Brian Binion is a lifelong resident of Ashland, Ky. He is a graduate of Boyd County High School and Mid-America College of Funeral Service where he served as Tyler of the Pi Sigma Eta Fraternity Lambda-Kappa Chapter. He has been with Steen Funeral Homes since 1996.
Binion is a member of Holy Family Catholic Church, Elks Lodge B.P.O.E. 350 and the Ashland Morning Kiwanis Club where he served as president and currently serves on the board. He also served on the Board of Directors for the American Red Cross North East Kentucky Chapter and the C.B. Nuckolls Community Center & Black History Museum. He chairs the Veterans Appreciation Luncheon each year during Veterans Day celebrations.
Chuck Charles spent thirteen years in law enforcement in the Washington, D.C., area where he served as his department’s K9 Unit commanding officer and Criminal Investigations Division supervisor. He also was a member and instructor for the Special Operations Team (SWAT), training teams from Southern Maryland, Northern Virginia, and Washington, D.C.
After spending 8 years as the national marketing director of the Jesse Stuart Foundation, Charles entered into a position as executive director of the King’s Daughters Health Foundation, a nonprofit philanthropy arm of King’s Daughters Medical Center. The KDHF was formed to seek gifts, contributions, donations and bequests to be utilized primarily for setting up new community medical programs, research and education.
While at the KDMC Foundation, Charles completed the fundraising and construction of the AK Steel Sports Park and the Hospitality House at King’s Daughters.
After spending two years at Town Square Bank as vice president of retail, Charles was drawn back to fundraising as vice president of Our Lady of Bellefonte Hospital and chief development officer and retired in November of 2018.
Charles is a member of and past president of the Ashland Breakfast Kiwanis Club, past Lt. governor of Kiwanis Kentucky — Tennesse District, member and past president of Ashland Rotary Club, member and past president of Ashland Area Business Boosters, past president of Morehead State University Alumni Association and past president of the MSU Tri-State Alumni Chapter, past board member and president of Ashland Area YMCA , board member of the Paramount Arts Center, Boyd County Community Education Advisory Council, chair of the MSU Ashland Extended Campus Advisory board, member of the 2003 Class of Leadership Kentucky, and from 1998-2012 president of Summer Motion, Inc.
Charles was elected as mayor of Ashland, Ky., in November of 2012 and began a four-year term to serve. While mayor, Charles sat on numerous boards including the Kentucky League of Cities Board and Executive Board, FIVCO ADD, Emergency Management, and the KYOVA Metropolitan Planning Organization.
Rev. Stanley G. McDonald Jr. is a native of Masontown, Pa., where he was introduced to the gospels while attending St. John Baptist Church until his teenage years and then Mallory Chapel AME where he accepted the Lord as his personal Lord and Savior at the age of 15.
McDonald enlisted with the United States Air Force in March of 1985 and served on active duty until Dec. 31, 2011, when he retired honorably after serving over 26 years. In hindsight he recognizes his time in the military as the start of his missionary journey.
In 1996, he accepted his calling to ministry while attending Best Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Goldsboro, N.C., and then ultimately preached his initial sermon in April, 1997. In August, 1999 he received his ordination certification from Canaan Full Gospel Baptist Church, Goldsboro, N.C.
McDonald was blessed to be able to preach the gospel throughout God’s missionary field while being stationed throughout the United States and overseas in Okinawa, Japan, Misawa Japan, Kosovo and South Korea. During his active duty service he spent 18 years as a logistician specializing in inventory management and eight years as a First Sergeant. He finished his military career in South Korea as a First Sergeant while also serving as one of the senior ministers at the Osan Air Base Chapel.
After retiring from the Air Force, he moved to Ashland, Ky., in March 2012 after getting hired to continue supporting his brothers and sisters in arms by working at the Veterans Administration (VA) Regional Office in Huntington, W.Va., as a human resources assistant.
In June of 2017 the Lord provided an opportunity for McDonald to transition from the VA to take on the challenge of becoming the first African American to hold the position of Transportation Director at the Ashland Independent School District. As a staunch believer of higher education, he has received associate degrees in logistics and human resources, a bachelor’s degree in Religion and Business and master’s degrees in Pastoral Counseling and a Seminary degree in homiletics through Liberty University in Lynchburg, Va.
