Kirsten Hawley

Kirsten Hawley is the executive vice president, and chief people, places, and communications officer. Kirsten has served on the Executive Leadership Team since 2013.

She has worked at Brown‑Forman for over two decades and has served in a variety of roles across human resources, marketing, and communications.

During her tenure in human resources, she led organizational and leadership development and served as a human resources generalist, providing human resource solutions to Brown‑Forman’s businesses across many regions and functions. She also spent seven years in the marketing organization as brand manager for a global liqueur brand. In 2015, Kirsten was named chief human resources officer, and in 2019, her role expanded to include responsibility for global communications. Kirsten recently assumed responsibility for Brown‑Forman’s global real estate portfolio and best practices in workspace solutions.

Kirsten currently serves as the executive sponsor of COPA, the employee resource group supporting the Hispanic/LatinX employee experience.

Outside of Brown‑Forman, she is an advisor to the Young Professionals Association of Louisville and a faculty member for the Ignite Louisville program. Her previous community involvement includes serving as a board member for the Fund for the Arts, president of the board of trustees for Virginia Chance School, a board member for the Leadership Louisville Center, and a city commissioner for the six-class city in which she lives. She was named Mentor of the Year by Business First in 2018.

Before joining Brown‑Forman, Kirsten worked as a research assistant for the Max Planck Institute in Berlin, Germany, and as an outplacement counselor for the Department of the Army. Kirsten graduated magna cum laude from James Madison University with a Bachelor of Arts in political science and communications and with a Master’s Degree in counseling psychology from Boston University.