Ashton Potter Wright is a Lexington native and holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Rhodes College, a Master of Public Health degree from Georgia State University, and a Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) from the University of Kentucky. She has worked for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Enteric Diseases and in the Division of Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Obesity where she managed former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move! Childcare initiative. Prior to joining the Big Blue Nation in April of 2022, Ashton worked for eight years under two Mayoral administrations as the City of Lexington’s first Director of Local Food and Agricultural Development. During her time at the City, she worked to connect farmers and local food producers with new market opportunities (restaurants, schools, institutions, and retailers) and launched the Bluegrass Double Dollars program—Lexington’s first nutrition incentive program and the precursor to the statewide Kentucky Double Dollars Program. Ashton currently serves as the Executive Director of The Food Connection—an applied food systems center in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environment—that serves farmers, food producers, students, and consumers by cultivating creative strategies and partnerships to support a vibrant, healthy, and equitable local food economy.