McDonald currently serves as vice-president on the Four Winds Christian Ministries Inc. board of directors, San Antonio, Texas. As an active member of the Ashland community, McDonald is a member of the Boyd & Greenup County NAACP council and the Kiwanis Club of Ashland. He also serves as the volunteer chaplain for the Ashland Police Department and served as president of the Ashland Area Ministerial Association. He currently sits as a board member of the following nonprofit organizations: Shelter of Hope and the Ashland Community Kitchen.
Outside of serving God, his greatest joy is the love he shares with his family, playing a round of golf and watching his beloved Pittsburgh Steelers.
Since October 2018, Dr. Larry Ferguson has served as the president and CEO of Ashland Community Technical College (ACTC). An Ashland, Ky., native, he has held the positions of acting chancellor and a vice president for the Kentucky Community & Technical College System in Versailles, Ky., and president of Bevill State Community College in Jasper, Ala. He has over 25 years of leadership experience in both the private sector and higher education.
Ferguson has served in executive level leadership positions with responsibilities for academic affairs and resource development. He has also been engaged in workforce development for multiple industry sectors including manufacturing, financial services, information technology and healthcare. Additionally, Ferguson has significant experience in economic development at both the local, state and national levels.
During his career Ferguson has had the fortunate opportunity to serve as an instructor, college dean, vice chancellor, college president, system vice president and system chancellor.
Ferguson is involved with several civic based initiatives and service groups. In 2020, he was awarded the Carol Jackson Diversity Award from the Boyd and Greenup Counties Branch of the NAACP.
Charles E. Jackson Jr is a lifelong resident of Ashland, Ky. He is a graduate of Paul G. Blazer High School and attended Ashland Community College and Morehead State University. Jackson served in the Army during the Vietnam War.
Jackson was a member of the Fel’s Social Club and played basketball for the Ashland Hornets and for Armco Steel. He worked 10 years at Armco Steel and moved on to retire from American Electric Power and Big Sandy Power Plant after 23 years of work.
Jackson is a a member of the Boyd-Greenup County NAACP branch and the Ashland Human Rights Commission. In his more than 20 years of coaching and mentoring, Jackson, along with his late wife, Carol Jackson, has helped to encourage and influence the minds of many of Ashland’s youth. He has encouraged pursuits into higher education, civil service while giving back to the community.
Jackson joined his sons, Charles III (Trey), Bradley, and his grandson, Charles IV (Chas), as the first black head coaches with the Ashland Middle School basketball team. Jackson has three children, Mylinda, Charles III (Trey), and Bradley; four grandchildren, Charles IV (Chas), Grayson, JonPaul and Elizabeth; a son-in-law, Stacey Jones; two daughters-in-law, April and Tracy; and a great-granddaughter, Naomi Rae, along with her loving mother, Heather Patton.
Rev. Denzella (Dennie) Letcher is a lifelong resident of Ashland, Ky. She is the pastor of Christ Center Ministries in Russell, Ky. This ministry was founded by Letcher and her late husband, Dr. R.T. Letcher.
Letcher retired from a full-time nursing career that spanned 36 years in January 2021. She worked 24 years in Critical Care and Nursing Management at Cabell Huntington Hospital; then she finished her career in nursing education after 12 years at King’s Daughters Medical Center.
With a desire to continue making an impact on healthcare, she currently works on a part-time basis as adjunct faculty for Ohio University Southern Campus Department of Nursing and Infection Preventionist at King’s Medical Center. Letcher has served as a volunteer with KDMC assisting with Covid-19 vaccinations and the Meals on Wheels program. She holds membership in the NAACP and is the vice president of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated’s Beta Tau Omega Chapter. Beta Tau Omega is a service organization impacting the Tri-State area with the mission of “Service to all Mankind.”
Most recently, Letcher has become a member of the Nurse Honor Guard of the River Cities whose mission is to recognize men and women who have dedicated their professional lives to nursing and to pay respect to fellow nurses retired and/or active for the devotion and commitment they have demonstrated in caring for the vulnerable.
Letcher has extensive leadership experience as pastor and nurse manager. In these roles she has gained valuable experience working with front line team members and administration. She brings a unique and dynamic perspective to the organizations she serves as a result of her diverse experiences in ministry, healthcare, and various nonprofits.
