2023 Alumni Service Award Winner
As an entrepreneur, Misty D. Mayes has successfully launched ventures across the engineering, construction, healthcare, and human capital sectors. Mayes is the founder and CEO of Management Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in project strategy, clean energy program management, facilities and administrative management, and human capital transformation. Mayes is a 1998 graduate of the Tickle College of Engineering.
For the past twenty years under her leadership, Management Solutions has consistently been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Businesses, as one of the U.S. Chamber’s Top 100 Small Businesses, and by the Small Business Administration as the national subcontractor of the year. Mayes is most proud of her work advocating for other female entrepreneurs through Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), for which she was invited to the White House and able to testify before Congress, and her lifelong commitment to education and economic empowerment in East Tennessee.
Mayes has given back generously to UT. She has served as the chair of the Tickle College of Engineering Board of Advisors since 2018—the first female to hold the position. Additionally, she co-founded the Women’s Engineering Council and co-chaired UT’s Women’s Engineer Day; these programs strive to assemble female engineering students, female engineering faculty members, and female engineers to help the university attract and retain top female students and faculty. Mayes additionally guest lectures for the ISE Entrepreneurial program and Governor’s school each year She is also the first female Chair for the Board of Trustees at Webb School of Knoxville, in which she oversaw the construction and program development of a STEM maker space as well as the launch of an Entrepreneurial Chair of Excellence.
In 2020, Mayes launched a new subsidiary of her company called Project Controls Solutions (PCS). PCS’s underlying mission is economic opportunity and the company partners with organizations to invest in local communities and expand diversity by recruiting and training aspiring project controllers from historically under-represented backgrounds.
Mayes is a member of the Project Management Institute, certified Project Management Professional, certified Lean Six Sigma professional, and Certified Change Management Professional, while maintaining an active DOE Q clearance. Throughout her career, Mayes has worked tirelessly to support female entrepreneurship, economic empowerment, and education in East Tennessee and beyond. Currently she helps lead the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC), Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, and Restoration House of East Tennessee. Mayes and her husband, Sam, live in Knoxville where they raised three sons and enjoy hiking in the Smoky Mountains, biking, golfing, and admiring the region’s natural beauty.
As an entrepreneur, Misty D. Mayes has successfully launched ventures across the engineering, construction, healthcare, and human capital sectors. Mayes is the founder and CEO of Management Solutions, a consulting firm specializing in project strategy, clean energy program management, facilities and administrative management, and human capital transformation. Mayes is a 1998 graduate of the Tickle College of Engineering.
For the past twenty years under her leadership, Management Solutions has consistently been recognized as one of the Inc. 5000 Fastest Growing Businesses, as one of the U.S. Chamber’s Top 100 Small Businesses, and by the Small Business Administration as the national subcontractor of the year. Mayes is most proud of her work advocating for other female entrepreneurs through Women Impacting Public Policy (WIPP), for which she was invited to the White House and able to testify before Congress, and her lifelong commitment to education and economic empowerment in East Tennessee.
Mayes has given back generously to UT. She has served as the chair of the Tickle College of Engineering Board of Advisors since 2018—the first female to hold the position. Additionally, she co-founded the Women’s Engineering Council and co-chaired UT’s Women’s Engineer Day; these programs strive to assemble female engineering students, female engineering faculty members, and female engineers to help the university attract and retain top female students and faculty. Mayes additionally guest lectures for the ISE Entrepreneurial program and Governor’s school each year She is also the first female Chair for the Board of Trustees at Webb School of Knoxville, in which she oversaw the construction and program development of a STEM maker space as well as the launch of an Entrepreneurial Chair of Excellence.
In 2020, Mayes launched a new subsidiary of her company called Project Controls Solutions (PCS). PCS’s underlying mission is economic opportunity and the company partners with organizations to invest in local communities and expand diversity by recruiting and training aspiring project controllers from historically under-represented backgrounds.
Mayes is a member of the Project Management Institute, certified Project Management Professional, certified Lean Six Sigma professional, and Certified Change Management Professional, while maintaining an active DOE Q clearance. Throughout her career, Mayes has worked tirelessly to support female entrepreneurship, economic empowerment, and education in East Tennessee and beyond. Currently she helps lead the East Tennessee Economic Council (ETEC), Knoxville Chamber of Commerce, and Restoration House of East Tennessee. Mayes and her husband, Sam, live in Knoxville where they raised three sons and enjoy hiking in the Smoky Mountains, biking, golfing, and admiring the region’s natural beauty.
