For Immediate Release
2014 Bingham Fellows launch projects designed to invest in West Louisville’s path to prosperity – UPS delivers grant funds to support their work
Louisville, Kentucky (Oct. 23, 2014) – After months of exploration and creative problem-solving, the 2014 Bingham Fellows launched three initiatives designed to invest in West Louisville’s Path to Prosperity: Early Education 40210, We Hire Together and OneWest. The forty-four community leaders who make up the class presented their work to an audience of over 100 business and community leaders on Thursday, Oct. 23 at the Kentucky Center for African American Heritage. Following their presentations, grant funds of $10,000 from The UPS Foundation, the charitable arm of UPS (NYSE:UPS), were designated to help launch the OneWest project.
More about the work of the Bingham Fellows Class of 2014:
West Louisville poses a unique blend of assets and challenges. While home to 60,000 of the city’s residents and encompassing several historical neighborhoods, West Louisville lags behind the rest of the city in median household income, education attainment and home ownership.
Since January 2014, the 44 community leaders who make up the 2014 Bingham Fellows class have gathered to study the issues and assets of West Louisville, learn from best practices and tap into their imagination and talent to develop projects designed to create social change. Buoyed by a groundswell of interest from Louisville’s top corporations, universities, foundations and civic leaders, the class worked to identify and find ways to build on West Louisville’s strengths, hoping to serve as catalysts for neighborhood transformation. The class was also fortunate to tap into grant funds from The UPS Foundation to support their work
Knowing that successful community transformation spans from cradle to career, the Bingham Fellows narrowed their focus to projects which address three key elements of a thriving community: early childhood education, employment and the built environment. Their projects include:
- Early Education 40210, place-based effort to increase early childhood education with a goal of improving the kindergarten readiness of children residing in the 40210 ZIP code.
- We Hire Together is developing a network of community influencers to help West Louisville residents find jobs, access job training and, over time, raise household incomes in West Louisville.
- OneWest (onewest.org), a non-profit corporation that will establish new pathways to public and private capital in an effort to stimulate economic development and revitalization in West Louisville’s built environment.
For further project details, visit https://www.leadershiplouisville.org/bingham-fellows/bingham-fellows-2014-outcomes/
Members of the Bingham Fellows Class of 2014 are (link to photo roster):
Anita P. Barbee, Ph.D., University of Louisville, Kent School of Social Work; Craig Blakely, Ph.D., University of Louisville, School of Public Health and Information Sciences; Charles Booker, Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Services; Tara Brinkmoeller, Building Industry Association of Greater Louisville; Rene Brown, Living Faith Christian Ministries; Fr. John Burke, Archdiocese of Louisville; Sandra Chambers, Jefferson Community & Technical College; Dan Crutcher, Louisville Magazine/Louisville.com; Amy Curry, Frost Brown Todd LLC; Angie Evans, Community Foundation of Louisville; Bill Eversole, Bill Eversole, CPA; Kathleen Exline, Norton Healthcare;
Rev. Jamesetta Ferguson, St. Peter’s United Church of Christ; Kay Frazier, Archdiocese of Louisville, Office of Multicultural Ministry; Mary Grissom, Metro United Way; Adam Hall, Fifth Third Bank; Bill Hollander, Wyatt, Tarrant & Combs, LLP; Howard L. Holloman, Jr., GE Appliances / YMCA of Greater Louisville Association; Demetrius Holloway, Stites & Harbison, PLLC; Heather Johnson, Yum! Brands, Inc. / KFC ; Ed Krebs, K. Norman Berry Associates Architects PLLC; Aundrea Lewis, KentuckyOne Health; Rob Locke, Habitat for Humanity of Metro Louisville, Inc.; Gretchen Milliken, Louisville Metro Government; Libby Mills, Restorative Justice Louisville; Brian Phillips, LG&E and KU Energy; Steve Poe, Poe Companies; Diane Porter, Jefferson County Public Schools;
Jean Porter; Woodford R. Porter, Jr., A.D. Porter & Sons Funeral Home; Harvetta Ray, Family Scholar House; Jennifer Recktenwald, Volunteers of America of Kentucky; James Reddish, Greater Louisville Inc.; Danette Rhoads, Papa John’s International; Pam Rice, Neighborhood House; Johnetta Roberts, Community Ventures Corporation; Dave Simpson, Ph.D., University of Louisville, School of Urban Planning; Sarah Steenrod, West End School; Pamela Stevenson, Consultant; Vincent Walker, JPMorgan Chase; Micheal White, America’s Finest Filters, Inc.; Katina Whitlock, Louisville Metro Government; Matisa Wilbon, Ph.D., Bellarmine University; and Cynthia Williams, Brown-Forman Corporation.
Bingham Fellows 2014 Steering Committee
Malcolm Berkley, UPS Airlines; Maria Hampton, Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, Louisville Branch; Pastor Vincent James, Sr., Elim Baptist Church; Karl Schmitt, Louisville Sports Commission; Anthony Smith, Louisville Metro Government; Tina Walters, James Graham Brown Foundation; Deborah Williams, PNC Bank; and Wendell Wright, QK4.
About the Bingham Fellows program:
The Bingham Fellows program is the advanced leadership program of the Leadership Louisville Center. For over 20 years, Bingham Fellows has provided experienced leaders with the opportunity to put into practice the skills that credential them as a leader of leaders. Side by side with peers, participants work to develop dynamic and innovative solutions to our community’s most pressing challenges. Bingham Fellows was created in 1988 through a $500,000 endowment from the Mary and Barry Bingham Sr. Fund. The participants are social entrepreneurs who have a vision and the ability to assemble the resources required to implement that vision and address obvious social needs. Now in its 22nd year, the Bingham Fellows have had an impressive track record of providing emerging issues with visibility and momentum.
In recent years, they’ve contributed to the development of a long-term vision for our community, enhanced environmental responsibility through initiatives at the grassroots and policy levels, worked to attract and retain talent with an internship program now managed by Greater Louisville Inc. and helped form the Kentucky Indiana Exchange, a regional leadership coalition. The impact of the Fellows goes back to the 1990s with the creation of The Housing Partnership, construction of the Presbyterian Community Center, growth of local farmers’ markets and numerous other positive outcomes.
About The UPS Foundation:
Established in 1951 and based in Atlanta, Ga., The UPS Foundation identifies specific areas where its backing clearly impacts social issues. In support of this strategic approach, The UPS Foundation has identified the following focus areas for giving: nonprofit effectiveness, encouraging diversity, community safety and environmental sustainability. In 2011, The UPS Foundation distributed more than $45.3 million worldwide through grants that benefit organizations or programs such as the Leadership Louisville Center and provide support for building stronger communities.
About the Leadership Louisville Center:
Created in 1979, the Leadership Louisville Center is the region’s most valuable resource for leadership development and civic engagement. Its mission is to grow and connect a diverse network of leaders who serve as catalysts for a world-class community through dynamic programming and strong community connections. Over 6,000 community leaders have graduated from the Center’s programs that include Leadership Louisville, Focus Louisville, Ignite Louisville and Bingham Fellows. In 2011, the Leadership Louisville Center was recognized as one of the top seven community leadership programs in the U.S. in a benchmark study by the Center for Creative Leadership, the “gold standard” global provider of executive leadership education and research.
For more information, contact:
Holly Prather, Vice President
Direct: (502) 753-6503 Cell: (502) 609-9227
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