BRANDL SKIRVIN, PRESIDENT

Brandl Skirvin, who owns State Beauty Supply, has served on numerous community boards and donated his time and resources to the Bluegrass Rape Crisis Center, AIDS Volunteers of Lexington, the American Cancer Society, and JustFundKY, to name a few. Through his passion to help people identify their dreams and develop the skills to make them come true, he has assisted thousands of salon professionals in the past 22 years.

Brandl also owns The Salon and Spa Idea Group, which specializes in design, and he recently partnered with several beauty industry leaders who together own KRS Sales Development, the country’s largest beauty distribution consulting company.

ERNESTO SCORSONE, VICE PRESIDENT

Ernesto Scorsone is a retired Fayette Circuit Court Judge. Prior to being a judge, Ernesto practiced law as well as served in the state legislature for 24 years (12 in the House and 12 in the Senate). As an attorney he led the legal team in Wasson v. Commonwealth resulting in Kentucky’s 4th degree sodomy law being declared unconstitutional and in Ireland v. Commonwealth which guarantees domestic violence protection to LGBTQ couples. As a legislator, in addition to his work on education and health care, Ernesto championed the fair treatment of LGBTQ Kentuckians. He helped enact a hate crime provision that applies to LGBTQ discrimination, fought for inclusion of LGBTQ Kentuckians in our state’s Civil Rights law, and helped draft the Executive order currently in place for LGBTQ employees in state government. In 2010, Ernesto was inducted in Kentucky’s Civil Rights Hall of Fame. In 2022, Ernesto was inducted in the UK College of Law’s Hall of Fame.

DAVID R. LAFFERTY, TREASURER

David R. Lafferty is a serial entrepreneur and investor who formerly served as Executive Vice President and CFO of an international industrial construction and staffing company. He also previously started, operated and sold successful businesses including insurance, computer equipment and consulting, and a restaurant. David is a graduate and former staff member of Transylvania University and a long-time supporter and volunteer for many charitable organizations. His history as a JustFundKY volunteer dates nearly back to its inception.

BERNADETTE BARTON, SECRETARY

Dr. Bernadette Barton is Professor of Sociology and Gender Studies at Morehead State University. She is the author of Stripped: More Stories from Exotic Dancers (2017) and Pray the Gay Away: The Extraordinary Lives of Bible Belt Gays (2014). Barton writes and lectures on contemporary issues of gender, sexuality, religion, culture, and the sex industry. Dr. Barton’s new projects examine the impact of raunch culture in the lives of young people and marriage equality mobilization in Kentucky.

JOHN DAVIS

John Davis is from Lexington and one of the original founders of JustFundKY. He is an architectural photographer with over 25 years of LGBTQ activism. John helped organize the first statewide Come Together Conference of College LGBTQ activists, was an interim Executive Director of the Kentucky Fairness Alliance and has helped organize countless LGBTQ fundraisers in Central Kentucky. He also has a long history of Democratic campaign work: organizing, fundraising, graphic design, and IT.

KEVIN C. BROWN

Kevin C. Brown has been a member of the JustFundKY Board since June 2018. Kevin is passionate about the important role of public schools in our society and the impact that education has at all levels on improving fairness, justice and well-being in the Commonwealth. He currently serves as General Counsel for the Jefferson County Public Schools, Kentucky’s largest school district. He served in the Kentucky Department of Education from 2004 through May 2018, including service as Associate Commissioner, General Counsel, Counsel to the Kentucky Board of Education and as the Interim Commissioner of Education in fall 2015. Kevin is a former chairperson of the National Council of State Education Attorneys (NCOSEA) and served as a member of the National Association of State Boards of Education (NASBE) Board of Directors. Kevin was an Assistant Attorney General from 2001 through 2004 under former Kentucky Attorney General, A.B. Chandler, III.  Kevin earned his B.A. from Transylvania University, where he was a William T. Young Scholar. In 2001, Kevin received his J.D. from the University of Kentucky College of Law. Prior to law school, Kevin was a staff assistant to then U.S. Senator Wendell H. Ford (D-KY) and a White House intern during the Clinton administration. Kevin is a lifetime member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity.

Kevin, his partner Shawn and their two rescue boxers, Cooper and Tyson, divide their time between Lexington, Louisville and the family farm in Paint Lick, Garrard County, Kentucky.

KETURAH HERRON

Keturah Herron made history on February 22, 2022, when she became the first openly out LGTBQ person to be elected to the Kentucky House of Representatives. She now serves the urban 42nd House District in Louisville, but notes that she grew up in Richmond, KY, a more rural community. That twin dynamic, she believes, has significantly helped her build relationships with fellow legislators from across the state.

Representative Herron received a master’s degree in corrections and juvenile justice studies from Eastern Kentucky University and has worked extensively with youth and families directly affected by our social service and criminal justice systems. In 2019, she chose to use those experiences to help influence policies affecting Kentuckians by becoming a policy strategist and lobbyist with the ACLU of Kentucky.

In 2020, Herron led the #nomorenoknocks campaign to ban no-knock warrants in Louisville. Her advocacy and expertise helped secure Metro Council’s passage of Breonna’s Law, which became a national model, and she continued that work in 2021 to help the General Assembly enact Senate Bill 4, a similar statewide version.

Representative Herron is passionate about creating a society where young people can thrive and, just as importantly, be heard. Her work to help them maximize their talents and leadership is a key reason why, in 2022, Representative Herron was named as the Kentucky honoree for USA Today’s Women of the Year.

PATTI MINTER

Dr. Patti Minter served in the Kentucky General Assembly from 2019 to 2023. When she was first elected in 2018 to represent Bowling Green’s District 20 in the House of Representatives, she became the first woman from Warren County elected to the General Assembly in its history. Continuing a lifetime of service as an educator and community advocate, Minter focused her legislative work on making insulin affordable, protecting people with pre-existing conditions, investing in public education, and protecting human rights and equal justice for all Kentuckians. In the 2022 session, Minter served as the only Democratic legislator on conference committees for tornado relief legislation and conservatorship reform. In 2021, she successfully negotiated amendments to a major criminal justice reform bill. She was the primary sponsor for the statewide Fairness bill in 2021 and 2022. And, as the primary cosponsor of bipartisan insulin legislation, she has helped cap insulin costs for thousands of Kentucky families. In 2023, Governor Andy Beshear appointed her to serve as a Commissioner on the Kentucky Commission on Women.

As Professor of History at Western Kentucky University, where she has taught since 1993, Minter served as the elected Faculty Regent on the WKU Board of Regents from 2007-2014. She also served on the ACLU-KY Board of Directors from 2009-2018 and is a founding member of Bowling Green Fairness. Minter has received numerous awards in her community, including the WKU University Award for Outstanding Public and University Service in 2016 and the Bowling Green/Warren County Human Rights Commission’s Women of Achievement Award in 2018.

Minter received a BA in History from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and earned both her MA and PhD in History from the University of Virginia. She lives in Bowling Green with her husband, Michael, and their child, Alex.

LILLIE RUSCHELL

Lillie Ruschell lives in Lexington, Kentucky. A journalist by trade and training, her calling is in community-impact storytelling, where she is able to use her skills to help uplift the voices of those that often get quieted. An entrepreneur and a veteran of Kentucky politics, Ruschell got her start at KET. In 2020 she teamed up with Mahan Multimedia and they have since developed a service-oriented multimedia business model with the mission of Helping People Who Help People. This is both Ruschell’s professional and personal motto. She is proud to continue living that motto with JustFundKY.