Jefferson County | Kentuckians For The Commonwealth

Chapter: Jefferson County

 

Since the chapter formed in 1983, we have supported and worked with allies on issues that affect you and me, including affordable housing, police abuse, sweat shops, hazardous waste reduction and recycling. Our doors are open to anyone who wants to fight for justice while building a compassionate, connected, and fun community here in our great city. With over 2,500 KFTC members across the County, JCKFTC is an anchor chapter of Kentuckians For The Commonwealth. The chapter focuses on three issues: Education Justice, Energy and Climate Justice, and democracy Justice. 

  • You can find JCKFTC members agitating and lobbying the local school board, rallying for trans students, traveling to Capiltal to lobby and rally for education bills that support students, and creating strategies to save education in Kentucky. 
  • RSVP here for KFTC's Education Justice Lobby Day & Rally at the Capital on Tuesday, February 4, 2025
  • RSVP here for KFTC's monthly virtual Statewide Education Justice meetings.
  • Share your voice by taking our digital Education Justice Survey by October 31, 2024.

  • In addition to being part of the Just Transition Coalition, the Jefferson County chapter also has a robust Energy & Climate Justice working group that meets monthly on the 4th Wednesday from 7 - 8 pm EDT. You can RSVP here for our monthly Energy & Climate Justice working group here:

  • JCKFTC members register voters across the County, including at places like Actor’s Theatre, Simmon’s Freedom School, Sarabande Books’ Annual Poetry Carnival, Carmichael’s Bookstore, and more. 


From schools to houses of faith to recovery centers, JCKFTC offers training and presentations on all of our issues. Some of the most requested trainings and presentations are on voting rights restoration, political education, voter registration training, the state of education justice, arts and activism at the intersection of climate and energy justice, and organizing for change. Email us today to begin a conversation about bringing a training or presentation to your group.

You’ll be able to find KFTC’s quarterly newspaper, Balancing The Scales, at various locations, including multiple Heine Brothers Coffee locations, the Old Louisville Coffee Co-Op, Elderserve, Goodwill, the Bishop’s Table, and more. JCKFTC members enjoy reading Balancing The Scales and contributing to the publication. You can find JCKFTC members’ Balancing The Scales articles on the KFTC Blog. 


Each 2nd Monday of the month, from 5 - 7:30 pm, JCKFTC hosts a Chapter Meeting - all are welcome and invited. We begin by sharing a meal & networking for an hour, then spend the remaining 90 minutes discussing our ongoing work & strategizing for a future where all Kentuckians can thrive. We have an average attendance of about 45 - 50 people. This is a life-changing family-friendly event. You can RSVP for a monthly chapter meeting with us here. 

We offer POWER 101, an in-person intro to organizing for change course. This two-hour organizing course covers The Transition Zone, Powerful Questions, the Accountability Pathway, and more. The chapter plans to pilot a virtual option to POWER 101 in early 2025.  
 

You can find all things JCKFTC on our LinkTree.

Recent Activities

“Let's get ready to rumble!!!” - Voter Madness

Jennifer Jeffers on October 19, 2012 in , Jefferson County, Voter Empowerment

 (Below is an account from last week's incredible 48-hour-straight voter registration marathon in Louisville)

BeckiandEmilyMost people in Kentucky know what Madness is all about. You hear people talking about it in bars, on the streets, at the grocery store, even in church. Fans are out in hordes – crazy outfits, team tees, homemade signs, cheering, dancing, shouting – going crazy. Lots of high-power individuals coming together as a team. High stakes, high scores, every second counts. The air crackles with energy and excitement.

Members of KFTC and Kentucky Jobs with Justice definitely know what VOTER Madness is all about. Starting Friday, October 5th, our voter registration teams dominated the Louisville “courts” for 48 straight hours and the crowds went wild. From St. James Court to St. Stephen's Church, from Fourth Street Live to McD's at five, our team of 20 members, organizers and volunteers brought their A-game. The result? Democracy scored big. According to WLKY News, “The number of registered voters in Jefferson County has hit a record level of more than 500,000.”

