My Representative

JoAnne Favors
District 29 - Part of Hamilton County

Biography

State Representative JoAnne Humphries Favors is a native of Chattanooga, TN and attends Union Hill Missionary Baptist Church. She is widowed and the mother of four children. She is a graduate of the historic Howard High School of 1960 and has a Masters Degree in Adult Health and Administration from Andrews University. She is the first African American female elected to the Hamilton County Board of Commissioners. Representative Favors has a lengthy professional career in health care delivery and has served in various capacities including health administration, certified clinical specialist, head nurse, tenured associate professor of nursing at Chattanooga State, and member of the Board of Trustees at Erlanger Health System.

She was recruited out of early retirement to serve as administrator of the Southside and Dodson Avenue Community Health Centers and is credited with having stabilized the health centers which continued their existence. She resigned in 2004 to run a successful campaign for Tennessee State Representative and was unopposed for her second term and currently serves as Chair of the Professional Occupations Committee, Assistant Majority Whip and Secretary of the Health and Human Resources Committee. She is also a member of the Commerce and Children and Family Affairs Committees; Domestic Relations, Industrial Impact and Public Health Subcommittees.

Recent Achievements and Affiliations include:

• Vice Chair of the Health Committee of the National Conference of State Legislatures
• State Director for Women in Government
• Sigma Gamma Rho Sorority, Inc.
• Former Vice Chair of the Hamilton County Democratic Party
• Founder and President of the Political Awareness Council of Tennessee, Inc.
• Past President of the Tennessee Nurses Association-District 4
• Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society for Nursing
• Former Vice Chair of the Health Steering Committee for the National Association of County Officials
• Served on the Transition Team in 2002 for Governor Phil Bredesen
• Member of the Women’s Leadership Council
• Founder and Co-chair of the annual Southside Family & Friends Reunion

Recent Service and Scholastic Awards include:

• Tennessee Nurse of the Year -District 4
• Tennessee Primary Care Association’s Charles E. Darling Award
• Excelsior Order of Eastern Stars’ Distinguished Citizen of the Year
• Girls Inc., Inc. Unbought and Unbossed Award
• Numerous other awards from community organizations
• She has been cited in several national and local political and professional publications

She is a frequent speaker at civic, professional and religious events and believes that we are blessed so that we may bless others.