About Crissy

Raised in Memphis, Crissy married Bill Haslam and moved to Knoxville in 1981. She attended Emory University for college and UT-Knoxville for graduate school.

Since 2011, First Lady Crissy Haslam’s priorities have focused on encouraging parent engagement in education and reading proficiency for children. She has delivered this message through the First Lady’s READ20 Book Club, encouraging families to read together for 20 minutes each day.

She frequently travels the state with the Governor’s Books from Birth Foundation in support of Tennessee’s Imagination Library, as well as lending her voice to the Tennessee Department of Education’s Read to Be Ready literacy campaign.

First Lady Crissy Haslam also created the READ20 Book Patrol, a partnership with police and sheriffs offices across the state to provide books to children in low income communities and to encourage reading and support for local law enforcement.

Most recently, First Lady Crissy Haslam has become a champion of several other children’s causes in the state, including the TNFosters campaign and Building Strong Brains: The Tennessee ACEs Initiative.

Crissy and Bill have 3 grown children and 7 grandchildren.