Laurel Graefe

Laurel Graefe (pronounced gray·fee) is an economist and strategic advisor with deep experience at the intersection of

economic growth, capital markets, and public-private investment. As founder of Navora Advisory, she works with

financial institutions, corporations, and civic and philanthropic leaders on economic strategy and the inflection points that

drive long-term value creation. Her practice draws on a two-decade career as an executive and economist with the Federal

Reserve System, where she most recently served as the Nashville Chief and Regional Executive for the Federal Reserve

Bank of Atlanta.

Laurel has built a reputation among top executives and civic leaders as the kind of advisor who changes the shape of a

conversation. She brings together economic rigor, creative thinking, and a genuine joy for the work to help organizations

move from complexity to clarity, and from strategy to results. A sought-after thought partner and keynote speaker, Laurel

has addressed Fortune 100 boards, major industry associations, and leaders across financial services, technology,

philanthropy, and healthcare. Her perspectives have been featured by The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and NPR,

and she is co-author of The Handbook of Oil Politics, published by Routledge.

Laurel is deeply engaged in her community, including serving on the boards of Siskin Hospitals, TennGreen Land

Conservancy, the United Way of Greater Nashville, and the Access Fund. Laurel was named a Woman of Influence by the

Nashville Business Journal, a Most Powerful Woman by Nfocus Magazine; and a Leader In Charge by the Nashville Post.

She is a graduate of Leadership Nashville, Leadership 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. She is a graduate of Harvard

Business School’s Young American Leaders Program and holds executive leadership certifications from both Harvard

Business School and Stanford University.