All About LARA

Orlene Hawks is the director for the Michigan Dept. of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. Prior to joining LARA, she led the state’s Operation Excellence project dealing with Dept. of Health and Human Services’(DHHS) Child Protective Services (CPS) investigations. Hawks previously served five years as the director of the Office of Children’s Ombudsman. Before joining the OCO, she managed the Quality and Program Services section in the Dept. of Community Health. She also managed the Child, Adolescent and Family Health Services section, directed the Office of Statutory and Legislative Compliance and served as Legislative Liaison for DHHS. Hawks earned her bachelor’s degree in Multidisciplinary Social Science with a Business Emphasis from Michigan State University.

Kim Gaedeke is LARA’s deputy director and oversees the Bureau of Community & Health Systems; Corporations, Securities & Commercial Licensing; Workers’ Compensation Agency; Bureau of Employment Relations; MIOSHA; and the Bureau of Professional Licensing. She has held positions in the U.S. Congress, the Michigan House of Representatives and has worked in the private sector. In 2012, Kim joined LARA as assistant deputy director, has served as a division director and then acting director for the Bureau of Health Care Services. Following department reorganization, Kim was selected to serve as director of the Bureau of Professional Licensing in April 2015. Kim earned a Bachelor of Science in Public Policy and a minor in Marketing from Western Michigan University.