As an ACLU member, you are eligible and encouraged to participate in the election of the state Board of Directors by submitting a ballot by mail. You will receive a new ballot in the mail by mid-April and you may vote for up to seven candidates by placing a check beside the nominee’s name. Ballots submitted by mail must reach the ACLU by Thursday, May 15th.
Please note that your ACLU membership dues must have been paid within the last 18 months in order for your ballot to be counted.
The Nominees are:
Isela Arras (Frankfort) is the Immigration Project Coordinator for the Kentucky Domestic Violence Association and serves as a liaison and resource to KDVA's member programs that are working with immigrant and refugee women and their children. In addition, as part of her duties at KDVA, Isela also works with the KDVA/KASAP Immigrant Women and Refugee Taskforce, which provides training across the state in the areas of cultural competency, language accessibility, immigration issues and public benefits as they apply to immigrant and refugee victims of violence. Isela's work also focuses on providing technical assistance to partner agencies that work directly with immigrant communities. Ms Arras is nominated for her first term on the ACLU-KY Board.
David Nash (Lexington) is the William R. Willard Endowed Professor of Dental Education, and professor of pediatric dentistry in the College of Dentistry at the University of Kentucky. He also holds joint appointments as professor of behavioral science in the College of Medicine, and professor of public health ethics in the College of Public Health. From 1987-97, he was the dean of the UK College of Dentistry. Dr. Nash led in the establishment of the University of Kentucky's Hospital Ethics Committee in 1994, and served as its chair for eleven years, until 2005. He is the author of over 80 publications and has received a number of teaching awards from students. Recently, he was named by the American Student Dental Association as one of 25 visionaries in American dentistry. Among his current academic interests is evolutionary psychology, specifically the relationship of biological evolution to human concepts of morality.
Dr. Nash served for eight years on the Board of Directors of Planned Parenthood of the Bluegrass, and from 2000-2002 was Chairperson of the Board. In 2001, Governor Patton named him to the Kentucky Commission on Women, a position he held through 2005. He served on the University of Kentucky's President's Commission on Women from 2001-2004. He currently is a member of the Board of Directors of the Central Kentucky chapter of the Kentucky ACLU, chairs ACLU's Reproductive Freedom Project and serves on the affiliate's Long Range Planning Committee. In addition to issues of reproductive freedom, he is a strong advocate of repairing the Constitutional ‘wall' separating church/synagogue/mosque. Dr. Nash is nominated for his first term on the ACLU-KY Board.
Keith D. Elston (Shelbyville) is an attorney in private practice in Lexington, focusing on family law, juvenile law, estate planning and employment discrimination. He is particularly interested in addressing issues related to discrimination on the basis of gender, race, and sexual orientation. He serves as a court-appointed counsel and guardian ad litem in dependency, neglect and abuse cases in Fayette county.
He is a 2005 graduate of Drake University Law School in Des Moines, Iowa, where he was honored for distinguished achievement in the art and science of advocacy by the International Academy of Trial Lawyers (IATL), was a member of the first class to be awarded special certification in litigation and dispute resolution, and was honored for his commitment to public service. He is also a 1991 graduate of the University of Kentucky with a B.A. in Political Science.
He served on the ACLU of Kentucky Board of Directors from 1987 until 1995, as a representative of the Central Kentucky Chapter, where he held positions of president and secretary/treasurer. In 1995, Keith was hired by the national ACLU to develop a new chapter in North and South Dakota. He served as executive director of the ACLU of the Dakotas until 1998, when he was hired to become the executive director of the New Mexico Civil Liberties Union. In 2000, he accepted the position as executive director of a Vermont nonprofit organization, Outright Vermont, which provided support and advocacy for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender youth. After graduating from law school, Keith returned to the ACLU of KY Board of Directors in 2006. He is currently serving on the personnel committee, and recently served on the executive director search committee.
Keith and his partner, Mark, live in Shelbyville with their son, Kelly, and their English Springer Spaniel, Molly.
Ricky L. Jones (Louisville) is Associate Professor, Chair, and Political Science specialist in the Department of Pan-African Studies at the University of Louisville. Ricky is a native of Atlanta, Georgia and received a B.A. in Political Science from Morehouse College in 1992. He received his Ph.D. in Political Philosophy and Comparative Politics from the University of Kentucky in 1996. Much of his research and social and community advocacy has centered
Black politics, education, culture, and consciousness. Ricky is a columnist for Louisville's alternative weekly, the Louisville Eccentric Observer (LEO) and his column, the Message to the People, can be read bi-weekly at www.leoweekly.com. Recently, he was named one of Louisville's 25 Young Future Leaders by Louisville Magazine. He currently serves on the Outreach and Education Committee of the ACLU-KY. Dr. Jones is nominated for his second term on the ACLU-KY Board.
Prof. Robert S. Tannenbaum (Lexington) was Director of Academic Computing Services at the University of Kentucky from 1991 to 2001. For the years 1999 - 2001, he served as a special advisor on academic computing issues and planning for the Chancellor of the Lexington Campus. On July 1, 2001,he became Director of Special Projects and Initiatives and Associate Director of Undergraduate Education in the Office of Undergraduate Education. He is also on the faculties of the Colleges of Engineering and Education. Dr. Tannenbaum has been using and teaching others to use computers at several universities for many years.
Dr. Tannenbaum is the editor of Kaleidoscope, the University of Kentucky Journal of Undergraduate Scholarship. He also administers the Beckman Scholars program. Dr. Tannenbaum is the Principal Investigator for the AMSTEMM progam (Appalachian and Minority Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Majors) from the National Science Foundation.
He is the author of two textbooks and a large number of articles on the applications of computers in the humanities, social sciences, medical sciences, education, and multimedia. Early in his career, Dr. Tannenbaum was voted the "outstanding young science educator" by the Association for the Education of Teachers in Science, and he has received excellent teaching evaluations from his students at UK and other universities.
Prof. Tannenbaum has been active in the field of Civil Liberties for many years. He teaches a seminar on civil liberties to first year students at UK each year. He served on the Board of Directors of the Brooklyn, NY, chapter of the ACLU when that chapter was the first in the country to call for the impeachment of President Nixon. He is a member of the advisory committee for the ACLU of KY Reproductive Freedom Project and is nominated for his third term on the ACLU-KY board. Carl Wedekind (Louisville) first joined the ACLU of Kentucky as a cooperating attorney and served on the board from 1958 to 1960. He was chair for four years in the 1990s and then served as representative to the national ACLU board for six years, including two years on the national executive committee. Currently he is treasurer and chair of the finance committee.Deborah Winslow (Lexington) is a native Lexingtonian. After graduating from Lafayette High School, Deborah went to Indiana University, earning a B.A. in Political Science and minoring in economics and psychology. She then moved to Atlanta to begin working in the publishing field. While in Atlanta, Deborah changed careers and worked on the election campaign to oust Newt Gingrich in 1992. She went on to become the Business Manager of the Democratic Party of Georgia. In 1997, Deborah returned to Lexington to work at the Lexington Diagnostic Center, where she is now the Administrator. Deborah enjoys traveling and photography. She served as Chair of the Development Committee of the ACLU-KY and currently serves on the Personnel Committee and the Long Range Planning Committee. Ms. Winslow is nominated for her second term on the ACLU-KY Board.
