Lexington group secures $1M donation to expand civic education in county schools

Thanks to an anonymous donor, more Fayette County students will have access to civic education.

CivicLex, a nonprofit that promotes civic health and education, has received a $1 million donation from an unnamed Lexington couple.

The donation will be used to match every dollar donated to produce a $2 million endowment, Lisa Adkins, president and CEO of the Blue Grass Community Foundation, said at a news conference at the former Fayette County Courthouse in downtown Lexington Thursday.

Donors have until Dec. 31, 2029, to make those matching donations, Adkins said.

The group has already raised $200,000 toward that goal. CivcLex executive director Richard Young said the $2 million endowment will allow the organization to expand from Fayette County high schools to all of the county’s public and private school.

Started in 2023, the youth civics education program has involved thousands of Lexington teenagers, including Brandon Anderson, a student at Bryan Station High School.

Anderson’s project focused on gun violence in Lexington. The teen gathered data and conducted surveys of his peers about the effects of gun violence, eventually introducing solutions. That project was presented to Mayor Linda Gorton and also won a national civics award, Anderson said.

“I believe that it is important to get involved with local problems within the city to fully understand how it’s affecting you and the community around you,” Anderson said.

Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams has pushed the General Assembly to make civic education a requirement in schools but to date those efforts have failed, he said during the Jan. 22 news conference.

Adams applauded the anonymous donors for seeing the importance of civic education in Fayette County. Many people have largely tuned out of local and state government due to extremism and bickering at the national level. It has led to civic apathy, he said.

A recent survey by Adam’s office showed half of the respondents could not name the three branches of government. The survey also showed less than half of respondents could name a single local elected official, he said.

But civics is not just about education or government. Civics is how we treat each other, Adams said.

“Civics is not just about memorizing facts and taking a test,” Adams said. “Civics is a way of life. And it’s not just about improving education or improving government. It’s about improving our work. Research from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation finds that many of the skills that are necessary to succeed in the 21st century, workforce skills like civility and cooperation, are associated with higher levels of civic education.”

Lt. Gov. Jacqueline Coleman, a former social studies teacher, said teaching teens and children how government works gives them tools to make changes in their own communities.

“You cannot create changes if you don’t understand how the system works,” Coleman said.

Young said people can donate directly to CivicLex online at civiclex.org or the Blue Grass Community Foundation at www.bgcf.org to contribute money then matched by the donation. The endowment will be housed at the Blue Grass Community Foundation.

Unlike a one-time grant, endowments are invested and grow over time, with a portion of the earnings being distributed annually. The CivicLex endowment for civic education is believed to be one of the first in the country, officials said.

Beth Musgrave

Lexington Herald-Leader

Beth Musgrave has covered government and politics for the Herald-Leader for more than a decade. A graduate of Northwestern University, she has worked as a reporter in Kentucky, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois and Washington D.C. Support my work with a digital subscription