Karla Davis
Commissioner
Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Governor Bill Haslam appointed Karla Davis Commissioner for the Tennessee Department of Labor and Workforce Development when he took office in 2010.

Since 2006, Davis has been Director of Urban Strategies Memphis HOPE, managing and overseeing the Community and Supportive Services Program for three U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) HOPE VI public housing redevelopment projects and two HUD ROSS Grant projects in Memphis, TN.

Davis previously worked at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency for 16 years, starting with the Superfund program and rising to become an Environmental Justice program manager covering six states. As program manager at the EPA, she focused on environmental and human health protection and community revitalization in distressed urban areas.

Davis serves as the chair of the Prevailing Wage Commission, member of the Workforce Development Board, and ex-officio member of the Worker's Compensation Advisory Council. She is former chair of the Tennessee Local Workforce Investment Area 13 Youth Council and has served on the Annual Grants Committee for the Women's Foundation for a Greater Memphis, the Memphis City Beautiful Commission and the Shelby County Families First Advisory Council. She is also a member of the Leadership Memphis Class of 2009. Over the years, Ms. Davis has received several awards, including the Regional Administrator's Award for Excellence, the Bronze Medal for Commendable Service, and the Community Based Environmental Protection Champion Award. Ms. Davis currently holds membership in the American Society for Public Administration.

Davis attended Spelman College in Atlanta, GA and holds a bachelor's in Bioengineering from the University of Illinois at Chicago. She and her husband, Terence, reside in Memphis, Tenn.