Meet Brent D. Hutchinson

Dr. Brent Hutchinson, a native of Lawrence County, Kentucky, became Hindman Settlement School’s seventh executive director in 2012. Since coming to Hindman, Brent’s focus has been to stabilize existing programs as well as seek strategic opportunities to provide a foundation for settlement work in the 21^stcentury. In his tenure, Brent has overseen a growth of over 46% in the school’s total assets, which includes the largest campus renovation project in the school’s history, completed in 2018. This growth is attributed to widespread programmatic expansion to address new and burgeoning needs and interests throughout the region, primarily in traditional arts education, literary work, and local foods and mountain agriculture. The Settlement’s heralded dyslexia program continues to influence educational conversations statewide, as Kentucky legislation identifies dyslexia as a core issue among the over 20% of all students affected by it and serves the Commonwealth on the State Advisory Council for Exceptional Children, with a term ending in 2021.

The staff of Hindman Settlement School truly makes the day-to-day difference in local lives, and Brent is proud of the personal and professional growth of the Settlement’s leadership and team members over the last several years. Brent believes in order to impact the culture, we must continue to dream and create, and that is exactly what Hindman is engaged in everyday.

Brent is also actively involved in numerous civic and church activities, including service as a local high school academic team coach, former parent member of the Site Based Decision Making Council, volunteer service on the Kentucky 4-H Foundation Board, member of the Sons of the American Revolution, and co-leader of the Knott County Work Ready Community-in-Progress Task Force. In 2019, Brent was selected as an Obama Foundation Fellow, one of twenty community-minded rising stars from around the world for a two-year, non-residential program, designed to amplify the impact of their work and inspire a wave of civic innovation.

Brent has a Bachelor of Arts in Social Science from Morehead State University, a Master of Science in Family Studies/Marriage and Family Therapy from the University of Kentucky, and a Ph.D. in Leadership Studies from Dallas Baptist University, with a special interest in servant, public and cultural leadership. In 2017, Brent completed the Duke University Executive Certificate in Nonprofit Management Program.

Brent married his college sweetheart, Gwen, and they have two sons, Adam and Miles.