Following 34 years as a teacher, career counselor, and administrator, Nancy Hale joined Operation UNITE (Unlawful Narcotics Investigations, Treatment and Education) as Co-Program Director for the UNITE Service Corps (AmeriCorps) Program. In February 2015, she was named UNITE’s third President and CEO, and she retired from the position in September 2023.

Hale currently serves on the advisory boards for the Rx and Illicit Drug Summit and National Recovery Month Planning Partners. In addition, she is a Board member for RECON Kentucky, and serves on the Kentucky Judicial Commission on Mental Health, the Appalachian Regional Commission’s Substance Use Disorder Advisory Council, and the Southeast Kentucky Advisory Council for Volunteers of America. Very involved in her community, Hale has served as an Executive Board Member and volunteer with the Rockcastle County (KY) UNITE Coalition for the last 18 years and volunteered for 31 years with the Kentucky YMCA Youth Association.

Hale received the "Golden Apple Achiever Award" from Ashland Oil, Inc. in 2000 as one of Kentucky's outstanding educators. In 2001, she was chosen as the "Kentucky YMCA Champion" and was among the first inductees into the Kentucky YMCA Youth Advisor Hall of Fame in 2010. The Kentucky Gazette named Hale one of its “2022 Notable Women in Kentucky Politics and Government” in June 2022. She has twice served as President of the Kentucky Association of Professional Educators.

Hale earned a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education, a Master of Arts in Education, and Rank 1 in Administration from EKU.

She and her husband, John, are the parents of two grown sons, one of whom is in long-term recovery from the chronic disease of addiction, and they have four grandchildren.