Staff & Leadership

Staff

Chris Hartman, Executive Director: Chris@Fairness.org
Jeremy McFarland, Office Manager: Jeremy@Fairness.org

Chris Hartman, Executive Director (Chris@Fairness.org)

Chris Hartman is the first director of Kentucky’s Fairness Campaign and a steering committee member of the Fairness Coalition. Chris has helped pass anti-discrimination LGBTQ Fairness Ordinances in 21 Kentucky communities, including the state capital Frankfort and small Appalachian town of Vicco. Chris previously served as Congressman John Yarmuth’s campaign press secretary, an AmeriCorps VISTA (Volunteer In Service To America) in St. Louis, and Philadelphia director of the Democratic National Committee’s open-air Grassroots Campaigns in the 2004 presidential election. He holds an M.A. in Drama from Washington University in St. Louis. Chris previously served on the board of the national Equality Federation and as Chair of the Louisville Metro Landmarks Commission. He was named the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau’s “Partner of the Year” and is a former Community Foundation of Louisville Alden Fellow and LGBTQ Fellow of the Rockwood Leadership Institute. Chris uses the pronouns he/him/his.

Coordinating Committee Members

Miles Justice, Fairness Campaign Vice Chair

Miles Justice is a Frankfort attorney who joined the Fairness Campaign in March 2019. Miles grew up in rural Tennessee and moved to Lexington in 1997. He holds a Bachelor of Science in political science from Cumberland College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Kentucky College of Law. Miles is a member of the Kentucky Bar Association and the National LGBT Bar. For the past 20 years, he has been in-house counsel for the Kentucky Higher Education Assistance Authority and serves as the Title VI and Equal Employment Opportunity Coordinator for the agency. Miles serves on the Citizens Foster Care Review Board for Franklin County and participates in the Reily Reentry Expungement Clinic through the Louisville Urban League, assisting individuals with criminal offenses to clear their records. Miles is a passionate advocate for social justice who believes all persons are created equal and should be treated accordingly. Miles uses the pronouns he/him/his.

Sam Marcosson, Fairness Campaign Chair

Sam Marcosson is the Chair of the Fairness Campaign. Sam is a professor at the University of Louisville’s Brandeis School of Law, where he has taught subjects like Constitutional Law and Sexuality & The Law since 1996. He has a B.S. from Bradley University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. Prior to moving to Louisville, Sam worked as an appellate attorney at the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in Washington, D.C.

Jackie McGranahan

Jackie McGranahan joined the ACLU of Kentucky staff as the organization’s first Reproductive Rights Field Organizer in June 2019. Jackie works with people across the Commonwealth to build power at a statewide level to help change public policy, galvanize supporters, and normalize and de-stigmatize conversations about abortion. In June 2020, she moved into the Policy Strategist position with the Kentucky affiliate of the ACLU. She works with legislators across Kentucky to push policy and advocate for civil rights and liberties for all Kentuckians, especially our BIPOC and LGBTQ communities in the state. Before joining the ACLU of Kentucky staff, Jackie was an active volunteer with our Smart Justice Advocates group. She traveled to Frankfort to speak with legislators about criminal justice reform and participated in efforts to restore voting rights to Kentuckians with felony convictions. She also did organizing training with the national ACLU’s Rights for All Campaign. Professionally, Jackie served on the staff of The Healing Place. Jackie believes our personal stories are important and sharing them gives us power. She continues working with many Kentuckians to raise their voices! Jackie uses she/her/hers pronouns.

Tracie Meyer

Tracie Meyer is a licensed art therapist with a background in wellness promotion and suicide prevention. She worked in various behavioral health and school settings during her career providing services as a behavioral health therapist, clinical supervisor, unit manager, director and SAMHSA grant coordinator. She is currently the COO of Meyer Consulting, LLC. She has served on local, state and federal mental health advisory boards/groups and legislative action committees. She served on the Kentucky Board of Licensure for Professional Art Therapists beginning in 2011. She is the co-chair of The Louisville Health Advisory Board, Behavioral Health, served on the C-Fair board between 2011 – 2019 and volunteers at KMAC. Tracie grew up in Arizona and through serendipitous means now resides in Louisville with her husband Marty. They have a blended family of five adult children and one grandchild. She is a passionate advocate, artist, gardener, and lover of rainbows and unicorns. Tracie uses the pronouns she/her/hers.

