ABOUT MARIE
ABOUT MARIE
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From the Classroom to the Boardroom and Beyond.
Dr. Marie Feagins is a transformative leader whose twenty years of executive experience has spanned classrooms, boardrooms, neighborhoods, and national institutions — always with one mission: to see people fully and build systems where communities can win, and win big.
Marie’s story starts in public housing, where she was a Head Start kid who fell in love with books before she truly understood the world they were describing. Her parents worked hard, often carrying multiple jobs to make ends meet, and taught her early the balance and grit her future career would demand. By 15, she was juggling a part-time job, the basketball court as a point guard, and cheer mats as a seven-time All-American cheerleader.
A Leader with A Community Focus.
Marie served as class president and made history when she was voted as the first Black Miss Smiths Station High, experiences that taught her how to lead in any room. Becoming the first in her family to graduate college didn’t just change her life; it changed her expectations for what was possible. Her career never followed a straight line because Marie never believed change lived in just one place.
She worked in media and corporate spaces, counseled young people and families, taught in classrooms, led a school as principal, and eventually stepped into complex public-sector leadership. Whether advising Fortune 500 executives and elected officials, partnering with neighborhoods, or coaching teams, Marie is known for calm in chaos, truth in tough moments, and a rare mix of heart and discipline that comes from growing up in places where neither could be taken for granted.
Leaving a Lasting Legacy.
In Detroit, Marie led the district to the highest graduation rate in a decade. In Memphis-Shelby County Schools, where she became superintendent of the largest district in the state in 2024, Marie focused on the fundamentals families feel most: better attendance, fewer chronically absent students, stronger academic growth, and more honesty about what needed fixing.
Shelby Starts With She.
The community response to her leadership — thousands showing up, speaking out, and organizing — revealed something unmistakable: "People recognized courage, truth-telling, and a leader willing to confront broken systems rather than accept them.”
Marie is running for Shelby County Mayor with a simple belief that government should work for everyone. Her priorities reflect the concerns she’s heard again and again from everyday families: safer communities, healthier neighborhoods, real opportunities for young people, and public systems that work the way people need them to.
Leading By Example.
Her work has earned national recognition as Success Magazine Women of Influence, the Legacy Trailblazer Award, Memphis Business Journal Power 100, and national features including with Katie Couric. But if you ask her, the awards matter less than the people behind them.
Dr. Feagins holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration from The University of Alabama, a Master’s in Counseling from the University of West Alabama, and a doctorate from Samford University with an executive finance certification from Georgetown University.