Bayless Parsley
Program Director for TFFT Northern Tanzania responsible for developing and managing local educational initiatives and library construction.

Bayless was exposed firsthand to the realities of life in the developing world in the summer of 2001, at the age of 17. An eight-day mission trip to Trenchtown, Jamaica taught him what poverty really meant, and he never forgot the things that he saw and learned in that Kingston ghetto. He graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2006 with a B.A. in history, and then took off on an indefinite trip across Europe three weeks later. He landed in the former Yugoslavia in September and got stuck, unable to leave the Balkans at all for the next several months.

Born and raised in Houston, Texas, Bayless is the oldest son of Bob and Louise Parsley, and the middle child between two sisters, Elizabeth and Garland. He is also the oldest boy of 32 Parsley grandchildren, giving him plenty of exposure to large groups of young children. Three straight years of coaching 9-11 year old's at Charlottesville's Central Little League during college prepared him even more for the role of mentor to the young.

Bayless strongly believes in what TFFT strives to achieve in Africa: the establishment of a high-quality educational system for the children who constitute the continent's tomorrow. The chance to be involved in building part of that foundation proved irresistible to someone who not only loves children, but is also addicted to travel.

An aspiring writer, Bayless worked for the Cavalier Daily throughout college, covering UVa baseball, wrestling and football, as well as authoring a regular Life column.