John Lawler has owned his own construction firm, served as vice president of Lawler-Wood LLC, as executive director for a community development corporation, as a church pastor, and the director of Knoxville-Knox County’s Ten Year Plan to End Chronic Homelessness. 

He holds an MBA with a concentration in Finance from UT-Knoxville, as well as a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and history from Vanderbilt and a master’s degree in New Testament Theology from Fuller Theological Seminary in Pasadena.