LKY in Bowling Green and Ft. Campbell
Written by Nick Covault, Vice President of Education & Community, Kentucky Performing Arts
“Look who it is!”
“How have you been?”
“How was vacation?”
Greetings like these, often paired with a hug or handshake, opened Leadership Kentucky’s third session of 2026. A passing stranger might have mistaken us for a high school reunion instead of a leadership development program.
Our class—quite possibly the best class ever—has found its stride. Between sessions, we have stayed connected, supported one another, and built relationships that already feel lasting. With two sessions behind us and most of the program still ahead, we boarded a bus in Bowling Green, eager to briefly step away from our day-to-day and discover more about Kentucky alongside inspiring colleagues.
Our first day centered on how Kentucky can imaginatively and compassionately care for the next generation, beginning with Warren County’s IMPACT Center for Leadership and Innovation and Allen County’s Center for Courageous Kids. The IMPACT Center showcased how a fast-growing community can prepare young people for tomorrow’s workforce. It was especially inspiring to visit on just the sixth day of its first school year and still feel the energy of a dynamic learning community taking shape.
At The Center for Courageous Kids (CCK), the welcome was immediate, warm, and intentional—from waving staff to a campus tour to a chance to meet the barn cat and stable horses. CCK creates belonging for children with disabilities and lifelong illnesses through safe, accessible camp experiences offered at no cost to families. If you are unfamiliar with their work, look them up; it will brighten your day.
After a thoughtful nonprofit-sector panel led by current class members, the day ended with meeting Bowling Green-based LKY alumni over drinks at White Squirrel Brewery and dinner at Hickory & Oak. A birthday cake for classmates who turned another year older during the session was a small but meaningful reminder that Leadership Kentucky is facilitating our ability to connect to each other as people, not just by job titles.
Day two took us to Fort Campbell, the U.S. Army base that straddles the Tennessee border. On the ride, classmates led a panel on tourism and the arts in the Commonwealth as the very landscape that attracts visitors and inspires artists rolled past our windows.
Fort Campbell offered a close look at what it takes to recruit, support, and train soldiers for service and for life beyond the Army. I was touched by how quickly my classmates turned the conversation toward what industry leaders can do to champion those who answer the call to defend our nation.
Then the learning became experiential (to put it lightly). We participated in a rappelling exercise used in Army training, backing off a three-story building before taking a leap guided by strong rope and kind soldiers. It was an exercise in courage, but also in vulnerability—especially in front of peers. Each person descended to cheers from the class below.
The day closed with Kentucky hospitality: a Planters Bank-sponsored reception in Hopkinsville and dinner hosted by classmate Melinda Hill at her Bowling Green home. As daylight faded into a summer evening, classmates processed the day, shared laughs, and prepared for the final stretch of an already brilliant experience.
Day three focused on sources of pride in Bowling Green, Kentucky’s third-largest and fastest-growing city: the new Whitson Public Training Center and the first responders who train there, the area’s talented, diverse, and sizeable international population, and plans for a new riverfront park that will serve the community Bowling Green is growing into.
For me, the greatest possibility in Leadership Kentucky may come during the quiet drive home, when each of us reflects on what we have learned and how to carry it back to our communities and sectors. This session reminded us that Kentucky’s future is being shaped in classrooms, neighborhoods, shared experiences, and dinner-table conversations—and that our class has a role to play in that work. Look out, Kentucky: the best class ever is just getting started!
