Four distinguished Kentuckians who have had extraordinary impact on quality of life through philanthropic advocacy and investment will be honored at the seventh annual Summit on Philanthropy to be held in Lexington Tuesday and Wednesday.
Governor Steve Beshear, First Lady Jane Beshear, Jean R. Hale of Community Trust Bancorp, and Christy Brown of Louisvlle will receive the Commonwealth Award, created by the Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative to recognize individuals or organizations whose generosity and distinguished philanthropic service makes a lasting impact on the state.
This year’s statewide Summit program, offered jointly by KPI and the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland focuses on Revitalizing Communities: Economic Development Through Philanthropy.
Working meetings of the Endow Kentucky Commission and the Social Enterprise Alliance-Kentucky will be held as part of the Summit on Tuesday afternoon.
Wednesday’s full program schedule will include a panel on the Community Reinvestment Act, a discussion on Private, Public and Philanthropic Partnerships, and presentations on the value of Social Enterprises.
David Hawpe, distinguished retired editorial page editor of the Louisville Courier-Journal, will lead a panel discussion on What Kentucky Needs. Panelists include Allison Davis, Community and Economic Development Initiative of Kentucky; David Adkisson, Kentucky Chamber of Commerce; Joanne Lang, Kentucky Science and Technology Corporation and AdvanceKentucky; and Jamie Studts, UK College of Medicine and Kentucky LEADS.
The Commonwealth Awards will be presented Wednesday at a luncheon sponsored by Kosair Charities.
Governor Steve Beshear
In his first term, Gov. Beshear worked closely with the Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative to create a Commission on Philanthropy, the first-ever state effort to focus on the power of private philanthropic investment to address Kentucky’s enduring challenges. The Commission spent a year engaging citizens around the state in a study of the strategic interventions in early childhood education that would matter most to Kentucky’s children. The Governor has been an effective and dedicated advocate for early childhood education.
The Commission encouraged public-private partnerships and, in cooperation with KPI, undertook to establish the Endow Kentucky tax credit now overseen by the Endow Kentucky Commission. The tax credit has been responsible for leveraging millions and millions of new endowed funds in Community Foundations around Kentucky – and in the growth of new foundations and funds dedicated to here-to-fore underserved areas of the Commonwealth.
KPI’s Commonwealth Award goes to Governor Steve Beshear for leadership that will have an impact in perpetuity on the people of the Commonwealth.
Jane Beshear
As First Lady, Jane Beshear has set a new standard for philanthropic leadership. Because breast cancer is the second-leading cause of cancer deaths among Kentucky women, she founded Horses and Hope with the Kentucky Cancer Program to provide breast cancer awareness, education, screenings and treatment referrals. She has created a public-private partnership to fund a Mobile Cancer Screening van to improve health outcomes in the state. She worked to push legislation to keep students in school. She launched the Shop and Share annual, one-day drive to benefit the 15 Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence shelters around the state.
In 2009, she started the Governor’s Garden to encourage schools and other community organizations to cultivate their own gardens in an effort to educate Kentuckians about the health and economic benefits of community gardening and utilizing locally grown foods. Produce harvested from each official Governor’s Garden site is donated to local soup kitchens and food pantries or prepared at on-site kitchens.
Mrs. Beshear serves as a Scholastic Reading Ambassador encouraging students to read throughout the year and has been a driving force behind works to boost tourism and grow Kentucky’s film industry.
Jean Hale, Community Trust Bank
Jean Hale has been with Community Trust Bank for 45 years and has participated in the growth of the Corporation from $18 million in assets to $3.8 billion in assets. She is Chairman, President, and CEO of Community Trust Bancorp, Inc., and also the Chairman of the Board of the Corporation’s two subsidiaries, Community Trust Bank, Inc. and Community Trust and Investment Company.
Ms. Hale is very active in economic development and education initiatives. Currently, she is Chairman of the Kentucky Economic Development and Finance Authority Board, a member of the Kentucky Economic Development Partnership Board and serves on the boards of Commonwealth Seed Capital, ARH Foundation, University of Pikeville and Co-Chair of CEOs Against Cancer. Ms. Hale is also working with SOAR (Shaping Our Appalachian Region), a bi-partisan initiative of Congressman Hal Rogers (R) and Governor Steve Beshear (D) to change the economy of the Appalachian region. She is serving on the Executive Committee and Chair of both the Development and Finance Committees.
Previously, she served as Chairman of the Kentucky Chamber of Commerce, Chairman of the KCTCS Foundation Board and as Director of the Cincinnati Branch of the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland for six years.
A native of Pike County, Kentucky, Ms. Hale is a graduate of the University of Pikeville and the Stonier Graduate School of Banking.
She leads an important and impactful regional business enterprise that invests heavily in its communities.
Christina Lee (Christy) Brown
Christy Brown has devoted her life to social responsibility and community service. Originally from Maryland, she married Owsley Brown with whom she shared a commitment to philanthropy and settled in Louisville, the base for the Brown family’s businesses.. In 1985, she co-founded the Center for Interfaith Relations and launched the first US Festival of Faiths. She is a co-founding board member of the Berry Center, whose mission is to perpetuate the legacy of Wendell Berry and his family, a culture that uses nature as the standard, that accepts no permanent damage to the ecosphere and that takes into consideration human health in local communities. She has served as an international trustee of Religions For Peace, the world’s largest international interfaith organization and believes in the potential of faith communities to effect positive change by working together.
Earlier this year, she arranged a visit of the Prince of Wales to Louisville to call attention to work involving sustainable practices, an interest she and the Prince share. Christy founded Louisville’s Sustainable Food Trust. Among the prince’s stops on his visit was the Neighborhood House, a food literacy project.
To bring about the kinds of changes that will help people live healthier lives, she founded and serves on the board of The Institute of Healthy Air, Water and Soil, leading the nation in creating new models that empower “citizen scientists” to reveal the connections between environmental health and human health starting with air quality and asthma.
The Summit will be held at the Marriott Griffin Gate from 3 p.m. Tuesday through Wednesday afternoon. On site registration is available, and tickets for the Wednesday luncheon may be purchased in advance via email to kyphilanthropy.com or like us on Facebook to stay connected.
From Kentucky Philanthropy Initiative