A Lexington delegation represented by community leaders joined 20 finalists in Denver. 2024’s award theme was “Strengthening Democracy through Local Action and Innovation.”
Mayor Linda Gorton credits the win to the city’s partnerships with Fayette County Public Schools, CivicLex, and the Blue Grass Community Foundation. She says the city learned the importance of partnerships while implementing its COVID response in 2020.
"We had a lot of partnerships before 2020," said Gorton, "but during the pandemic, we depended on partnerships to make it through. I'll never forget our business community - we stood up a group from business and it was called 'How to restart the economy.' Partnerships like this you can never underestimate, because people come to the table from different perspectives."
Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative Vice President Christian Motley said 2020 also brought forth partnerships spawned by racial justice movements.
"I was so grateful in 2020 to get a call from Lisa Higgins-Hord and Tiffany Daniels," said Motley, "With an opportunity to turn the pain that many of us felt in 2020 into a product that is making our community just a little bit stronger. You would have been so proud of the way that this group behind us showed up in Denver."
Lexington’s winning presentation highlighted the work of the Mayor’s Racial Justice and Equity Commission, the work of a partnership between the Blue Grass Community Foundation and the Lexington Black Prosperity Initiative, and the establishment of the Clean Slate Lexington Expungement Clinic and Job Fair.