LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Five individuals from around Kentucky will serve as liaisons to the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky in their communities, following their appointments to the foundation’s Community Advisory Council. Council members serve three-year renewable terms.
The newly appointed members are:
Rufus Friday is special assistant to the president of Kentucky’s Community and Technical College System. He served as president and publisher of The Herald-Leader daily newspaper in Lexington from 2011-18. Friday had been in the news business for more than 30 years, including 15 with the McClatchy publishing company. Prior to taking the lead at the Herald-Leader, he was president and publisher of the Tri-City Herald in Washington State, and was vice president of circulation at the News & Observer in Raleigh, N.C. Friday is a North Carolina native and graduate from North Carolina State University. His community service currently includes membership on the boards of the Muhammad Ali Center, the University of Kentucky, College of Communication and Information National Advisory Council, the Kentucky Historical Society Foundation, the Lexington Industrial Foundation and the Hope Center.
Jack Miniard is CEO of Clover Fork Clinic, a primary care practice with locations in Harlan and Evarts. Miniard rose to CEO after first serving as the CFO of the Clinic; he currently is a board member and treasurer of the Kentucky Primary Care Association and chair of KPCA’s finance committee. Miniard also is a board member and serves on the finance commmittee of the Kentucky Health Center network; and a board member of Beacon of Hope Residential Treatment, a developing nonprofit treatment facility in Eastern Kentucky. He has experience with both Federally Qualified Health Centers and Rural Health Centers. Miniard earned his bachelor’s in business administration from the University of Kentucky.
Lois Renfro-Morris is a retired legal services attorney from Barbourville. She had served as litigation/deputy director of the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund of Kentucky, Inc. (AppalReD), where she focused on disability and consumer law. She also is active in the Methodist Church and recently stepped down after serving the maximum term as president of her local United Methodist Women. She is a graduate of Campbellsville University and the University of Kentucky School of Law.
Gabe Stewart grew up on a farm in the Louisville area and attended Sacred Heart Model School and St. Xavier High School. He went on to attend first Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee, then Indiana University Bloomington. Gabe was an avid soccer player throughout his school years and has since coached both select and high school soccer. He began his professional life selling Google services to Louisville area businesses, and since 2016 has worked on marketing strategy and execution for a broad selection of corporate clients at Stewart and Associates, Inc.
Dr. Wayne Tuckson is a colorectal surgeon in Louisville, who also serves as host of Kentucky Health, a weekly program that aires on KET. He is native of Washington, D.C. and a graduate of both Howard University and the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C. Tuckson joined the University of Louisville College of Medicine as an associate professor in 1994, went into private practice in 2001. He has received numerous awards, including the Lyman T. Johnson Distinguished Leadership Award in 2015 from the Louisville Central Community Centers, Inc. Tuckson also has served as president of the Greater Louisville Medical Society.
Council members must be residents of the commonwealth who are committed to addressing the unmet health needs of the people of Kentucky and who have expressed an interest and willingness to engage individually and as a group in activities to advance the foundation’s charitable mission. The foundation is intentional in its efforts to continually expand the inclusiveness and diversity of its council as it engages with communities across the state. Nominations are accepted on an ongoing basis – learn more here.
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