Jean Taylor Payne earned a master’s of divinity degree with honors, cum laude, from the Samuel DeWitt Proctor School of Theology, Union University in Richmond. She is a former graduate of John F. Kennedy High School and Norfolk State University.

Jean currently resides with her husband Robert Payne and their children in Richmond. She is employed by the federal government as a state program specialist for the Corporation of National Services headquartered in Richmond. She is an active member of Spring Creek Baptist Church in Midlothian where she serves in numerous capacities.

Jean is the daughter of Iness E. Taylor and the late Warner T. Taylor of Suffolk.