Executive Committee elected at annual business meeting

KFTC members re-elected most of the leaders currently serving on KFTC’s Executive Committee.

The Executive Committee consists of five officers who also serve on KFTC’s Steering Committee and who make necessary decisions between Steering Committee meetings. Four members of the Executive Committee are elected each year at the Annual Business Meeting, held this year on November 21. The fifth position is held for the immediate past chair. 

KFTC staff and members nominate people to serve in these leadership positions and the Leadership Development Committee recommends, and the Steering Committee approves, a slate of nominees to be voted on by members attending the business meeting. Nominations also are accepted from the floor (this year it was an online process, and there were none).

Executive Committee members may serve two years in the same position. Cassia Herron, Alan Smith and Rebecca Tucker were elected to their second term as chairperson, vice-chairperson and secretary-treasurer, respectively. Tiff Duncan is new to the committee, elected as the at-large representative. Duncan replaces Fannie Madden-Grider, who asked not to be reconsidered due to health reasons.

Executive Committee members are tireless workers for KFTC. They meet by video conference numerous times through the year to deal with pandemic response, approve voter engagement strategies, move the Organizational Change Initiative forward, serve as KFTC’s legislative strategy team and handle many other ongoing issues.

Chairperson: Cassia Herron, Jefferson County 

Cassia Herron is the first Black woman to be chair of KFTC, a position she was first elected to in 2019 after previously serving as vice-chair. Herron leads KFTC with vision, providing leadership in KFTC’s work for collective liberation and inclusivity in the Steering Committee, and through her work with the Executive Committee as KFTC moves through its Organizational Change Initiative and racial equity transformation, All-In electoral work and unionization. Before serving on the Executive Committee these last two years, she supported the Jefferson County chapter’s “We Are Kentuckians” event, which seeks to honor African American women and Black culture in Kentucky. She is experienced in community organizing and has previously worked with union organizers and trainers with the Highlander Center. Herron is a leader in the Louisville community and a founder of the Louisville Association for Community Economics, a nonprofit developer of the Louisville Community Grocery. 

Vice-chairperson: Alan Smith, Southern Kentucky Chapter, Warren County

Alan Smith has served as vice-chair for the last year. He is an active member of the Southern Kentucky chapter and has been dedicated to the chapter since he began to get involved right around the time the chapter was founded. Smith has served on the Economic Justice Committee and Voter Empowerment Strategy Team, and has served on the Steering Committee for three years and the Kentucky Coalition Board for one year. He’s continued to support statewide issues by participating in events like A Seat at the Table and Hear Our Health. Locally, he was active on Voter Empowerment Strategy and Voter Registration efforts, fundraising, and at-home lobby meetings. Smith has provided consistent, insightful and reliable leadership to KFTC for many years.

 Secretary-Treasurer: Rebecca Tucker, Madison County

Rebecca Tucker has served on the Executive Committee as Secretary-Treasurer for the last year. Before that, she served as the Madison County chapter Steering Committee representative and alternate. She’s a valued leader, always asking quality questions and moving the work forward. Tucker also has been active on KFTC’s Economic Justice Committee and Leadership Development Committee, and is an active supporter of local work, helping to plan chapter fundraisers, guiding and participating in local Democracy Team and issue work, and supporting Madison County’s interns and student workers. She also is a PhD student getting ready to start her dissertation. She serves on the board of the Ampersand Sexual Violence Resource Center. 

At-large member: Tiff Duncan, Central Kentucky Chapter, Fayette County

Duncan has served on the Steering Committee for the last three years, representing the Central Kentucky chapter. Duncan participated in the 2019 KFTC Organizing Academy cohort, helping to expand and deepen KFTC’s collective understanding of accessibility through Disability Justice workshops, and currently 

serves on the Interest-Based Bargaining team. Relationship building is her favorite organizing strategy, and she believes that transformation happens when people exist in supportive environments where they can challenge dominant cultural narratives.  

Meta Mendel-Reyes (Madison County) will continue as Immediate Past Chair. 

Meta Mendel-Reyes is KFTC’s Immediate Past Chair. Before she served as chair (2017-19), Mendel-Reyes was Madison County’s Steering Committee representative and an active member on the Economic Justice Committee, the Voter Empowerment Strategy Team, the Leadership Development Committee 

and the Racial Justice Committee. Mendel-Reyes was instrumental to KFTC’s first Organizing Academy, designing curriculum, planning agendas and facilitating meetings. Mendel-Reyes has informed how KFTC members think about the value of creating an organization together, and the importance of grassroots fundraising. Along with the rest of the Executive Committee, she continues to lead through these intense times with generosity, acuity and commitment to social change.