Professional History:
Paula Hyatt comes to the Ashland City Council with a Master’s Degree in Business Administration and over 15 years’ experience in finance and account management. Through her tenure in the industry, Paula held a variety of roles spanning forecasting, budgeting, mergers and acquisitions, as well as business development, and capital project evaluation. She applied these job functions across multiple industries, including banking, defense contracting, and health care delivery.
“I have worked on male dominated trading floors in New York City, contributed to teams developing our nation’s submarines, and assisted patients in receiving quality of life sustaining medications. My colleagues have taught me much, most specifically that we are better together.”
In Service To Ashland:
From 2016 through the present, Paula Hyatt has served on the Ashland Citizens Budget Committee, most recently as the chairwoman of the 20/21 biennium process. Paula also contributes to the Economic, Cultural, Tourism, and Sustainability (ECTS) Grants Committee, and chaired the process in 2018 and 2019. Additionally, Paula highly values the contribution the Ashland Emergency Food Bank makes to our community and volunteers as a Neighborhood Coordinator for the Ashland Food Project. Paula’s daughter and father make collecting green bags a family affair!
“One attribute that drew me to Ashland was the volunteer spirit of our citizens. I love being part of our city’s budget process, and the Green Bag Project allows my daughter to contribute along side me. Raising my daughter in Ashland will teach her the importance of civic responsibility, and compassion for our neighbors. As a mother with a young daughter, there is no better place to raise my family”
Committed to Family:
At 42 years old, Paula finds herself as a bridge between generations, balancing the joys and challenges of raising her young daughter, and simultaneously helping facilitate the needs of her parents, two retired educators. Paula’s husband, John Hyatt, is a partner in a local medical practice, and as a family they are vested in Ashland professionally and personally.
Paula’s Bio
Paula Hyatt grew up in Upstate New York as the daughter of two educators. Dinner conversations were often lively and covered a range of topics including history, current events and her parents’ stories of growing up in Troy, NY. These stories highlight the bonds of community, supporting friends and neighbors, and the value of small acts that mean so much in times of need.
Hyatt attended George Washington University graduating Summa Cum Laude with her degree in Finance and International Business. After graduation she returned to New York working in the field of investment banking. ln 2002 Hyatt joined Lockheed Martin, was accepted into Lockheed’s Financial Leadership and Development Program, and worked as a financial analyst on our nation’s submarine program.
During Hyatt’s tenure with Lockheed Martin she pursued and received her Master’s in Business Administration from the State University of New York at Albany. Hyatt also worked with the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Foundation volunteering as head councilor and later seminar co-chair. This program focuses on development of our future leaders with an emphasis on service to one’s community.
In 2006 Hyatt transferred to San Diego to take on new professional challenges. There she met her husband, John, as he completed his military service in the NAVY. Together they relocated to Memphis, TN while John pursued his medical residency and fellowship. While in Tennessee, Hyatt began work for Medco Health, later Express Scripts, in the field of Specialty Pharmacy Finance and Sales. While in this role Hyatt conducted valuation modeling for mergers and acquisitions, provided project management, and vendor relationship management during a period of reorganization, and actively managed, and grew, key client accounts generating revenue greater than $25M annually.
Upon John completing medical training the Hyatt’s moved to Charleston, SC. There Paula continued to work remotely for Express Scripts. In 2014 the Hyatt’s welcomed their daughter and began the adventure of parenthood. In pursuit of professional goals, the Hyatt family moved to Ashland early in 2016. John joined a local specialty ophthalmology practice, and Paula began volunteering with Ashland’s Citizens’ Budget Committee upon appointment later that year.
Hyatt now focuses on raising her young daughter and volunteering her financial skills. She is passionate about serving the community she calls home and contributes time to Ashland’s Citizen Budget Committee, the Economic, Cultural, Tourism, and Sustainability Grants Committee, the annual auction, and Jog-A-Thon, fund raising committees for her daughter’s school, and the Ashland Food Project as a Neighborhood Coordinator. Up until running for Ashland City Council, Hyatt also served as a Board Member of Southern Oregon Children’s Museum.
Hyatt’s primary goal is to leverage her financial and business skills in service to Ashland as we solve our budgetary needs, address our fiscal policy and meet the economic and social impacts of Covid-19.
Paula Hyatt 