Letcher has a Bachelor of Science degree from Eastern Kentucky University; Associate in Applied Science in Nursing from Ashland Community and Technical College; Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ohio University, and a Masters of Science in Healthcare Education from the University of Phoenix. She also completed the West Virginia Nursing Leadership Institute Program. In addition, she has completed the Billy Graham School of Evangelism and Seminars with Beeson Institute.
Letcher loves to travel and has traveled internationally to study historical sites in Italy, Turkey and Greece. When she is not traveling, she enjoys reading and learning new things.
Ann Brown Perkins has been the executive director of Safe Harbor since 1998. She is a native of Ashland, Ky., and has previously been the executive director of the YWCA from 1986-96. During that time, she was a board member of Safe Harbor and was one of the original incorporators of Safe Harbor when they became independent of Pathways.
After college, Perkins was a field director for Wilderness Road Girl Scouts. She has a lifetime of working for women’s organizations and as an advocate for women’s and girls’ issues. She has helped lobby and promote laws to protect against domestic violence in Kentucky for over 35 years.
Perkins has served as the state coalitions president of the Kentucky Domestic Violence coalition and was a founder of CAReS and Youth Leadership. She is a graduate of the University of Kentucky, Leadership Kentucky and has been appointed by Gov. Andy Beshear recently to the Kentucky Commission on Women.
Perkins is the past president of Ashland Community and Technical College and currently serves on the ACTC Foundation.
Perkins has developed a complete continuum of care for victims of domestic violence and has transformed the Old TB Hospital complex with over $7 million in renovations of the facilities. She is married to Sam Perkins and together they own Second Hand Rose Consignment stores and are the parents to Matthew, Michael, and Nathan Perkins. She has two grandchildren, Andrew and Libby.
Richard W. Martin was born and raised in Ashland, Ky. He attended the Ashland Center, University of Kentucky, in Ashland, Ky., for two years and finished his four-year undergraduate degree on campus then graduated from law school at the University of Kentucky. Upon graduation from law school in 1969, Martin joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He was a special agent stationed in Chicago and Kansas City and left the FBI in 1973.
Upon returning home to Ashland, Martin and two other Ashland graduates started the law firm that is now Martin Wheeler & Vincent, PSC. From 1978 to 2018, Martin served as city attorney for Ashland and has also served as Ashland’s city manager. Since 2018, Martin has also acted as city attorney for the City of Catlettsburg.
He has had an AV Preeminent Rating with Martindale-Hubble since 1988. Martindale-Hubbell’s Peer Review Ratings are an objective indicator of a lawyer’s high ethical standards and professional ability, generated from evaluations of lawyers by other members of the bar and judiciary. Legal ability ratings are based on performance in five key areas: Legal Knowledge, Analytical Capabilities, Judgment, Communication Ability, and Legal Experience. Martindale-Hubbell considers an AV Preeminent Rating to be a significant accomplishment – a testament to the fact that a lawyer’s peers rank him or her at the highest level of professional excellence.
Martin is a member of the Boyd County Bar Association, where he served as President in 1983. He is a Kentucky Bar Association Bar Foundation Charter Life Member. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Kentucky Defense Counsel, and Municipal Attorney’s Association of Kentucky. He is admitted to practice in the Commonwealth of Kentucky, U.S. Eastern District of Kentucky, 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, and U.S. Supreme Court.
Since 2000, Martin has been a Certified Mediator by the Mediation Center of Kentucky. He has been a Court of Justice Mediator since 2013. Martin was the Kentucky Bar Association member on the Boyd County Judicial Center Construction Project Board. He has been recognized as a Distinguished Alumnus of Ashland Community College and as Best Friend of the Ashland Public Library. Martin has served on two occasions as a Special Justice for the Kentucky Supreme Court, on the Executive Board for the Kentucky Crime Commission, on the Board of Overseers, Executive Committee, for the Kentucky Municipal Law Center at Northern Kentucky University, on the University of Kentucky College of Law Alumni Board, as well as on various other committees with the Kentucky Bar Association over the years. Martin received three commendations from Directors of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He is also a University of Kentucky Fellow, Lafferty Society, at the College of Law.
Over the years he has served on the board of directors for the Ashland Community College, Salvation Army, Community Hospice, Ashland Cemetery Board, Ashland Instructional Basketball League, Ashland National Little League, King’s Daughters Medical Center Health Foundation, and Hack Estep Boys’ Farm. Martin has also coached little league baseball and mock trial teams.