Hayley Spring

About Hayley Spring

I am a dedicated policy communications professional with public, private, and nonprofit experience. With a heart for local issues, I focus on accessibility, mobility policy, and comprehensive food systems work.

Experience

1. Public Policy Coordinator

   Blue Zones Project - Jacksonville

   Sep 2023 — Present · Jacksonville, FL, US

   The Blue Zones Project Jacksonville is a community health initiative working to make the healthy choice the easy choice in our neighborhoods. I research, develop, and implement best policy practices that support health and wellbeing across public and private institutions. Policy initiatives include Built Environment (bike and pedestrian safety, accessibility of public spaces, and green and complete neighborhoods), Food Systems (incentivizing local food production, increasing aggregation and distribution capacities, and creating a robust local food system), and Alcohol and Tobacco policies- Launched the Northeast Florida Farmers Consortium, a formal network of market opportunities and resources for small, local growers. Currently work with local growers and producers to coordinate offerings, build capacity, meet large-scale contracts, and support local food production- Conducted a comprehensive policy analysis on urban agriculture zoning, creating a brief used by city officials to guide land development updates to enhance the local food economy- Provided zoning language examples to 19 City Councilmembers to guide future ordinances that would reduce tobacco retailer proximity to youth and retailer density in Jacksonville’s neighborhoods- Supported two Vision Zero demonstration projects at community schools, engaging 70 students to design and paint crosswalks to increase pedestrian safety- Designed, funded, built, and programmed a community garden at the Blue Zones Project Jacksonville headquarters- Submitted several grant applications totaling $1.8 million (2024) to help community partners and local business build capacity and implement innovative solutions to long-standing issues, including bringing fresh produce to neighborhood convenience stores in food desert communities.

Education

• Kansas State University

  Urban Food Systems Initiative

• The University of Edinburgh

  Bachelor's degree, Political Science and Government

• University of North Florida

  Graduate Certificate - Nonprofit Administration

• University of North Florida

  Master of Public Administration - MPA, Local Government

• The George Washington University

  Bachelor's degree, Political Science