Dean Miller

Dean moved to Louisville in 1996 and has become an activist for trans rights and equality. In addition to being an active member of the Fairness Campaign Board, he is also co-chair of the Transgender Wellness Summit, an admin for the Kentuckiana Transgender Support Group, and recently finished serving two years as the chair of Louisville Trans Men. Dean is an avid motorcyclist and when not riding he enjoys camping with his wife Lora. Dean uses the pronouns he/him/his.

Ruth Myers

Ruth Myers is an educator, advocate, and volunteer residing in Frankfort. She got her start in state government with the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet, working on an environmental education initiative with the Office of the First Lady. As a staffer for the Kentucky General Assembly, Ruth contributed to the success of several important pieces of legislation but is most proud of her ongoing work to ban conversion therapy for minors. She is now pursuing a career in teaching and is certified in middle and secondary social studies; as an educator, Ruth is committed to anti-racist, anti-sexist, and queer-inclusive curriculum and teaching practices. Ruth uses the pronouns she/her/hers.

Stuart Perelmuter

Stuart Perelmuter is a writer, social entrepreneur, and political activist. Since 2017, he has led OD Action, which he founded to turn online slacktivism into real-world, progressive action with a 250,000+ network and daily e-newsletter. Stuart also co-hosts the Democratica podcast and works with social media influencers to use their platforms to advocate for progressive change. Prior to founding OD Action, Stuart worked as a screenwriter and playwright, penning projects for Hollywood studios and networks while seeing his work produced locally, in NYC, and in the U.K. He served as Rep. John Yarmuth’s Communications Director — on his successful upset campaign in 2006 and then, for three years on Capitol Hill — and continues to work with Louisville’s Congressman in an advisory capacity. He is a proud girl dad and graduate of Syracuse University. Stuart uses the pronouns he/him/his.

Lizz Perkins

Lizz Perkins was born and raised in Louisville. She currently works as the Louisville Wage Claim Clinic Coordinator at the Kentucky Equal Justice Center. Lizz has 10 years of local, national, and international experience with small and medium-size nonprofits. She has done reproductive justice and immigrant rights work in Louisville and Lexington as well as human rights work Managua, Nicaragua and Tegucigalpa, Honduras. She received her BA from the University of Dayton in 2009 and in 2020 she completed a dual masters program at the University of Louisville in Social Work & Gender Studies. Lizz uses the pronouns she/her/hers.

Tamara Russell, Fairness Education Fund Chair

Tamara Russell is a Program Coordinator Senior at the University of Louisville. She received her Bachelor of Science in General Studies and a minor in Sociology from Indiana University. She is currently pursuing her Masters in Social Work at the University Of Louisville Kent School Of Social Work. In her work at the university, she advises Shades – the student organization for LGBTQ students of color, serve as the Dr. Joseph H. McMillan National Conference on the Black Family in America Logistics Coordinator for the Office for Diversity and supports the newly developed Diversity Education and Inclusive Excellence unit for the Office of Diversity. She is a member of the Community Action Partnership Board with Louisville Metro Government, works closely with Peace Education, LIFE Hope Center for a Safe Louisville, and is a founding member of a local girls’ initiative. Tamara uses the pronouns she/her/hers.

Morgan Whiting

Morgan Whiting is the Statewide SART Coordinator for the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, Inc. She has also served as the co-chair of the Southern Indiana Human Trafficking Coalition for the past 4 years. In addition, Morgan is co-founder of Student Advocates for Exploited and Trafficked Youth (S.A.F.E.T.Y).©. Morgan’s passion for serving vulnerable populations who face sexual and domestic violence comes from many sources, including her experiences in South Africa and Turkey while at Hanover College. She was able to focus on issues facing women politically and economically and studied how sexual violence is perpetuated throughout out societies and cultures. She also found a passion in this work from being a survivor of sexual violence herself and feels that we must address multiple layers of oppression and exploitation in order to serve survivors of color in the best and appropriate way. Morgan has begun consulting with agencies across the country to train and ensure that we are building culturally fluent sexual violence programs and agencies. Morgan uses the pronouns she/her/hers.


Members Not Pictured


Deanna Jacqueline Endicott-Smith
Donzella Lee
James Line
Vic McClellan