Team Members

Paul Bather

Sr. Associate

Paul Bather brings his professional experience from the public and private sector to the firm. As a consultant and subsequently the Chief Operating Officer for the One Church faith-based organization headquartered in Washington, D.C. Paul worked closely with Father George Clements to identify needs, develop proposals, secure federal and private funding, develop international, national and regional web-based marketing plans and materials, sponsor national and regional conferences, develop governmental and media relations and managed effective programs serving abused and neglected children and youth, recovering drug addicts and alcoholics and formerly incarcerated men and women in targeted urban neighborhoods.

Paul is a recently retired member of the Kentucky House of Representatives where he was honored as “Legislator of the Year” in 2001 for working with the University of Louisville Center for Environmental Policy to draft and pass model “Brownfield” environmental legislation. He served as vice chairman of the Banking & Insurance Committee and vice chairman of the Health & Welfare Committee.

Paul’s experience as Chair of the Medicaid Subcommittee within the Health & Welfare Committee provided him with hands on experience with state waiver demonstration plans, managed care, fee for service provider reimbursement formulas, disease management programs, and federal, state, and local bureaucracies. He also worked closely with National Council of State Legislatures on Medicaid policy and program implementation among the states.

Additionally, Paul worked closely with the University of Louisville and the University of Kentucky to draft legislation to develop and implement the Kentucky E-Health Network (KEHN) which was passed the year following his retirement.

Paul served as an Alderman in the City of Louisville from 1986 - 2000 where he actively participated as Chairman of the Housing Committee in major housing & economic development projects within the Park DuValle neighborhood. This neighborhood, once dominated by 1100 public housing units, vacant land, and abandoned houses, has become a stable, mixed-income neighborhood due to the $200 million investment of federal and private funds A total of 513 units of mixed-income/mixed-finance rental units and 341 homeownership units have been built. The new development has attracted a wide range of income levels. Market-rate units are immediately adjacent to rental houses with a high percentage of low-and very low-income families. Most importantly, the development has changed the image of the larger area in which it is located, from one of abandonment and decay to that of a vital and desirable neighborhood. As a result, adjacent neighborhoods are experiencing revitalization and, for the first time in generations, new retail and community services are being attracted to the area.

Paul was the Board of Aldermen’s representative on the Louisville Waterfront Park Board of Directors that oversaw the development of a 72-acre municipal park adjacent to the downtown area of Louisville, Kentucky and the Ohio River. Phase I of Waterfront Park consisted of approximately 55 acres and was dedicated on July 4, 1999. Much of the park, such as the Great Lawn, had opened to the public by the fall of 1998. The initial development cost was about $58 million, a combination of public and private money. The site of the park was previously used by scrap yards, sand pits and other industrial sites. The park is heavily used on a daily basis, and averages more than 1.5 million visitors per year.

Paul worked closely with Sister Cities International, a nonprofit citizen diplomacy network, to create and strengthen partnerships between the City of Louisville and the City of Tamale in the Republic of Ghana in West Africa to develop understanding and cooperation at the municipal level, promote cultural understanding and stimulate economic development. He traveled to Ghana on several occasions and hosted Ghanaian delegations to Louisville.

Paul was a member of the American Center for International Leadership, Inc. (ACIL). He participated in young leaders exchanges with the former government of the Soviet Union and the government of Mexico. He also traveled to England and France for seminars and conferences. He received ACIL outstanding leadership award in 1987.

From 1986 to 1988 Paul served as Associate Director of the Urban Studies Institute, an applied social policy and economic research center of the University of Louisville serving the Louisville metropolitan area and the Commonwealth of Kentucky. Faculty and students in the Department of Urban and Public Affairs work closely with USI staff and maintained offices in the USI facility.

Paul was responsible for management support related to research proposals in collaboration with the entire academic community in securing external support for sponsored programs. Paul reviewed, negotiated, approved, and provided administrative oversight related to proposals and establishment of awards on behalf of The University of Louisville in accordance with all applicable policies, and regulations.

Six research centers were housed within USI:

Kentucky State Data Center
Kentucky Population Research
Survey Research Center
Center for Environmental Policy and Management
Center for Hazards Research and Policy Development
The Journal for Urban Affairs.

Paul was also vice president of the Bank of Louisville from 1990 – 1997 where he was responsible for the bank’s successful Community Reinvestment Program. He also served as Jefferson County Treasurer from 1980 – 1986 responsible for receipts and disbursements of an annual budget of $100 million.

Paul’s grandfather migrated to Panama from Barbados, West Indies in 1912 to build the Panama Canal. His father was born in Panama in 1916. The family subsequently relocated to New York City where Paul was born. Paul received a Master’s in Business Administration from the University of Louisville in 1980 and a Master’s in Social Work from Hunter College of the City University of New York in 1970. He also earned a liberal arts degree from Fairfield University, Fairfield, Connecticut in 1968.