Step inside CCEC’s secret garden gala

Something spe­cial is grow­ing in Clark County and on Saturday, October 3, 2026, the Clark County Equity Coalition (CCEC) is invit­ing the com­mu­ni­ty to step inside the gar­den and expe­ri­ence it. Following the suc­cess of our inau­gur­al Old Hollywood Gala, we are turn­ing the page and prepar­ing for the 2026 Clark County Equity Coalition Secret Garden Gala. 

This year, Taylor Hall at Emmanuel Episcopal Church will once again be trans­formed by Designs and More by Chlandra Chenault. This time into an enchant­i­ng Secret Garden filled with beau­ty, ele­gance, and a lit­tle bit of mag­ic. But don’t let the flow­ers fool you. This gar­den has a purpose. 

More than a beautiful evening 

Guests can expect great food, drinks, danc­ing, con­nec­tion, and plen­ty of oppor­tu­ni­ties to have fun. Our silent auc­tion will return, along with a live auc­tion led by our emcee, Brett Cheuvront. If you know Brett, you already know we can­not promise that the bid­ding won’t get a lit­tle competitive! 

Beyond the fun, the Gala gives our com­mu­ni­ty an oppor­tu­ni­ty to learn more about the work hap­pen­ing through CCEC and the part­ner­ships help­ing stu­dents and fam­i­lies across Clark County. 

When the Coalition began in October 2022, our vision was to work along­side Clark County Public Schools, fam­i­lies, com­mu­ni­ty orga­ni­za­tions, and indi­vid­u­als to help bridge gaps that can pre­vent stu­dents from reach­ing their full potential. 

Our goal is straight­for­ward: to pro­vide equal and mean­ing­ful prepa­ra­tion for all chil­dren through proac­tive mea­sures. 

That means help­ing stu­dents gain expo­sure to careers, lead­er­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties, new expe­ri­ences, men­tors, and pos­si­bil­i­ties they may not oth­er­wise encounter. We want stu­dents to leave school with more than a diplo­ma; we want that diplo­ma to rep­re­sent mean­ing­ful prepa­ra­tion for what­ev­er comes next. 

Planting seeds that grow 

Funds raised through the Gala help CCEC sus­tain oper­a­tions and expand pro­grams includ­ing Black & Hispanic Achievers for stu­dents in grades 5–12, the Senior Medical Interpreter Co-Op, pro­fes­sion­al devel­op­ment for teach­ers and staff, Courageous Conversations, men­tal health ini­tia­tives, fam­i­ly engage­ment, and oth­er pro­grams designed to reach stu­dents who may too often fall through the gaps. 

And in 2026, anoth­er excit­ing seed is begin­ning to bloom. 

CCEC is launch­ing the Toastmasters International Youth Leadership Program for 10^th–12^th grade stu­dents at George Rogers Clark High School. 

Through the nine-week expe­ri­ence, stu­dents will strength­en skills that will serve them in col­lege, careers, and life. They will prac­tice prepar­ing and deliv­er­ing speech­es, speak­ing impromp­tu, using their voice and body lan­guage effec­tive­ly, pro­vid­ing con­struc­tive feed­back, and par­tic­i­pat­ing in struc­tured meetings. 

The pro­gram will be lim­it­ed to 25 stu­dents per cohort, allow­ing young peo­ple to learn, prac­tice, make mis­takes, try again, and dis­cov­er the pow­er of their own voices. 

For CCEC lead­ers Donna Carter and Diana Davis, this ini­tia­tive is per­son­al. Both joined Lexington Toastmasters and have com­plet­ed Level 2 of their Toastmasters path­ways as part of prepar­ing to bring the expe­ri­ence back to Clark County students. 

That is what being Rooted in Purpose, Growing in Power looks like: com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers devel­op­ing them­selves so they can turn around and cre­ate oppor­tu­ni­ties for the next generation. 

An inspiring voice in the garden 

The evening will also fea­ture keynote speak­er Dr. Roger Cleveland, a Kentucky Civil Rights Hall of Fame inductee, edu­ca­tor, researcher, and long­time leader in edu­ca­tion, cul­tur­al humil­i­ty, lead­er­ship, and orga­ni­za­tion­al development. 

Dr. Cleveland brings more than 20 years of expe­ri­ence across K–12 and high­er edu­ca­tion, includ­ing serv­ing as Director of the Division of Equity and Federal Programs at the Kentucky Department of Education. His work has reached hun­dreds of school dis­tricts, uni­ver­si­ties, agen­cies, and companies. 

His long list of recog­ni­tions includes Professor of the Year from the Kentucky Association of Blacks in Higher Education, the P.G. Peeples Equity and Excellence Achievement Award, Morehead State University Alumni Hall of Fame, and Jefferson County Public Schools Equity Hall of Fame. 

Dr. Cleveland is also the founder and exec­u­tive direc­tor of the Cleveland Family Foundation, which pro­vides mini grants to orga­ni­za­tions serv­ing youth, includ­ing stu­dents in rur­al Appalachia. 

His com­mit­ment to edu­ca­tion, oppor­tu­ni­ty, and young peo­ple makes him a fit­ting voice for an evening cen­tered on what can hap­pen when com­mu­ni­ties inten­tion­al­ly invest in their children. 

Where every child can bloom 

The Secret Garden is more than this year’s theme. It rep­re­sents what we believe about com­mu­ni­ty. Gardens don’t grow because some­one sim­ply hopes they will. They require peo­ple will­ing to plant seeds, tend the soil, pro­vide resources, remove bar­ri­ers, and con­tin­ue show­ing up, even before they can see the results. 

The same is true for our children. 

Our Gala helps pro­vide the resources that allow CCEC to keep plant­i­ng those seeds, not only through pro­grams, but through advo­ca­cy, part­ner­ships, expo­sure, edu­ca­tion, and connection. 

So, find your gar­den-inspired for­mal or cock­tail attire, gath­er your friends, and pre­pare for an evening of ele­gance, laugh­ter, danc­ing, inspi­ra­tion, and impact. 

Step into the garden of possibility 

Join us on October 3, 2026, as we cel­e­brate how far we’ve come, share what’s grow­ing now, and imag­ine what we can cul­ti­vate togeth­er next. 

Make a day of it in down­town Winchester! Start your after­noon on Depot Street at the Pride & Inclusion Fest, begin­ning at 2 p.m., then head over to Taylor Hall for an evening in the Secret Garden. 

Because when a com­mu­ni­ty is root­ed in pur­pose, there is no lim­it to what can grow. 

Tickets & ways to support 

Early Bird tick­ets go on sale on Friday, August 14!  

The Gala is also a won­der­ful oppor­tu­ni­ty for busi­ness­es and com­mu­ni­ty mem­bers to sup­port CCEC beyond attend­ing. We are cur­rent­ly accept­ing silent auc­tion dona­tions and wel­come gift cer­tifi­cates, expe­ri­ences, ser­vices, gift bas­kets, and oth­er unique items that will help make the evening memorable. 

For silent auc­tion con­tri­bu­tions, spon­sor­ship oppor­tu­ni­ties, or addi­tion­al Gala infor­ma­tion, please con­tact donna.carter@clarkco-equitycoalition.com or go to https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/ticketing/secret-garden-gala. 

Dress to Bloom: Formal or ele­gant cock­tail attire required. 

For Winchester Pride & Inclusion fes­ti­val infor­ma­tion, vis­it https://alwcwin.org/