Mackenzie Kirker-Head joined HISA in August 2023 and currently serves as Senior Communications Manager, leading the organization’s Communications department from HISA’s Lexington office. She oversees HISA’s strategic communications and stakeholder engagement efforts, with a focus on transparency, regulatory clarity and reinforcing public trust in Thoroughbred racing. Her work supports the preservation of racing’s social license to operate by aligning HISA’s mission, messaging and outreach with the long-term integrity and sustainability of the sport.

Prior to joining HISA, Kirker-Head worked in the marketing department of the fractional-ownership platform MyRacehorse and previously served as a Project Manager at the Thoroughbred Idea Foundation after completing the Godolphin Flying Start program. Through Flying Start, she lived and worked across Australia, England, Ireland, the United States and the United Arab Emirates. She began her career at Spendthrift Farm.

Kirker-Head holds a Bachelor of Arts in International Relations from Tufts University and interned with the New York Racing Association’s Communications Department while in college.