Regional Economic Information Network

Laurel Graefe (pronounced gray·fee) is the regional executive at the Nashville Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. As the senior officer leading the Federal Reserve in Nashville, she is responsible for strategic direction, oversees economic research activities, and is a member of the core group of Atlanta Fed leaders advising on monetary policy. Her perspectives on business conditions and the state of the economy, gleaned from candid conversations with business executives and community leaders, bring real-time perspectives to national monetary policy deliberations.

Laurel's keynotes have earned a reputation for making complex and technical business and economic issues accessible, inclusive, and actionable for business executives and public audiences. Her work has been published in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and MarketWatch, among others, and featured on National Public Radio. She also coauthored The Handbook of Oil Politics, published by Routledge. Prior to assuming her current position, Laurel held a number of positions with the Nashville and Atlanta offices of the Federal Reserve, including as a director overseeing inflation and energy market analysis.

Laurel is deeply engaged in her community, including serving on the boards of Siskin Hospitals, TennGreen Land Conservancy, the United Way of Greater Nashville, Girl Scouts of Middle Tennessee, and the Economic and Finance Department at Tennessee State University. Laurel was named a 2020 Woman of Influence by the Nashville Business Journal, a 2021 Most Powerful Woman by Nfocus Magazine, and a 2024 Leader In Charge by the Nashville Post. She is a graduate of Leadership Nashville, Leadership Tennessee, and Leadership Middle Tennessee and was elected as a Tennessee representative to the International Women's Forum. She earned an MBA with honors from Vanderbilt's Owen Graduate School of Management and a bachelor's degree in economics, summa cum laude, from Agnes Scott College. In 2024 she was invited to join a small cohort in Harvard Business School's Young American Leaders Program where she was also recently awarded an executive certification in leadership. She holds an advanced certification in executive women's leadership from Stanford University.