Shayla Lynch is from Hopkinsville, Kentucky. She attended Hopkinsville High School. She has a bachelor’s degree in English and government from Centre College in Danville, Kentucky, and a Juris Doctorate degree in law from the Louis D. Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville. She attends her local church.

Shayla is the Executive Director of Ampersand Sexual Violence Resource Center of the Bluegrass. She works at Ampersand, where she leads a team of staff and advocates to provide services to survivors of sexual violence and their families across seventeen Kentucky counties. She previously served as the Executive Director of the Carnegie Center for Literacy and Learning and spent 15 years at the Lexington Fair Housing Council, where she fought for housing equality by advocating for victims of discrimination and educating the public about fair housing laws.