Office of Diversity & Inclusion

The Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government continues to strengthen its work environment, its government and the ability to serve its residents by seeking employees and volunteers that represent the Lexington-Fayette County Community. We will commit to develop and sustain a work environment that supports diversity, equity and inclusion and that nurtures all employees and volunteers through its hiring, the development of ordinances, policies and procedures. All divisions of LFUCG are committed to equity within our workforce and the entire community. Equity is achieved when race, color, religion, national origin, age, disability, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, ethnicity, or economic status are no longer a predictor of government services, health, well-being and quality of life.

In support of our efforts, LFUCG will:

• Actively seek to recruit employees and volunteers from diverse backgrounds by a variety of means;
• Actively seek to strengthen and maintain an inclusive and equitable work environment by offering workshops on diversity and inclusion (implicit bias, cultural competency);
• Actively seek to recruit and increase outreach of diverse businesses in the procurement process;
• Actively strive to serve as a local and national model for equity for all residents within our community.
• LFUCG's goal is to create a more inclusive and equitable work environment, increase government accessibility, and improve our ability to serve all residents.

The City of Lexington seeks diversity among the members of its volunteer boards and commissions through inclusive efforts that are reflective of our community. Diverse board membership encourages the exchange of different perspectives and supports social equity in communities. Therefore, it is a priority of the city of Lexington to have representation based on ethnicity, varying age, gender, disability, race, sexual orientation, gender identity, religion, national origin, political affiliation, socioeconomic and family status, and geographic region on our boards and commissions.

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The City of Lexington promotes equitable outcomes in all government services.

Using various funding sources, including the general fund, the city is committed to improving equity and outcomes throughout the community. Several initiatives are complete, underway or forthcoming, including, but not limited to:

• Eviction Assistance Program
• Disparity and Availability Study
• Purchase of body-worn cameras for all officers.
• Purchase of automatic recording mechanisms for police body-worn cameras.
• Adoption of formal Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Statement.
• Offered Diversity and Inclusion training to all the LFUCG’s employees.
• Increased funding for minority recruiting efforts.
• Continuation of WORK-Lexington Workforce Resource Center located at the Charles Young Center.
• Funding for the ONE Lexington program to address violent crime among youth and young adults.
• Completed a new, expanded playground at Charles Young Park with an aquatic feature.
• Continuation of the Community Summer Teen Retreat through Parks and Recreation in FY 2023 and FY 2024.
• Development of Summer Playground Days through Parks and Recreation in FY 2023.
• Hosted the 2nd annual Clean Slate Lexington, an expungement clinic and job fair attended by 539 residents.
• Police Disciplinary Review Board augmented to include two Citizen-members.
• Website Translation Software for residents to convert the LFUCG’s website into 94 different languages.
• Allocated $260,000 to purchase a mobile Food Truck to serve neighborhoods with little or no access to fresh food via Kroger and God’s Pantry.
• Translation of the LFUCG’s One-Stop Business Shop into Spanish, Swahili, Arabic and Nepali.
• Return of the PRIDE event downtown Lexington in 2022, after two years of cancelations due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Passage of the Crown Act, prohibiting race-based hair discrimination.
• The LFUCG declared Juneteenth an official LFUCG holiday in 2022. The LFUCG set aside funds in the FY 2022, FY 2023 and FY 2024 budgets to support Juneteenth holiday events including Soulteenth, Juneteenth Jubilee, Lyric Theater events, and a Juneteenth event held in Douglass Park. The LFUCG commemorates the holiday by displaying the Juneteenth flag and blazes.
• The LFUCG’s One Lexington program, in partnership with the Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison and Nicholas Counties announced the Gun Violence Prevention Grant program in January 2023. The grant program focuses on providing community partners with resources to help prevent gun violence, based on the P.I.E.R program model.
• In 2022, the LFUCG established the BETheChange Scholarship program that awarded $30,000 to two Fayette County rising seniors of color at Bryan Station High School pursing Criminal Justice degrees. The scholarship opportunity was made possible by two community partners.

Mayor Linda Gorton appointed the Municipal Equality Index (MEI) Workgroup to improve The LFUCG’s MEI. The full report is available here.

The Human Rights Campaign MEI for 2022 awarded a score of 110 to the City of Lexington. The LFUCG has more than doubled its MEI score from 53 in 2013. The LFUCG is in the top 20 in the entire nation and are the highest ranked municipality in Kentucky.

More information

In June 2020, the LFUCG’s Mayor Linda Gorton created the Mayor’s Commission for Racial Justice & Equality. This group assembled diverse community members to listen, discuss, and create empowering solutions that dismantle systemic racism in Fayette County. Through the work of five subcommittees, this commission issued a report in October 2020 that outlined recommendations in five broad categories:

• Education and Economic Opportunity
• Housing and Gentrification
• Health Disparities
• Law Enforcement, Justice, and Accountability
• Racial Equity. 

In July 2021 an ordinance was adopted to establish the permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission. February 2022, 15 members were appointed to the permanent Racial Justice and Equality Commission and will serve staggering two or four-year terms. The Racial Justice and Equality Commission is made up of eight African Americans, three Caucasians, two Hispanics and one Pacific Islander.

An 18-month progress report was released on March 1, 2022, outlining action taken by the LFUCG towards meeting the report's recommendations. The report notes that the mayor and council approved a $10 million allocation from ARPA for affordable housing initiatives. Since that date, the LFUCG added an additional $3.125M of ARPA funding to Affordable Housing initiatives.

Several Mayor’s Commission for Racial Justice and Equality Report projects are currently underway, with funding assigned through the FY2021 Operating Budget, FY2022 Operating Budget, FY 2023 Operating Budget, FY 2024 Operating Budget, and ARPA funding allocations. 

While current funding and that allocated in the previous budget provided a head start towards meeting the goals and recommendations of the report, the award of ARPA funds is providing an opportunity to address these recommendations in a manner that is potentially transformative for the community.

The information contained within this website is through the work of Lexington-Fayette Urban County Government employees and the community in which it serves. 

Diversity: The characteristics and experiences, both seen and unseen, that make everyone unique. 

Equity: Ensuring fair access to opportunities, resources and services while understanding individual’s barriers or privileges and eliminating systemic barriers and privileges.     

Inclusion/Belonging: Creating environments where every individual or group is welcome, respected, supported, valued and connected.