Faces of Change: Fiona Prine
Fiona Prine, the Purposeful Advocate
by Lisa Chader
“With so much outrage and grief in America today, many of us feel helpless as to how we can make a difference. How do we even begin to correct a system that turns a blind eye to the vulnerable in a time of crisis?” – Fiona Prine in her statement to TN lawmakers - June 2, 2020
Lucia and I first met with Fiona Prine at a small coffee shop in Nashville the day before the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 to be a ‘pandemic’. The virus was already making headlines so the three of us were cautious and sat distanced from one another at two separate tables. Earlier in the year, a friend had suggested that we meet knowing Fiona would be interested in the type of social impact work we wanted to do with our new company, particularly for the music industry.
Our brief meeting was amazing. We were inspired by her passion, wit and drive for all things involving social justice. Being Irish (with a downright lovely accent), Fiona recalled growing up discussing politics at the dinner table - every night. In Ireland, it was your responsibility as a citizen to be involved and informed. We discussed the urgent need for members of the music and artist communities to use their voices towards change, to be a positive force locally and globally. We said our goodbyes and looked forward to following up.
Just over a week later, we received a call from Fiona. She had been diagnosed with COVID-19 and said to expect a call from the Health Department as she was tracing everyone she had come into contact with. She said she felt physically terrible from the virus and proceeded to self-quarantine. Her biggest fear was passing it on to her husband, legendary songwriter and artist John Prine, who was already considered to be high-risk. She was concerned that we may have contracted the virus from her and wanted us to let her know how we fared over the next few weeks. We hung up and began quarantining immediately.
Most of the free world knows the rest of this particular story. John did indeed contract the virus. Fiona recovered, but John did not. This businesswoman, advocate, mother and wife soon lost the love of her life. The world mourned, and still mourns for the incomparable John Prine.
Thankfully, neither Lucia nor I contracted COVID-19. We felt helpless and distraught as we read of John’s passing, only imagining the type of loss that Fiona was experiencing. We kept up with her messages on social media and we, like the rest of the world, grieved with her.
With heavy hearts, we continued our day to day, working with clients, scheduling calls and brainstorming on our next campaign. Lucia and I turned our attention to the myriad of issues that the TN legislature would soon be debating when it went back into session which had been cut short earlier in the year due to the virus. We both felt strongly that in the wake of this pandemic, every American should be given the right to vote safely by mail. There was a measure on the TN Senate’s calendar to expand absentee voting, and after conferring with our colleagues at Think Tennessee, we knew we needed to make some noise.
Enter Fiona Prine. A woman who had lost her husband just two months earlier. She was moved to use her voice and fight for Tennesseans’ right to vote in the wake of COVID-19. Never one to sidestep her calling, Fiona immediately began supporting individuals she would likely never even meet, including those who were already high-risk and/or afraid to visit the polls to vote in November for fear of contracting the virus.
She knew the coronavirus didn’t care about politics – it was an equal opportunity destroyer. She knew what it felt like to have the virus, and she knew what it felt like to watch someone you love die from it. Tennesseans needed to be protected – and she was called to help sound the alarm.
Fiona answered this call to action despite her already full plate. She was neck deep in production on an upcoming virtual tribute to her late husband called Picture Show: A Tribute to John Prine. She was grieving. How could she have the bandwidth to take on such a cause?
We were floored. With only four days notice, Fiona prepared her remarks and agreed to testify before the Senate committee, consisting of eight men and one woman. She had been granted five minutes via teleconference to state her case. Afterwards, they would vote on whether to advance the measure to the Senate floor.
Shortly after she finished speaking, lawmakers called an unscheduled recess before voting on the bill. When they returned, the majority promptly voted the measure down (two voting to advance the measure, six voting to block, and one who abstained), offering no further discussion. This proved to be one of the many disappointing human rights decisions that the TN legislature has made over the past few weeks.
As you may have guessed, Fiona doesn’t back down easily. She made her displeasure with the decision known, releasing this statement the next day. Many of her colleagues in the music industry joined her call for justice on social media, most notably the increasingly active Taylor Swift. And as we’ve seen in the past, nothing sets off the old legislative guard like a call for justice from Taylor Swift!
We remained hopeful the topic wasn’t completely closed as there were a handful of lawsuits that had been previously filed on the topic that had not yet had their day in court. Realistically though, we weren’t very optimistic. It looked as if TN would become one of only four states that refused to expand their absentee balloting in the wake of COVID-19.
On that Thursday night, we got word that a Nashville judge had ruled in favor of one of the plaintiffs who had filed a lawsuit! Davidson County Chancellor Ellen Hobbs Lyle had ordered the state government to add concerns about COVID as a valid excuse to vote by mail.
Our celebration was short-lived as we knew the TN Attorney General would file an appeal, and he did just that the next day. Since then, the Secretary of State’s office has been reprimanded by the court for not fully complying with the judge’s order. And just recently, the Supreme Court denied the state’s motion for a stay and agreed to expedite the hearing process. To date, the number of absentee ballots requested for this August’s election has skyrocketed, and we remain hopeful that any Tennessee voter who wishes to vote absentee may do so.
This is not the first time that Fiona has championed a cause to benefit others. The recent tribute to John Prine raised money and awareness for several charitable organizations including NAMI (the National Alliance on Mental Illness), Alive Hospice and Make The Road NY. After John’s passing, she asked that in lieu of gifts or flowers that donations be made to Room In The Inn, Nashville Rescue Mission and Thistle Farms.
In fact, Fiona and John have been passionate supporters of Thistle Farms over the past 15 years, raising significant funds through a variety of events and donations. Fiona remains heavily involved serving as co-chair of the organization’s Global Council. Learn more about Thistle Farms’ mission to help women survivors recover and heal from prostitution, trafficking and addiction here.
Her legacy of advocacy continues daily in her vocal support of Black Lives Matter, breast cancer awareness and prevention, and the thousands of musicians whose livelihoods have been all but decimated by of the spread of COVID-19. She denounces racism and discrimination in all its forms.
Fiona is a true Faces of Change, and we’re forever humbled and grateful to have had the opportunity to work closely with her.
We’re inspired by her spirited vision to make the world a better place, and will continue to ask ourselves, ‘how can we help?’
And best of all, we know we haven’t heard the last from this incredibly resilient woman.
Thank you Fiona.
Follow Fiona on her socials:
August 6, 2020 State/Federal Primary and State/County General Election:
Voter Registration Deadline: July 7
Early Voting: July 17 – August 1
Absentee Ballot Request Deadline: July 30
November 3, 2020 General Election:
Voter Registration Deadline: October 5, 2020
Early Voting: October 14 – 29
Absentee Ballot Request Deadline: October 27