MN, an education leadership certification from Yale, and an Executive MBA from Texas Southern University.  In 2019, she was selected to participate in the American Express Leadership Academy sponsored by the Center for Creative Leadership.

Website: CoachLeah.net
Twitter: @CoachLeah40 
Instagram: @CoachLeah40
LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/coachleah40/
Facebook: CoachLeah.Institute4AALAX

Her book, Cowgirl Power, released in January 2018, shares insights and examples for women to develop personal power and lead like fearless cowgirls.

Gay is the first female Chairman of the Texas Business Leadership Council and is former Chairman of The Committee of 200 (C200), a top women’s business organization that advances women’s leadership in business, and is on the Board of Directors of the Texas Cultural Trust. She was also an immediate past board member for Monotype Imaging Holdings, Inc.

Gay is deeply involved with The University of Texas. She is on the board of Texas Exes, the official alumni association of the University of Texas, is part of the Dean’s Advisory Council to The University of Texas McCombs School of Business, and is an advisor for both the College of Fine Arts and the Moody College of Communication.

Gay and her husband, Lee, own the historic Double Heart Ranch in the Texas Hill Country, home of Fossil Ridge Creative Center, a retreat venue for thinking, creativity and collaboration. Fossil Ridge blends Hill Country nature with inspiring architecture and state-of-the-art facilities to spark imagination, serving as a venue for non-profit events, corporate retreats and creative workshops.

Fossil Ridge is also the home of Gay’s private art studio. Her bold and vibrant paintings have been shown in several prestigious galleries around the country including the gallery at Fossil Ridge and New York City, earning her a distinction by Texas Monthly magazine as one of the “Top Ten Artists to Collect Now.”

An active spokesperson, artist and writer, Gaddis is the celebrated author of Cowgirl Power: How to Kick Ass in Business & Life and is a regular contributor to Forbes and part of Fortune’s Powerful Women Insider Network. She is an active speaker with corporate and student groups. Over her career, Gaddis has received numerous awards and honors including Fast Company’s “Top 25 Women Business Builders,” Inc. Magazine’s “Top 10 Entrepreneurs of the Year” and C200’s Luminary Award for Entrepreneurial Excellence.

Website: GayGaddis.com
Twitter: @GayGaddis
Instagram: @GayGaddis
LinkedIn: GayGaddis
Facebook: @GayGaddisT3