A native of Lexington, she joined the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence staff in June 2002 as a Community Support Coordinator for the Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership of which she was a member of the pilot program in 1997. She attended Eastern Kentucky University, the University of New Orleans and the University of Southwestern Louisiana where she studied fashion merchandising and accounting. Her previous career was as an assistant operations manager and then a merchandise manager for a large retail chain. Lou Ann’s volunteer activities have focused on educational and cultural diversity organizations such as Kentucky Conference for Community and Justice (KCCJ), One Community, One Voice (OCOV), freshman mentor program through Junior Achievement, Bluegrass P-16 Council and the Education Commissioner’s Parent Advisory Council. She has served in a variety of key roles on several PTA boards and has served numerous terms on several school-based decision making councils. She continues to be involved in various school, district, and state committees focused on education with an emphasis on middle and high school reform. Lou Ann is the mother of 3 children who graduated from the Spanish Immersion Program at Bryan Station High School and are all now presently attending the University of Kentucky.