Thomas Brady Ruffin is a native of Clinton, Mississippi. With a passion for empowerment, research and making an impact through policy, Ruffin was chosen as the first male McLarty Scholar. He spent a semester in Washington, D.C. working at Vital Voices Global Partnership. There he worked with the Leadership & Global Activation team to perform a Social Network Analysis and contribution mapping to evaluate the strength and effectiveness of the HERlead program. “Our team was so impressed by Brady’s professionalism, kindness and passion for working with young change makers,” said Kristen McAvoy, program manager at Vital Voices.
Ruffin recently obtained his Master of Public Service degree from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service. Before serving as a McLarty Scholar, Ruffin worked as a consultant for an educational nonprofit in the Arkansas Delta and for a refugee resettlement organization in Nashville, Tenn. He also obtained a B.A. in Integrated Marketing Communications from the University of Mississippi in 2018. At Ole Miss, Ruffin worked with the McLean Institute for Public Service and Community Engagement to plan the Rural Entrepreneurship Forum for small businesses in the state of Mississippi. Ruffin also planned and implemented the McLean Entrepreneurial Leadership Program (MELP) for high-school students throughout the state of Mississippi. Ruffin is a member of the Ole Miss Young Alumni Council and volunteers with Team Fox in the Nashville-Davidson County area.