David Fowler, FACT's president, grew up in Chattanooga. He graduated from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga with a B.S. in accounting, serving as president of the Student Government Association his senior year. He attended the University of Cincinnati College of Law on the Chapin-Thomas Scholarship, receiving his J.D. degree in 1983. In law school, Mr. Fowler directed the Moot Court program and participated on the National Moot Court and Craven Constitutional Law teams. He also clerked for the late Harry Klusmeier in the Ohio Court of Appeals.

Following law school, Mr. Fowler practiced law in Cincinnati and Chattanooga and in 1994 successfully ran for the Tennessee state Senate, where he served for 12 years. For four years he also directed the Center for Law and Government at Bryan College, teaching classes in political philosophy and jurisprudence. After leaving office in 2006, Mr. Fowler worked with leaders from across the state to form the Family Action Council of Tennessee to protect the interests of families with respect to state policy and to educate the public about the importance of a family-friendly culture.

Mr. Fowler has volunteered as a choir director in churches in Chattanooga and Cincinnati, Ohio. He is married with one adult child and now lives in Nashville.

Doug Barth

Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel

Doug Barth is FACT’s Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. Mr. Barth graduated from DePauw University in Indiana with a B.S. in history and attended Case Western Reserve University School of Law in Cleveland, Ohio, where he obtained his J.D. degree in 1977. While in law school he was on the Board of Editors of the CWRU Law Review. After obtaining his legal degree, he practiced law for 28 years in the litigation field. He was a partner in two law firms and an Assistant General Counsel for the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation. During his legal career, Mr. Barth tried numerous cases and managed litigation nationwide for major corporations.

In 2005, Mr. Barth left the active practice of law to pursue his passion to inform, educate, and assist government officials, churches, and the public on family-related policy issues from a biblically-based perspective. Prior to joining FACT, he was the Executive Director of a nonprofit organization in Idaho that promoted and defended traditional family values in its state legislature, the media, and other venues. Mr. Barth is a graduate of the Alliance Defense Fund’s National Litigation Academy and has been trained as a Truth Project leader at Focus on the Family. He formerly was on the board of directors of the Pittsburgh (PA) Pregnancy Care Centers and Keystone Christian Academy, as well as an advisory board member of North Way Counseling Services, a Christian counseling center.

Mr. Barth and his wife, Linda, have two adult daughters, and reside in Brentwood.

David L. Shelley

Vice President, Church and Community Relations

Dr. David Shelley serves as the Vice President of Church and Community Relations for the Family Action Council of Tennessee, organizing the Friend of the Family network of concerned citizens across the state, providing training in The Truth Project by Focus on the Family and developing church-based “Salt and Light Committees.” He has been a pastor and marriage and family counselor for over 20 years and currently pastors a Southern Baptist Church in Nashville. He has also served as an adjunct professor at a Christian college, as a board member of a worldwide Christian counseling ministry through the YMCA, as the founding President of a chapter of the Georgia Right to Life, as a coordinator of the Georgia Council on Child Abuse, and as the president of a pastor’s conference in Georgia. Dr. Shelley is the author of a soon-to-be released book entitled: Church and State: Being Salt and Light in the Public Square.

Dr. Shelley holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Georgia, a Master’s degree in Marriage and Family Counseling and a Master’s degree in Religious Education from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (Texas) and a Ph.D. in Theology from Trinity Theological Seminary (Indiana). Dr. Shelley and his wife, Jeanna (a public school teacher), have three children. The Shelleys reside in Brentwood, Tenn., a suburb of Nashville.

Hilary Barnett

Office Manager and Project Coordinator

Hilary Barnett, a native of Cincinnati, Ohio, comes to The Family Action Council of Tennessee with a background is in nonprofit administration, development assistance and event planning. Previously Mrs. Barnett held a similar position with Operation Andrew in Nashville.

Mrs. Barnett holds a B.A. from Anderson University and is currently working toward a Master of Divinity degree in practical theology through Regent University. She and her husband have lived in Nashville since 2006 and are active in their church community and various volunteer efforts in the city.