Debra Hensley, President of the Board
Debra is a former elected official having served on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council for 3 terms. She was the Chair Person of the Mayor's Task Force on Homelessness which lead to the creation of the Hope Center. She worked with public officials and community advocates for the passage of the Fairness Ordinance which protects lgbt individuals against discrimination. Some of the Boards and Commissions Debra has served on are: Chamber of Commerce, Board of Architectural Review, United Way, St. Joseph Hospital, Community Bank, Central Kentucky YMCA, the Bluegrass Chapter of the National Conference for Community and Justice, Kentucky Conference for Community and Justice, and the Knight Foundation Community Advisory Committee. She has been in the Insurance and Financial Services business since 1974 and owns her own agency. Debra and her partner are the proud parents of two beautiful children.

Shannon Stuart-Smith, Treasurer
Shannon is a nonprofit management consultant, avid rock climber, non-practicing attorney, former racehorse trainer, and ex-jockey. A childhood passion for horses lead to twenty years of employment in the thoroughbred racehorse industry before she obtained a law degree and began working in the nonprofit sector. Shannon started her own consulting company, Free Agent for Change, LLC with special emphasis on organizational development, strategic planning, board development and capacity building for social justice and civil rights nonprofit organizations. Currently, Shannon serves on the Boards of the Kentucky Conference for Community and Justice and the Advisory Council of the United Way’s Get on Board, is the Vice-Chair and Board member of Lexington Fairness, and Board member and Treasurer of JustFundKY. Shannon married her partner (a Lexmark engineer) in Massachusetts in 2004 and currently resides with their three dogs in Lexington, Kentucky.

“As a nonprofit consultant I can attest to the burden constant fundraising puts on organizations draining away vital resources to raise money instead of being able to accomplish all they could for their constituents. That is why I enthusiastically support the mission and vision of JustFundKY to build an endowment through positive public events to help fund educational and empowerment projects to end discrimination of LGBT Kentuckians.”

John Davis
John started working on LGBT issues as an undergraduate at the University of Kentucky. John organized the first annual Come Together Kentucky Conference, bringing together LGBT student activists from across the state for workshops, education programs and strategy sessions. He has consulted and managed numerous political campaigns both at the state and federal level. He has also consulted and provided graphic design services for public issue groups and non-profit community campaigns.