Literature Builds Empathy: An Interview with Executive Director of A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee (ASAFET) Taylor Phipps
English alumna Taylor Phipps (ʼ09) sits down with Meghan Pinkston (Class of 2027) to discuss how her time at UT taught her the skills she needed to build her career in nonprofit work and serve as the Executive Director of A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee.
Meghan Pinkston: When you chose to major in English, did you know you wanted to pursue nonprofit work after leaving UT?
Taylor Phipps: Not at all. I chose English because I love reading, storytelling, and the way literature helps us understand people and power. At 18, I was not mapping out a nonprofit career. I honestly didn’t even know that career path existed at the time. I was following curiosity and pursuing a skill set I felt I was already really strong in. What I did not realize at the time was that the skills I was building upon while pursuing my degree, including critical thinking, persuasive and technical writing, analysis, and empathy, would become the foundation of my professional life. Nonprofit leadership is ultimately about telling stories that move people to care and to act, and that is something an English degree prepares you to do extraordinarily well.
MP: How has your English degree helped you with your work in the nonprofit sector?
TP: As Executive Director of A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee, I write and communicate across a broad set of mediums constantly. I draft grant proposals, donor communications, legislative advocacy letters, impact reports, speeches, and even social media content. My ability to synthesize complex policy issues into clear, compelling language comes directly from my English training.
Beyond writing, studying literature sharpened my ability to analyze systems, question assumptions, and understand multiple perspectives. In nonprofit work, especially in reproductive healthcare in Tennessee, nuance matters. Messaging matters. Tone matters. An English degree teaches you how language shapes culture, and in my work, culture shapes policy and access.
MP: What was your journey from graduation to Executive Director of A Step Ahead?
TP: My journey really began during my freshman year at UT. I was fortunate to secure a student worker position at the University of Tennessee’s Office of Disability Services and remained there all four years. Many of the full-time staff members in that office had backgrounds in social work, and through the relationships I built with my mentors there, I was introduced to the nonprofit sector in a meaningful way. That exposure helped me understand that mission-driven work could be both a career and a calling.
As an English major, I spent years learning how to communicate clearly, listen closely, and engage thoughtfully with complex ideas. Those skills translated directly into relationship building. I would say my English degree helped me hone my ability to network and cultivate authentic connections, which ultimately led to my first job offer after graduation.
After leaving UT, I intentionally pursued roles in the nonprofit sector. Over the next 17 years, I built experience in fundraising, program development, community partnerships, and leadership. When I joined A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee, the organization was small but deeply impactful. Under my leadership, we expanded our programming beyond long-acting contraception to include all preventive, easily reversible methods of birth control, strengthened clinic partnerships, increased access to free reproductive healthcare services across 16 counties, and significantly grew both the budget and the organization’s reach.
MP: What does an average day look like as an Executive Director of a nonprofit organization?
TP: There really is not an average day, and that is part of what I love about it.
In one given day, I might meet with a major donor in the morning, review financial reports and budgets, edit a grant proposal, strategize with staff about community outreach, respond to policy changes affecting contraceptive access, prepare remarks for a fundraising or press event, and troubleshoot operational issues.
The role requires both big picture strategic thinking and attention to detail. It is part storyteller, part financial manager, part community organizer, and part problem-solver.
MP: How did your time in the English department at UT prepare you to lead a nonprofit like A Step Ahead?
TP: The English department trained me to think critically, write clearly, and defend ideas thoughtfully. It also taught me to sit with complexity.
In nonprofit leadership, especially in work that intersects with healthcare, policy, and culture, issues are rarely simple. My time at UT strengthened my confidence in forming an argument, anticipating counterarguments, and grounding my work in evidence and narrative.
Perhaps most importantly, studying literature builds empathy. When you spend years examining human motivation, power dynamics, and societal structures, you develop a deeper understanding of the communities you serve.
MP: Are there any classes you recall from your time at UT that were especially formative for you?
TP: Several of my upper level English courses focused on African American literature, and those classes were deeply formative for me. Through the works of authors like Toni Morrison, Zora Neale Hurston, and Langston Hughes, I encountered narratives that fundamentally changed the way I understood history, identity, gender, and power.
I grew up in a very small, rural community, and while I am grateful for my upbringing, my exposure to diverse perspectives was very limited. Studying this literature broadened my worldview in profound ways. It opened my eyes to concepts like intergenerational trauma, the enduring impact of slavery and systemic racism, and the ways structural inequities shape lived experience across generations.
I was also struck by the depth and complexity of the female characters in many of these works. They were flawed, resilient, layered, and fully human. That kind of storytelling challenged me to think more critically about whose voices are centered and whose stories are marginalized.
Those courses expanded not only my intellectual understanding of American literature, but also my sense of empathy and responsibility as a leader. They helped shape the lens through which I view equity, access, and justice in my work today.
MP: What piece of advice would you give to current English majors?
TP: Do not underestimate the power of your degree.
You are not just learning to read novels or write essays. You are learning how to think, analyze, communicate, and persuade. Those are leadership skills.
Follow the work that energizes you. You do not have to have your entire career mapped out at 22. In reality, a person’s brain isn’t even fully developed at that age, so it’s honestly wild to think you can know exactly what you want your career to be at that stage of life. Say yes to opportunities that build skills. Consistently push yourself outside of your comfort zone. To paraphrase George Orwell: Remember that clarity of language is clarity of thought, and clarity of thought is influence.
An English degree does not limit you. Rather, it expands you the opportunities available to you.
Taylor Phipps is the Executive Director of A Step Ahead Foundation of East Tennessee (ASAFET), where she leads efforts to remove barriers to contraceptive access across a 16-county region. With more than 17 years of nonprofit leadership experience, she is known for building strong grassroots partnerships and driving measurable community impact. Under her leadership, ASAFET has expanded both its budget and programming to meet growing demand. A graduate of the University of Tennessee, Taylor is a Leadership East Tennessee alumna, a current member of the UTK Chancellor’s Associates, serves as Secretary and Immediate Past President of the Knoxville Volunteer Rotary Club, and was named to the Knox News 40 Under 40 Class of 2026. She is married to a fellow UTK alumnus, Jordan Phipps, and is the proud mother of two children, Laney (10) and Baker (4).
Meghan Pinkston (Class of 2027) is a Knoxville native pursuing a BA in English at the University of Tennessee with plans to attend law school after graduating. She works as a consultant in the Judith Anderson Herbert Writing Center and enjoys getting to share her love for reading and writing with other students. When she is not in the library, you can find her going to concerts, scuba diving, and writing.
