On a motion by Providence District Supervisor Linda Smyth, the Board of Supervisors appointed Kenneth A. Lawrence to serve as the Providence District Planning Commissioner in January 2004 to complete the term of his predecessor. On December 6, 2004, Commissioner Lawrence was reappointed by the Board of Supervisors on a motion by Supervisor Smyth to a full four-year term. Commissioner Lawrence was sworn in on January 12, 2005, and his term will expire in December 2008.

In addition to handling Providence District land use applications, Commissioner Lawrence serves as a member of the Planning Commission's Transportation Committee and as an alternate member of the Policy and Procedure Committee.

Commissioner Lawrence is an active member in various community organizations. He has chaired the Briarwood Citizen's Association Land Use Committee and served as the Briarwood representative on the 2001 Area Plan Review task force. He also chaired the work group on the Fairlee out-of-turn plan amendment in the Providence District. In addition, Commissioner Lawrence is a member of the Northern Virginia Family Services' Training Futures Advisory Council and an active volunteer with the American Lung Association of Virginia, serving as a member on the Government Relations Committee.

Commissioner Lawrence retired in 1998 from a 40-year career in private industry and the federal government. He began his career conducting training device design and human factors research, which ultimately led to a focus in instructional design. His work ranged from developing single units to entire courses in technical and procedural training, employee development and employee performance support, and the target populations for the training included members of the military, sales staff, procurement and tax specialists, and research managers.

Commissioner Lawrence lives with his wife in the Fairfax area of the Providence District.