2023 Tigrett Award Recipient

Published:
August 18, 2023

Allison DeMarcus | 2023 Tigrett Award

Allison DeMarcus is the Founder and CEO of Miss Volunteer America, a nationwide, service-oriented scholarship program based in Tennessee that empowers young women through educational scholarships and volunteer service. Each summer, both the Miss America Volunteer and Miss Tennessee Volunteer pageants are hosted at the Carl Perkins Civic Center in Jackson, Tennessee.

Allison is a former Miss Tennessee Teen USA, Miss Tennessee America and Miss Tennessee USA and is the only woman in pageant history to represent the state of Tennessee at the Miss Teen USA, Miss America and Miss USA pageants. Allison began working with Country Music Television in January 2007 when she co-hosted the Miss America Pageant with Mario Lopez and has worked as a television personality for Country Music Television for ten years.

Allison is married to Jay DeMarcus of the country music supergroup, Rascal Flatts. In 2020, Allison and Jay - along with their adorable children - warmed hearts in their own NETFLIX reality show, DeMarcus Family Rules. Additionally, the couple has appeared together on The Chew, NASHVILLE, Good Morning America and Chrisley Knows Best.

When she is off camera, Allison enjoys serving in her third year as President of the Board of Directors of Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital and recently finished chairing an $18M Pediatric Cancer Campaign. She also enjoys serving as a Board Member for the Vanderbilt Ingram Cancer Center’s Board of Overseers, and is a Board member for the Memorial Foundation on the Grants Committee.

She formerly served on the Board of Directors for Cheekwood, The Women’s Fund, Sigma Epsilon Chi Omega Advisory Board at Vanderbilt, Chi Omega’s National Recruitment Team and the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Middle Tennessee, and has enjoyed volunteering for The Nashville Symphony, Sexual Assault Center, Swan Ball, Nashville Humane Association, Nashville Ballet, Second Harvest Food Bank, Nashville Alliance, Warner Parks, The Frist Center, Nashville Zoo and the Oasis Center.

Allison’s most important job is being a wife to Jay, and mother to Madeline and Dylan.

About the Tigrett Award

While there are several awards presented at the Charity Gala, the highlight of the evening is the recognition of the Tigrett Award recipient. The Tigrett Award was named to honor the memory of a native Jacksonian, John Burton Tigrett. Each year, the Tigrett Award recognizes a Tennessean who has made an impactful contribution to our state. Since the Tigrett Award was established in 2006, The Foundation’s Board of Trustees selects someone that has been a positive representation of the Volunteer State to the world.

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