September 17 marks a significant milestone for the Ayers Foundation Trust. On September 17, 1999, Jim Ayers secured the official tax-exempt status for his new nonprofit organization, The Ayers Foundation. 

Now officially the Ayers Foundation Trust, the nonprofit hosted a full day of celebrations at its headquarters on September 17 in Parsons with a community-wide picnic in the afternoon and a formal reception in the evening with partners and special guests.

Jim Ayers set a vision in 1999 that still guides the organization today. He envisioned a thriving rural Tennessee where all students understand and embrace the opportunities that exist for them after high school and succeed in whatever path they choose. He wants students to have the option to live and work in the communities that raised them.

Because of Jim and his wife, Janet Ayers who became president in 2007, the Trust’s signature Ayers Scholars Program now operates in 33 high schools in 21 rural Tennessee counties – changing the lives of thousands of students and their families just as Jim set out to do 25 years ago. 

“Jim Ayers is an inspiration to me. He has always been my philanthropic North Star and I have enjoyed the many leadership lessons I have learned from him,” said Ayers Foundation Trust CEO Dr. Burton Williams in a special program Tuesday evening. “Jim led his companies to achieve outsized results and is still doing this today with the work of the Trust.”

Over the past 25 years, the Ayers Foundation Trust has worked to support 19,570 students —helping every student develop a plan to reach their goals, whether it be an apprenticeship, the military, a certificate, or a 4-year degree. College Access Counselors and Student Success Coordinators are embedded in partner high schools and focus solely on helping high school students navigate the college admissions and financial aid application process.

“The 19,570 number only scratches the surface of the impact of the Ayers Foundation Trust because many of those students now have children of their own. Those children will grow up knowing they too can go to college just like their parents – parents who now have graduated from universities, technical schools, and military programs and have successful careers,” said Derek Watkins, a 2012 Ayers Scholar from Perry County. “The Ayers Foundation Trust has helped so many families for generations to come, including my own.”

Ayers College Access Counselors stay in touch with students even after they graduate high school to assist with any barriers that might keep them from graduating college. 

“Our counselors truly ‘go the extra mile’ by developing personal relationships with our students to help them create a roadmap to reach their goals. It’s why our model works and we experience outsized results,” said the Ayers Foundation Trust President Janet Ayers. 

“We are so proud to be celebrating the 25th anniversary, but this is truly just the beginning. The next 25 years are only going to be bigger and better in the impact we can have on rural Tennessee,” she said.

2024 was one of the most challenging years for the FAFSA, but Ayers counselors put in countless hours to ensure students unlocked millions of dollars in financial aid to attend the schools of their dreams. In Ayers 33 high schools, the Class of 2024 had a 94.4% FAFSA completion rate, 20 percentage points higher than the rest of the state of Tennessee.

Ayers Scholars use those funds to go to college and graduate. In Ayers Legacy high schools or the high schools where we have worked the longest, 66% of graduating seniors are enrolling in 4-year universities, community colleges, technical colleges, or enlisting in the military – far outpacing the state average.

The 2021 expansion high schools saw as high as a 25 percentage point increase in some of their college-going rates. 

“We are very proud to see how our model has proven to be scalable and effective no matter where we’ve implemented it in the state,” Janet Ayers said, “And once our Scholars graduate, we hope those that choose to do so will come back home and make a real difference in the future of their communities – just as Jim and I have tried to do.”