Hasan Davis, J.D.

In 2008 Hasan joined the executive leadership team of the Kentucky Department of Juvenile Justice. In 2012 Hasan became Kentucky’s fifth Commissioner of Juvenile Justice. During his tenure as Commissioner, he was instrumental in pushing SB200, which contained sweeping juvenile reform legislation, through the Kentucky General Assembly. SB200 was signed into law in April of 2014 and is now transforming Kentucky’s juvenile justice and other youth-serving systems. Now, Hasan spends the majority of his time as a youth advocate and national speaker/trainer providing technical assistance and support to youth-serving organizations across the country. Hasan’s work and passion are rooted in his own early life experiences with justice, education, and social service systems that often failed to provide him with the tools and support he needed to thrive. In 2014 Hasan published Written Off: How One Man’s Journey through Disability, Poverty, and Delinquency is Transforming the Juvenile Justice System. In 2019 he published his first children’s book, The Journey of York, Unsung hero of the Lewis and Clark Expedition, Which chronicles the experience of the Corps of Discovery’s only African-American member, an enslaved man named York. Hasan lives in Berea, Kentucky with his wife and two sons. After physical isolation and tracking that did not address his undiagnosed Dyslexia and ADHD in elementary school to an early arrest as a pre-teen and expulsion from an alternative school. Hasan earned his GED and decided to leave the life he knew well, for one he could hardly imagine. Hasan went on to attend Berea College. And, although Hasan was expelled from Berea College twice, he returned a third time, determined to prove that failure would not be his legacy. With the right attitude and support, Hasan earned his BA degree from Berea College and his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Kentucky College of Law.