Leadership Kentucky Names Gina Winchester 2025 Board Chair
Leadership Kentucky is proud to announce Gina Winchester as Chair of the 2025 Board of Directors. Alongside the board of directors, Winchester will oversee one of the oldest and most esteemed statewide leadership development programs in the United States.
“It is an honor and privilege to serve as Chair of the Leadership Kentucky Board in 2025, an organization that has been so pivotal in developing leaders across Kentucky,” said Winchester. “I look forward to building on the momentum we’ve created and working with our exceptional alumni, board, and staff to shape the next chapter of Leadership Kentucky’s impact.”
Winchester serves as Calloway County Deputy Judge Executive and is an alum of the Leadership Kentucky Class of 2011. She is a lifetime resident of Kentucky and currently resides in Murray with her husband.
Leadership Kentucky elected the following officers to the 2025 Executive Committee, alongside newly added Board of Directors members:
- Gina Winchester (Murray), 2025 Board Chair
- Melissa Knight (Lebanon), 2026 Board Chair-Elect
- Ron Wilson (Bowling Green), Immediate Past Chair
- Trey Grayson (Florence), Secretary of the Board
- Daniel P. Bork (Nicholasville), Treasurer
- Tiffany Benjamin (Louisville), New Board Member
- Robert Heil (Fort Thomas), New Board Member
- Janie McKenzie-Wells (Staffordsville), New Board Member
- Rhonda Whitaker-Hurtt (Crescent Springs), New Board Member
The 2025 Leadership Kentucky Executive Committee and Board of Directors members are:
2025 Executive Committee
- 2025 Board Chair: Gina Winchester (Deputy Judge Executive, Calloway County)
- 2026 Board Chair-Elect: Melissa Knight (President, Farmers National Bank)
- Immediate Past Chair: Ron Wilson (Associate Vice President, Division of Philanthropy & Alumni Engagement, Western Kentucky University)
- Secretary: Trey Grayson (Partner, Frost Brown Todd LLP)
- Treasurer: Daniel P. Bork (Retired, Kentucky Commissioner of Revenue)
- BRIGHT Liaison/Committee Member: Elmer K. Whitaker (Chairman of the Board & CEO of Whitaker Bank, Inc.)
- Leslie Buddeke Smart, CFRE (CEO, Louisville Ballet)
- Leslie A. Fugate (Vice President, Director of Public Affairs, U.S. State and Local, Canada, and Latin America, Brown-Forman)
- Charles Session (Retired, Duke Energy)
- Chrisandrea Turner (Partner, Stites & Harbison, PLLC)
- Committee Member-Ex-Officio: Perry Allen (Retired, U.S. Bank)
- Committee Member-Ex-Officio: Barbara Dickens (General Counsel, Kentucky Finance & Administration Cabinet)
- Committee Member-Ex-Officio: Regina A. Jackson (Partner, English Lucas Priest & Owsley, LLP)
2025 Board of Directors
- Tiffany Benjamin (CEO, Humana Foundation)
- Daniel Carmack (Realtor, Sallie Davidson Realtors)
- Carolle Jones Clay (President, Republic Bank Foundation, Senior Vice President Managing Director- Community Relations, Republic Bank & Trust)
- Betsy Clemons (Executive Director, Hazard Perry County Chamber of Commerce)
- Aaron Crum (Assistant CEO, Chief Medical Officer, Pikeville Medical Center)
- Gary Gerdemann (Co-Founder, Partner, RunSwitch Public Relations)
- Robert Heil (Executive Director Strategic Relationships & Community Engagement, KLH Engineers)
- Alan Keck (Mayor, City of Somerset)
- Roy Lowdenback (System Vice President, Philanthropy, Baptist Health)
- Janie McKenzie-Wells (Retired, Circuit Judge)
- Shannon Montgomery (Vice President, Customer Service, LGE-KU)
- Aaron Poynter (Director, Targeted Services, Kentucky Office of Adult Education and the Education and Labor Cabinet)
- Rhonda Whitaker-Hurtt (Director, Government & Community Relations, Duke Energy)
- Cindy Wiseman (President and COO, AEP/Kentucky Power)
- John Yanes (President for Saint Joseph London and Saint Joseph Berea, CHI-Saint Joseph Health)
- Debbie Zuerner (Director of Community Engagement, Owensboro Health)
