Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties (The Council) has put out the call for nominations for its 2025 Unapologetically Woman series.
The Unapologetically Woman series profiles the lives of phenomenal women from around the Commonwealth who have made it their mission to serve their communities and deserve recognition for their incredible work. Since its inception, the Unapologetically Woman series has highlighted and lifted the voices of 50 women each year.
The Unapologetically Woman series sees Community Action Council Executive Director Sharon Price sit down for one-on-one interviews with some of the Commonwealth’s most hardworking and influential women. Viewers learn what motivates these women to succeed despite the odds that they and our communities face and hear their inspiring stories of overcoming failure, facing hardship, and doing what it takes to make the world a better place. Past interviews can be watched on the Council’s YouTube channel at YouTube.com/Lexcommaction.
Women can be nominated by their families, friends, co-workers, and peers to participate in the series. The Council is looking for women who show strength, work hard, and “do not apologize for their perspective or their impact on the community.” Nominations can be made on the Council’s website at www.commaction.org.
The cohort of women featured in the 2025 season will then vote to select the person they feel is most deserving of the title Unapologetic Woman of the Year. The Unapologetic Woman of the Year is announced at the Unapologetically Woman Fall Sneaker Ball held in the fall.
The 2024 cohort of honorees chose from a list of journalists, finance experts, therapists, civil servants, educators, moms, wives, creators, and entrepreneurs and selected Owensboro native Hadley Duvall for the title.
Duvall, who was also named one of Glamour magazine’s Women of the Year and as “one to watch in 2024” by the Lexington Heald-Leader, is a graduate of Midway College with a degree in Psychology specializing in drug and alcohol counseling, an advocate for women’s health care, a mentor, and a volunteer with a youth soccer team, training younger girls in the sport.
Duvall began making headlines in 2023 when she began to boldly and unapologetically tell her story of abuse and survival to the nation, but her journey to advocacy began even before she became a teenager. With her mother in the grip of addiction, she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of her stepfather while just a child. When she became pregnant as a result of the abuse, she felt she had nowhere to turn. She suffered a miscarriage, alone and terrified, at the age of 12.
Today, Duvall is speaking her truth to advocate for women’s healthcare, including the right to abortion, particularly in cases of rape and incest. She is dedicating her career to caring for the children of people in addiction, recovery, and incarceration. Despite the backlash she has faced, Duvall says she will continue to speak and encourages others to do the same.
In her Unapologetically Woman interview, Duvall says, “Speak. Speak because your truth is so important.”
The nomination period for the 2025 Unapologetically Woman series will be open until March 1, 2025.
Community Action Council for Lexington-Fayette, Bourbon, Harrison, and Nicholas Counties is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization with a mission to prevent, reduce, and eliminate poverty through Head Start, housing, utility assistance, job skills training, and various other programming. Women make up the majority of those served by the Council.