LEXINGTON — A Prestonsburg woman is one of the newest members of the Prichard Committee for Academic Excellence.

Suzanne K. Hyden is one of 18 new members of the organization, which is a private, nonprofit organization that advocates for educational excellence at all levels, from preschool to college.

Hyden, an accountant, is owner of Hyden Properties LLC and is a parent leader and advocate in her community schools.

Joining Hyden as new members are:

· Clay Barkley of Louisville, an assistant state attorney general

· Justin Bathon, assistant professor in the Center for the Advanced Study of Technology & Leadership in Education at the University of Kentucky

· Jessica Berry, family and community liaison for Fayette County Public Schools and a graduate of the committee’s Commonwealth Institute for Parent Leadership (CIPL)

· Candance Castlen Brake of Owensboro, a former city commissioner and deputy county judge executive

· Cory Curl of Versailles, senior fellow for assessment and accountability for Achieve, a national education nonprofit

· Meghan Glynn of Taylor Mill, a CIPL graduate and vice president of external affairs for the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport

· Sam Hinkle of Shelbyville, an attorney with Stoll Keenon Ogden and a member of the Shelby County Board of Education

· Larry Holladay of Fort Thomas, a CIPL graduate and specialist with the Internal Revenue Service

· Augusta Holland of Louisville, co-developer of The Green Building, one of the state’s first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design platinum-certified buildings, and a partner in the renovation of several other historic buildings

· Lonnie Lawson of Somerset, president and CEO of the Center for Rural Development

· Norma M. Meek of Ashland, curriculum event coordinator and district parent involvement coordinator for Boyd County Public Schools and Senior Associate, Yale University

· David R. O’Bryan, CPA and director of Blue & Company and former president of the Kentucky Society of CPAs

· Julie Howard Price of Paducah, an attorney and CIPL graduate

· Adrienne Godfrey Thakur, an attorney with Henry Watz Raine & Marino, a CIPL graduate and an officer of the Kentucky Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division executive committee

· James C. Votruba of Highland Heights, retired president and professor emeritus of educational leadership at Northern Kentucky University

· Gene Wilhoit of Lawrenceburg, retired executive director of the Council of Chief State School Officers and former Kentucky education commissioner

· Kristin Williams of Paducah, owner and principal of KRW Strategies