TNsights Speakers

Day 1 – Business & Development Insights

Dr. Lawrence Yun is the Chief Economist and oversees the Research group at the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. He supervises and is responsible for a wide range of research activities for the association, including NAR’s Existing Home Sales statistics, Affordability Index, and Home Buyers and Sellers Profile Report. He regularly provides commentary on real estate market trends.

Dr. Yun creates NAR’s forecasts and participates in many economic forecasting panels, among them the Blue Chip Council and the Wall Street Journal Forecasting Survey. He also participates in the Industrial Economists Discussion Group at the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University. He appears regularly on financial news outlets, is a frequent speaker at real estate conferences throughout the United States, and has testified before Congress. Dr. Yun has also appeared as a guest on CSPAN’s Washington Journal. In 2025, the Wall Street Journal congratulated him for having one of the closest forecasts for 2024.

Dr. Yun received his undergraduate degree from Purdue University and earned his Ph.D. from the University of Maryland at College Park.

Day 1 – Business & Development Insights

Marianne Wanamaker is the dean of the University of Tennessee’s Howard H. Baker Jr. School of Public Policy and Public Affairs and a professor of economics and public policy. Dr. Wanamaker’s expertise is in labor economics, education, and workforce development. Her work has been widely referenced in the popular press, including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post and supported by multiple federal agencies, including the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She holds an undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University and her master’s degree and Ph.D from Northwestern University. She is a native of Martin, Tennessee and she has been at UT since 2009, first at the Haslam College of Business and then at the Baker School starting in 2021. From 2017 to 2018, she took a leave of absence from UT to serve as the senior labor economist and chief domestic economist at the White House Council of Economic Advisors.

Day 1 – Business & Development Insights

Brian Straessle is the President of the Sycamore Institute, an independent, nonpartisan public policy research center for Tennessee. As a public policy generalist and veteran communicator, he helps to equip decision-makers and advocates from all perspectives with clear, reliable information on our state’s toughest challenges.

A founding member of Sycamore’s leadership, Brian leads a bipartisan team of experts dedicated to the organization’s mission of producing impartial and actionable policy research and analysis. Their work is respected for being both rigorous and accessible, and is used by governors, executive branch leadership, legislators, media, community leaders, and citizens to better understand and craft solutions to the state’s most complex challenges.

Previously, Brian shaped policy and public relations efforts for Congressman Tom Price (R-GA), the U.S. House Republican Study Committee, and the American Petroleum Institute. Those experiences include active roles in debates over economic policy, health care, welfare, energy, transportation, and the federal budget, and he started his career as an intern at the Heritage Foundation in Washington, D.C. In college, Brian pursued a broad liberal arts education at the University of Florida and came out the other side with a degree in history, French, and business administration.

Brian and his family live in East Nashville, where he plays for the local vintage base ball club, plants trees with Root Nashville, and harvests fresh fruit from his yard. He is a graduate of Leadership Tennessee and Nashville’s Young Leaders Council, a member of the American Enterprise Institute’s Leadership Network, and serves on the boards of Cumberland Region Tomorrow and the United Ways of Tennessee.

Day 1 – Business & Development Insights

Day 1 – Business & Development Insights

Patrick C. Sheehan was appointed as the Director of the Tennessee Emergency Management Agency in 2016. Director Sheehan advises Governor Bill Lee on all aspects of emergency management policy and serves as Tennessee’s principal liaison to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. He previously served in several roles at the Ohio Emergency Management Agency from 2003 to 2016. Prior to serving in emergency management, he was an enlisted member of the United States Army Reserve as a Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical Specialist and completed Army Airborne School. He also worked in the private sector, helping to run his family’s businesses in the Atlanta area. Director Sheehan holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Kennesaw State University and is currently pursuing his master’s degree from Lipscomb University. He is a graduate of the Naval Postgraduate School Center for Homeland Defense and Security Executive Leaders and the Radiological Emergency Preparedness Executives programs. He was also a fellow in the Federal Emergency Management Agency’s inaugural Vanguard Crisis Leadership Program in 2022 and is a part of the Harvard Global Crisis and Resilience Forum.

Director Sheehan chairs Tennessee’s State Emergency Response Council and is a member of Tennessee’s Cyber Security Council, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s First Responder Resource Group, the Public Safety Advisory Council for the FirstNet Authority, the Tennessee Nuclear Energy Advisory Council and serves in other emergency management, homeland security, and public safety and service organizations. Patrick is Chairman of the Central U.S. Earthquake Consortium Board of Directors and was the past President of the National Emergency Management Association from 2022 to 2023.

Director Sheehan, an Eagle Scout, and his family continue to be engaged in scouting in Middle Tennessee.

Day 2 – Broker Insights

Jarrod C Grasso is the Senior Vice President of Industry Relations at the National Association of REALTORS® (NAR), a role he assumed after serving as the Chief Executive Officer of the New Jersey REALTORS® for almost 17 years. Throughout his distinguished career, Jarrod has steadfastly advocated the real estate industry.

Joining New Jersey REALTORS® in 1999, Jarrod ascended to vice president of government affairs in 2002, serving as the association’s chief lobbyist for nearly a decade. His leadership and expertise culminated in his promotion in 2008 to CEO, where he led New Jersey REALTORS® in its mission to support members’ professional needs, develop programs, and advocate for private property rights. During his tenure, he earned widespread recognition for his contributions to the association and the real estate industry.

A highly respected leader in the national real estate community, Jarrod previously served as a NAR Director and Chair of the Association Executive Committee in 2015. He earned the REALTOR® Association Certified Executive designation in 2006 and was inducted into the Dr. Almond R. “Bud” Smith Leadership Society in 2013. In 2020, he received the prestigious William R. Magel Award of Excellence from NAR for his leadership and achievements as an association executive.

Jarrod was recognized by the Women’s Political Caucus of New Jersey with the Good Guy Award in 2016 for his leadership in advancing policies in support of women and families. He is deeply committed to his community and serves as chair of the Robert Wood Johnson Barnabas Health Community Medical Center Foundation and as a board member for the hospital. Jarrod was elected to serve on the Lavallette School Board of Education in 2019 and is currently President of the Board.

Jarrod is supported in all his efforts by his wife Paige Baran and his children, Hunter and Drew.