Check out the replay reel:

Jefferson County chapter registers 319 students in two days at UofL

Linda Stettenbenz on October 8, 2012 in , Jefferson County, Voter Empowerment

The Jefferson County KFTC Chapter had two very successful days of voter registration at University of Louisville, thanks to the organizing efforts of KFTC members Emily Nordling, Elijah McKenzie, and Tim Darst. Emily is a recent U of L graduate and arranged sponsorship for us with the Honors Society, one of the student organizations she has been active with. Elijah is a current U of L student and Bonner Scholar who reached out to Tim, a member and officer of GRASS, an organization of students working to foster environmental sustainability and awareness on campus.  GRASS sponsored a second appearance by our members to register voters on campus.

kftc 2012electoral at u of lOn September 27, our table sponsored by the Honors Society registered 97 voters, with a good deal of help from Honors Society volunteer Taryn Cantrell.  She says of her experience with us, “It was an amazing experience to register over 100 students, knowing that I made an impact.  Though I did not know much about KFTC before volunteering, I am very glad I got the opportunity to be acquainted because many of its issues and concerns deal with my hometown of Pikeville.  I love my hometown and hope to return there someday to give back to the place that has given so generously to me. ”

Jefferson County Voter Registration Update

Jennifer Jeffers on October 6, 2012 in , Jefferson County, Voter Empowerment

Howard Owens2Last week was our biggest yet in Jefferson County. Thanks to our dedicated members who volunteered, we registered 240 voters! Over a hundred of those registrations came from hitting up grocery stores in the south and west ends of Louisville. As shoppers packed food out, we packed democracy in.

Electoral organizer Beth Bissmeyer shared this story of success not only in numbers, but in spirit:

“Last Tuesday proved to be another good night to go Krogering in Shively; in just a few hours, 28 people registered to vote and several people signed our petition in support of restoring voting rights. For me, the highlight of the evening was a conversation I had with a young woman. When I asked her if she was registered, she said she didn't vote because government doesn't do anything good. We got to talking about issues she cares about including the homeless population, and I told her she could hold her Metro Council representative accountable for local issues, that these people are often at community events and live in the neighborhood. 'I didn't know that I could do that,' she said. You could see that a light bulb just turned on. She started to fill out a registration card and while doing that, she told me about the difficulties her brothers have faced as former felons and how having just a misdemeanor on her file has made finding a good job difficult. I then told her about our work around voting rights and gave her restoration applications for her brothers. While not everyone who tells you they don't vote will experience this kind of turnaround, it's worth a little bit of prodding for the ones who do.”

Big Weekend Push to the Oct 9th Voter Registration Deadline!

Dave Newton on October 4, 2012 in , Central Kentucky, , Big Sandy, , Harlan County, , Jefferson County, , Northern Kentucky, , Rolling Bluegrass, Voter Empowerment

gIMG_6731The voter registration deadline is just a few days away on Tuesday, October 9th.

KFTC chapters across the commonwealth have already registered thousands of voters in recent weeks, but in these last few days, we’ll be pulling out all the stops, registering voters at:

An array of events over three days as part of Northern Kentucky Loves Democracy A table at this weekend’s Swappin’ Meetin’ in Harlan County The Festival of the Horse in Scott County A 36 hour straight voter registration marathon in Lexington! And a 48-hour-straight voter registration marathon in Louisville!! And much more!

 

Contact your local KFTC Organizer to see if there are voter registration events in your area this weekend, and come on out and join us!

Or if you can’t do that, at least make sure you and your friends and family are all set to vote.

Weekend's Rally For Recovery a big boost to our Voting Rights campaign

Dave Newton on September 25, 2012 in Voting Rights, Kentucky Voting Rights Bill, Jefferson County, Voter Empowerment

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This past weekend, our allies at People Advocating Recovery (PAR) held their big, annual Rally For Recovery in Louisville and KFTC members were invited as always to talk to people about our campaign to restore voting rights to former felons who have served their debt to society. 

In all, we collected over 250 postcards in support of voting rights for former felons, registered half a dozen voters, and helped over a dozen former felons to start the process to request their rights back through the Governor's office. 

Some of the former felons we met were veterans of the armed services or otherwise people who had served their time long ago.  Few had any idea what the process might be to get voting rights restored in Kentucky and some had been given a lot of misinformation in the past. 

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Chapter Feature:

Regular Meetings:

Jefferson County KFTC office
786 Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203
Monthly Chapter Meeting

Each 2nd Monday of the month, from 5 - 7:30 pm, JCKFTC hosts a Chapter Meeting - all are welcome and invited.

We begin by sharing a meal & networking for an hour, then spend the remaining 90 minutes discussing our ongoing work & strategizing for a future where all Kentuckians can thrive.

We have an average attendance of about 45 - 50 people & folks are welcome to bring a dish to share.

This is a life-changing family-friendly event.

You can RSVP for a monthly chapter meeting with us here.

Chapter Organizer:

Bonifacio Aleman
786 Shelby Street
Louisville, KY 40203

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