She Connects Pets & People at Nashville Humane Association
As Nashville Humane Association celebrates a major milestone, we’re spotlighting the woman helping guide its future, Executive Director Laura Baker. Image: Laura Baker
As Nashville Humane Association prepares to celebrate its 80th birthday this March, the milestone feels less like a number and more like a love story between a city and its animals. Leading that legacy is Laura Baker, Executive Director since 2017, and a lifelong animal welfare champion who believes shelters are just as much about people as they are about pets. Under her leadership, Nashville Humane has grown with the city, creating second chances for pups everywhere.
What led you to NHA?
I’m originally from Ohio, and as a child, I dreamed of becoming either a ballerina or a veterinarian — careers rooted in discipline, compassion, and care. While studying biology at The Ohio State University, I began volunteering at a local animal shelter, which quietly reshaped my path.
It showed me I didn’t have to be a veterinarian to make a meaningful difference in animal welfare. I discovered the power of being present, of creating tangible goodness at the intersection of animals and the people who love them. I found my calling.
After college, I moved to Florida and began my work in animal welfare from the ground up. I learned the field through nearly every role a shelter can offer — caring for thousands of animals in challenging conditions, supporting families through adoptions, investigating cruelty cases, and eventually stewarding the operational side of sheltering as a business manager. Each role deepened my understanding of both the complexity and the humanity of this work.
After becoming a parent, I felt called to move closer to family, which led me to Tennessee. In 2013, I became Director of the Williamson County Animal Center. In 2017, I stepped into nonprofit leadership as Executive Director of Nashville Humane Association.
What makes you most proud of the impact NHA has had on Nashville’s dogs and the people who love them?
Turning 80 is an incredible milestone, and what makes me most proud is how deeply Nashville Humane has grown alongside the city itself. The Nashville we know today looks very different from the Nashville where NHA was born.
Yet, for eight decades, we’ve remained a constant in adapting, while evolving, and always showing up for animals and the people who love them. In many ways, we’re a bit of a unicorn: a long-standing cornerstone in a city defined by growth and change.
Nashville Humane began in the 1940s to protect working and draft horses. As the city evolved, so did our role. In the 1960s and 1970s, we focused on rabies control, investigating bite cases, and caring for stray animals.
By the 1980s, we had field investigation teams assisting with cruelty cases and were helping thousands of animals find loving homes each year. In 2004, we moved from Harding to Oceola into a brand-new facility, allowing us to expand our impact even further.
Over the past decade, our growth has been driven by listening to our community. We became the first KultureCity-certified animal shelter in the Southeast, launched the first pet reunification station in Davidson County, and brought critical, low-cost services directly to neighborhoods through our ROVER mobile program, all while keeping our core mission: keeping pets and people together whenever possible.
Eighty years in, our story is really about resilience, compassion, and community. And if the past is any indication, the future holds even more ways for Nashville Humane to serve, innovate, and make a lasting difference for animals and the people who love them. Our legacy is our foundation, not our finish line.
NHA has helped tens of thousands of dogs find loving homes. Are there any memorable stories that stick with you?
A few stories really stay with me. One is a beautiful chocolate Lab who was abandoned at our front gate. He was adopted by a family that owns a Christmas tree farm, which is essentially dog heaven. Every holiday season, we receive a Christmas card with his photo running through the trees. It’s a small gesture, but it’s a powerful reminder of how one second chance can lead to a lifetime of joy.
Another is Elvis, a classic Tennessee hound who came to us as part of a large-scale cruelty case involving more than 30 hounds at once. Elvis was adopted by a truck driver seeking companionship on the road. Today, Elvis travels the country with his dad, going from a cruelty case to truly “keeping on truckin’.” It’s a transformation that never gets old.
One especially touching story was during the height of COVID. We had a kitten born with a leg deformity, and simultaneously, we were reimagining adoptions through virtual events, such as Pets on Zoom and appointment-only meetings.
A mother came in with her daughter, who also has a leg deformity and had been feeling especially isolated during quarantine. When they met that kitten (Nemo), both mom and daughter burst into tears. The daughter said she felt seen, understood, and no longer alone. That moment perfectly captured the healing power of the human-animal bond.
These stories are why we do this work. They remind us that saving animals also means strengthening the human connections around them.
What are some of your favorite hidden gems in Nashville?
I love places that feel authentic and a little off the beaten path. Music City Thrift is a favorite, with amazing deals and impressively organized. On a cold day, you can’t beat the chicken and sausage gumbo with a dollop of rice at The Gumbo Bros. In the summer, I love seeing the city from the water by kayaking with Cumberland Kayak. It’s an entirely different perspective of Nashville.
My favorite gem is TailGate Brewery. It’s pet-friendly, community-minded, endlessly creative, and serves some of the best pizza I’ve ever had. It embodies what I love most about Nashville: warmth, collaboration, and a genuine sense of belonging. Bonus, it has movie nights!
What is something most people would be surprised to learn about you?
I survived an F-4 tornado when I was in high school. It was one of those moments that feels cinematic in hindsight, very Twister-esque, with a tornado tearing through a drive-in theater. Fittingly, The Wizard of Oz has always been my favorite movie, and in that moment, I truly felt like Dorothy.
As terrifying as it was, that experience stayed with me for reasons beyond the storm itself. It showed me the critical importance of first responders and what it looks like when a community pulls together amid chaos. It also gave me a profound sense of how deeply loved I was. When I finally got home, I had more than 50 messages from friends and family on my answering machine (remember those?), all checking to see if I was okay.
What’s the best advice you’ve ever received?
It came from my mom. Growing up as the youngest and the only girl in a family of boys, she would always tell me, “Do no harm; take no grief.”
That simple phrase shaped how I move through the world. It taught me to lead with compassion and integrity, while also understanding the importance of boundaries and self-respect. You can be kind without being taken advantage of, and empathetic without being passive.
Outside of faith, family, and friends, what three things can’t you live without?
Setting aside the obvious answer of animals, since I live with eight of them, I couldn’t live without music. I have a long commute, and music is how I decorate that time. Living in Music City makes it even better because I can truly lean into it.
Dolly Parton is my white whale — I would be over the moon to meet her. If I could put even 0.0001% of the love she gives into the world, I’d consider that a life well lived. A mantra at Nashville Humane is WHAT WOULD DOLLY DO? This has been a great guiding light.
The other two are simple but essential: a hot bubble bath, which is appropriate for good days, bad days, and everything in between, and a crispy fountain McDonald’s Coke. Sometimes it’s the small, grounding comforts that make all the difference.
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Looking for more inspiring women in Nashville? See our complete archive of “FACES” here.
Jenna von Oy Bratcher
Jenna von Oy Bratcher is StyleBlueprint's Associate Editor and Lead Nashville Writer. The East Coast native moved to Nashville almost two decades years ago, by way of Los Angeles. She is a lover of dogs, strong coffee, traveling, and exploring the local restaurant scene bite by bite.