Butler Snow attorneys Tray Hairston and Charity Karanja recently served as panelists during the Mississippi Black Caucus of Local Elected Officials’ (MBC-LEO) 2026 Winter Conference on January 12, 2026. The session, “Building Community Wealth,” focused on the importance of local leaders in the economic development process, particularly in creating sustainable, long-term wealth that stays within the community.
Tray Hairston
Tray Hairston is a member of the firm’s Public Finance, Tax Incentives & Credit Markets group and concentrates his practice on public finance and economic development matters. He has served as bond counsel for various cities and counties and as incentive counsel to developers and companies working on transactions totaling more than $3 billion.
Prior to his time at Butler Snow, Hairston served as counsel and economic development policy advisor to Mississippi Gov. Phil Bryant. He was also a member of the Business Development Division at the Mississippi Development Authority, where he provided project management assistance to companies and consultants looking to locate new businesses in Mississippi. Hairston regularly publishes scholarly legal articles. One of his seminal papers is titled, “The Future of Economic Development, 35 Miss. C.L. Rev. 370 (2017)”. The Bond Buyer also recognized Hairston as a Rising Star. The publication’s Rising Stars program honors 28 municipal finance professionals under 40 nationwide whose leadership, collaborative spirit, and innovative work with issuers have positively impacted their communities. Rising Stars are nominated by their peers, and submissions are judged by a panel of municipal finance leaders throughout the country, as well as The Bond Buyer’s editorial leadership team.
Hairston is a Certified Economic Developer (CEcD) through the International Economic Development Council. In his role as a CEcD, Hairston provides economic development consulting advice to communities and site selection consulting to companies throughout the U.S. Hairston has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America® for Economic Development Law in both 2025 and 2026, Thomson Reuters Mid-South Super Lawyers® for Government Finance (2016-2021), Mississippi College School of Law as Young Lawyer of the Year (2013) and Mississippi Business Journal as one of its Top 40 under 40 (2012-2013). He is a member of the National Association of Bond Lawyers, the International Economic Development Council, the Southern Economic Development Council, the Mississippi Economic Development Council, and the Mississippi Bar Association. He received his undergraduate degree from Tougaloo College, his MBA from Belhaven College, and his Juris Doctor from the Mississippi College School of Law.
Charity Karanja
Charity is a member of Butler Snow’s Public Finance, Tax Incentives and Credit Markets group and is a Development Finance Certified Professional (DFCP) through the Council of Development Finance Agencies (CDFA). She also has the distinction of being one of six women in the nation named to the 2024 Class of the Caren S. Franzini Fellowship, a merit-based program by the CDFA Foundation, recognizing outstanding women in development finance for their leadership and dedication to the advancement of the industry.
In her practice, Charity has served in multiple roles on public, private, and public-private finance transactions, including economic development matters, and has represented both governmental and private organizations in a variety of financing structures, including new market tax credit (NMTC) transactions.
Charity earned her bachelor’s degree from Cornell University and her Juris Doctor from the University of Mississippi School of Lawandis a member of various civic and legal organizations, including the National Association of Bond Lawyers (NABL), Women in Public Finance (WPF), and the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA). She is a member of the prestigious WPF Emerging Leaders Council (ELC) and the Mississippi Bar Leadership Program. She has also been featured in a Spotlight by NABL, and is listed by a variety of industry publications, including: The Bond Buyer: Rising Stars, Super Lawyers: Mid-South Rising Stars, Marquis Who’s Who in America and The National Black Lawyers: Top 40 Under 40.
As part of her continued dedication to the industry, Charity has presented at various conferences and seminars on matters relating to public finance, including the CDFA National Development Finance Summit, and has authored various articles, including a financing toolkit for medium-density housing developments titled “Financing Tools and Incentives for Developers in Missing Middle Housing.”
