ABOUT PHIL

Phil is engaged in domestic and international business development for corporations and holding companies, advocates for clients with federal officials and state executives, and participates in consequential public policy and political discussions around the globe.

Phil Bryant is a founding member of BSS Global where he provides strategic advice and business development services to some of the world’s largest industry leaders. Governor Bryant served two terms as Mississippi’s 64th Governor from 2012 to January 2020. He also served as Mississippi’s lieutenant governor, as state auditor, and as a legislator in the Mississippi House of Representatives.

While serving as Mississippi’s chief executive officer, Governor Bryant largely focused his efforts on creating new economic opportunities. Under Governor Bryant’s leadership Mississippi saw its lowest-ever unemployment rate, its lowest-ever high school dropout rate, its lowest-ever teen pregnancy rate, its highest-ever number of jobs, its highest-ever number of graduating physicians, its highest-ever K-12 reading and math improvement scores, and its highest-ever high school graduation rate.

Governor Bryant’s dedicated focus on economic development yielded more than $8 billion in private sector investment in Mississippi as well as the largest economic project in state history— a landmark agreement with Continental Tire to build a major manufacturing facility in central Mississippi and create more than 2,500 new jobs.

From the outset of his first term as governor, Bryant relentlessly championed public education reforms, and his 2013 “Education Works” policy package implemented some of the most transformational changes ever seen in Mississippi’s public education system. The proposals he guided into law include the establishment of evidence-based early childhood education programs; increased teacher pay, including two across-the-board raises and merit pay incentives; increased support for teacher National Board Certification; new scholarships for high-achieving high school students who want to work as public school teachers; and increased standards for university teacher training programs. His education agenda has also included establishing public charter school options for children trapped in failing residence-based school districts; refining Mississippi’s public school rating system; and developing public funding options for programs serving students with Dyslexia and other special needs.

The cornerstone of his public education legacy is the “Third Grade Gate,” which requires public school third grade students to demonstrate appropriate reading skills before being promoted to fourth grade and includes enhanced skills building for at-risk students and pedagogical training for classroom teachers. The early results of the policy reveal a foundational change for Mississippi students, providing increased opportunities to graduate high school, to secure gainful employment, and to avoid incarceration and dependence on public welfare programs.

Governor Bryant dovetailed public education reforms with a strong focus on workforce training programs and job creation. His administration worked to improve career-technical training programs and their delivery through Mississippi’s top-rated community and junior college system, pairing program offerings with local workforce opportunities and collaborating with the K-12 system to strengthen high school vocational programs.

He worked closely with the University of Mississippi Medical Center to build a new School of Medicine and to increase the number of graduating physicians each year; to position Mississippi as a national leader in telemedicine services and technology; and to create a state-of-the-art residential facility to care for medically fragile children.

Governor Bryant served as chairman of the Education Commission of the States; chairman of the Southern States Energy Board; chairman of Jobs for America’s Graduates; and chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society of the United States.

The son of a diesel mechanic and a mother who stayed home with her three boys, he learned early in life the values of hard work and the importance of education. The Moorhead native and former deputy sheriff earned his bachelor’s degree in criminal justice from the University of Southern Mississippi and a master’s degree in political science from Mississippi College, where he also received an Honorary Doctorate of Laws Degree. Before being elected governor, he served as an adjunct professor of government at Mississippi College.

Governor Bryant resides in Hazlehurst, Mississippi with his wife Deborah. They have two children and four grandchildren.