Women Leading Kentucky

After 25 remarkable years of empowering women and strengthening our community, the Board of Directors of Women Leading Kentucky has made the difficult decision to bring the organization’s journey to an end. Like many other nonprofit organizations, we’ve been navigating a challenging financial time.

Women Leading Kentucky has always been more than an organization—it has been a vibrant community of women supporting, inspiring, and lifting one another. Our attendees, as well as our sponsors, exhibitors, staff, and volunteers, have played an essential role in building a legacy of leadership and connection.

We are so proud of our accomplishments:

🟣 Awarded more than $300,000 in scholarships for over 200 Kentucky women.
🟣 Honored nearly 40 women for their outstanding achievements as industry trailblazers, community leaders, and advocates for all women.
🟣 Built a community that has given thousands of women career opportunities and growth.
🟣 Provided a platform for small businesses to reach customers and find highly qualified and motivated employees.

Though our formal structure is concluding, the spirit of collaboration, mentorship, and empowerment that defines us will continue to shine throughout our community.

We extend our deepest gratitude to our executive directors, staff members, event attendees, sponsors, exhibitors, volunteers, and board members for their commitment over the years to this organization and this community.

–The Women Leading Kentucky Board of Directors

Today is Disabled Women's Equal Pay Day. October 23, 2025, marks how far into this year disabled women must work to earn what nondisabled men, doing the same work, made in 2024. Disabled women earn just 56 cents to the dollar, resulting from a long history of ableism and discrimination in the workplace.

"This year, disabled women also are facing huge cuts to employment and services that we simply cannot measure because even our ability to track cuts is being blocked...Policy reforms are necessary to remove ableist barriers that trap disabled women in poverty and transform systems that perpetuate the egregious wage gap for disabled women."

Read more from Equal Pay Today, A Project of Equal Rights Advocates at https://heyor.ca/i8byk2.

🎉 Happy Birthday, Michelle Burke, Finance and Operations Manager for Women Leading Kentucky! In honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month, we want to tell you more about this strong, capable woman! 💪

Michelle lives with ADHD, a speech impediment, and dysorthographia, a learning difference that affects spelling and word recognition. She’s learned to spell from memory instead of phonics, to slow down and review carefully, and to find creative ways to work around words that catch her. What once felt like a limitation has become part of how she connects, communicates, and leads.

After 20 years in retail before joining WLK, Michelle learned the power of surrounding yourself with people who see your strengths and help you grow. “It makes a huge difference to be surrounded by women who support and love you for what you’re great at,” she says. “Many of my greatest cheerleaders, the ones who believed in me before I did, I met through Women Leading Kentucky.”

Her advice for others: lean into your strengths. Don’t spend hours trying to grow what you’ll only ever slightly improve. Grow the things you're already good at — the payoff will always be higher.

As one of her favorite quotes reminds her: “I believe you can long after you think you can’t.”

📸 credit: Heart of Gold Photography - Central KY

October marks Domestic Violence Awareness Month. Did you know that 1 in 2 Kentucky women has or will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime? That is a staggering statistic, but we all can do something to right this social ill.

Learn the signs of DV, be an ally and a safe person to turn to, and find out about the resources near you that work directly with survivors, providing safe shelter, basic needs, and advocacy.

Start here:
❇️ ZeroV - Kentucky Coalition Against Domestic Violence https://heyor.ca/hkQyL5
❇️ Domestic & Sexual Violence Prevention Coalition - A collaborative among agencies to address DV in Lexington
❇️ Rise Up: A Survivor's Tribute—Thursday, 10/23, in Lexington. Make plans to attend or find a similar event near you. https://heyor.ca/iwZ4Sm

View the TOPS in Lexington gallery from yesterday's Lunch with a Purpose! https://heyor.ca/SSOSkz

Thank you to everyone who joined us for this incredible event, especially Judge Spruill Gunther for sharing her empowering story and inspiring us all. The energy in the room was electric! ⚡️

Women Leading Kentucky Lunch with a Purpose Click here to view this item from topsinlex.com.

Thank you to the exhibitors who joined us at today's final Lunch with a Purpose of 2025. We appreciate you sharing with us and being wonderful supporters of our organization and Kentucky's women & girls!

Journey Health
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council
ITNBluegrass
Saunier Moving & Storage
The Hearing & Speech Center
Passionate Event Designs
The Lift Bar Med Spa
Paylocity

Our last Lunch with a Purpose of 2025 is tomorrow, October 15! We are grateful to our local partners who make these events possible. Thank you to these generous sponsors!

McBrayer PLLC
Dentons Bingham Greenebaum
Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council
Dean Dorton
Peer House, LLC
Commerce Lexington Inc.
TOPS in Lexington
Kentucky Gazette
Business Lexington
AD IOS Web Development

We look forward to seeing everyone tomorrow at noon (11:30 networking)!

📣 Opportunity for business owners!

The Tory Burch Foundation Fellows Program supports outstanding women entrepreneurs by equipping them with the tools necessary to expand their ventures, strengthen their leadership, and make an impact. Fellows are able to connect with influential leaders and fellow founders who are dedicated to intentional growth and collective success.

Sound like it could be a good fit for you? Learn more and apply today at https://heyor.ca/eYJsOM!

Our Must-Read pick this week comes from our favorite Finance & Operations Manager, Michelle Burke! Her recommendations address the realities of grief, living with neurodivergence, and finding inner-strength and self-worth:

✨ How to Keep House While Drowning – KC Davis
✨ The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck – Mark Manson
✨ Never Finished – David Goggins
✨ Choosing to See – Mary Beth Chapman
✨ Untamed – Glennon Doyle

What books inspire, encourage, and motivate you?

We believe education is one of the most powerful tools for equality. And thanks to our donors, we’re able to provide women at Kentucky's colleges and universities with scholarships that help advance their education and empower them to reach even higher.

"This scholarship award allowed me to focus on my educational and career goals without worrying so much about financial concerns. I was able to concentrate on my engineering classes instead of working a job on the side. I also had more time to join clubs and organizations on campus that have helped me to grow both personally and professionally." - Sarah Caldbeck, past WLK scholarship recipient

When you give to support educational opportunities for women, you make an investment in tomorrow's leaders. womenleadingky.com/scholarship-donation-info

October 11 is internationally recognized as , as well as !

Women Leading Kentucky, with the support of our generous donors, is proud to offer scholarship opportunities to KY students, and has awarded $225k+ in scholarships to 200+ women who are leaders on campus & in their communities.

"Receiving this scholarship relieved a great financial burden for me to continue my college studies in Business Administration with a focus on Accounting...This scholarship has given me an indescribable amount of confidence and honor that such a wonderful organization sees the work that I do as important. It has inspired me to reach for the stars even more. I cannot thank WLK enough!"
- Faye Berry, past WLK scholarship recipient

If you want to help more ambitious women like Faye reach their education and career goals, we'd love to have your support! Visit womenleadingky.com/scholarship-donation-info to learn more and donate today!

Today, approximately 133 million girls around the world are out of school. Tomorrow, we recognize , a chance to shine a light on the contributions of girls and raise awareness of the inequities that still exist.

This year's theme is "Digital generation. Our generation." A call for equal access to the internet and digital devices for girls everywhere, and investments to increase educational opportunities for girls to "use, lead, and design technology."

"On this International Day of the Girl, let us work together to ensure that girls are connected, supported, and empowered so that we are co-leading the journey of digital transformation."

Learn more at unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/girl-child. 👧