Laura Hatfield
The former Director of Community Engagement at the University of Kentucky and Executive Director of the City Government’s Partners for Youth Program, Laura Hatfield is no stranger to community building and outreach. Now as the Director of the Mayor’s ONE Lexington initiative whose mission is to enhance safety and quality of life in neighborhoods experiencing violent crime, Laura understands that addressing such complex community issues cannot be done in isolation. Laura regularly convenes City, school, faith, non-profit, business and neighborhood leaders to tackle this work of developing solutions that best fit the needs of our City.
Laura has lived in Lexington since 1995 and has worked for the City since August 2011. She received her undergraduate degree at the University of Kentucky in Family Studies and holds a Master’s Degree from UK in Community and Leadership Development.
Laura is currently serving on the Ashland Terrace Retirement Home and Big Brothers Big Sisters Boards as well as the FCPS Community Partners Leadership Team and the Lexington Public Library Advisory Board.
“When I envision an inclusive downtown park, I imagine children participating in programs with our seniors, people from different backgrounds, ethnicities and beliefs engaging in fruitful dialogues on park benches, and people visiting from every area of town feeling safe, energized and welcomed. I envision a park we can all call our own.”