Missy Spears (she/her) is the 2025 recipient of the Jeanne Cordóva Award. She serves as the Executive Director of Queer Kentucky, a nationally recognized journalism outlet that amplifies the voices, stories and issues of LGBTQ+ individuals in a deeply red state. At Queer Kentucky, Spears spearheaded the expansion of its political reporting, first by launching consistent coverage of the Kentucky Legislature through a queer lens. Later, she directed the creation of the widely celebrated Queer Election Guide, a free, downloadable resource that combines commentary and eye-catching illustrations to explain the impact of local seats on LGBTQ+ lives. In addition to civics, Spears works to expand reporting around public health, leading to several partnerships dedicated to a successful statewide education campaign for mpox vaccines, the installation of twelve life-saving harm reduction lockers in areas of Kentucky heavily impacted by addiction, and a collaboration with researchers to release results of their groundbreaking IRB-approved survey of 3,600+ LGBTQ+ Kentuckians via a public data dashboard. This supports academic research and fact-based reporting at a time when queer data is increasingly at risk of erasure.
In addition to her work with Queer Kentucky, Spears serves as co-founder and co-manager of the volunteer-run COVunity Free Fridge program which provides food to more than 11,000 people annually in Covington, KY. She is in her final term as co-President of the Board of Directors for the Kentucky Civic Engagement Table and sits on Community Advisory Boards for WCPO 9 News, the University of Kentucky’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and the Cincinnati Art Museum.