Tayna Fogle is a community organizer, a powerful advocate for voting rights, a motivational speaker and a woman of faith. She was elected to represent the 1st District on the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in November 2022.
Tayna was born and raised in the 1st District and graduated from Lafayette High School. She earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Therapeutic Recreation from the University of Kentucky, where she played basketball and was Team Captain of the 1982 SEC Champion Lady Kats. She was an inaugural inductee to the Lexington African-American Sports Hall of Fame in 2022. Likewise, in 2022, Tayna was honored by Fayette County Public Schools as the recipient of the Golden Apple Award; this award highlighted her work with the JAG (Jobs for America's Graduates) students at Bryan Station High School.
Tayna serves as the Lead Organizer with Kentuckians for the Commonwealth and travels Kentucky to empower formerly incarcerated people, people in recovery, young adults, people of color and others to participate in our democracy. Tayna has been a part of the Kentuckians for the Commonwealth family for over 20 years.
For over a dozen years, she was a leader in a grassroots campaign culminating in Gov. Andy Beshear’s executive order in December 2019, restoring voting rights to 170,000 Kentuckians formerly convicted of a felony. Tayna gracefully served as the Tri-Chair for the National and Kentucky's Poor People’s Campaign with Rev. Dr. William J. Barber and Rev. Dr. Liz Theoharis: a national call for moral revival and serves as a Women’s Fellow for Community Change, a Washington, D.C.,-based nonprofit. In 2020, Tayna was appointed by Mayor Linda Gorton to the Law Enforcement, Justice, and Accountability Subcommittee of the Mayor’s Commission for Racial Justice and Equality.
Tayna also brings unique experiences and perspectives to the council. As a formerly incarcerated individual who has personally experienced periods of homelessness, her darkest past has become her greatest asset. She now serves as a substance misuse and abuse sponsor and a re-entry specialist for ex-offenders. Her story has inspired and motivated many as she educates stakeholders, skeptics, community members and lawmakers on the benefits of restoring self-esteem, dignity and self-respect to people who have lost hope. Building relationships and empowering others in communities are also important skills that strengthen Tayna’s work in Lexington and the 1st District.
Tayna is the mother of two young men, Michael Sr. and Ishmael, a grandmother of 11, and a great-grandmother of four.
District 1 Map
About District 1
The first district boundaries include portions of downtown Lexington north of Main Street, including the east end neighborhood, parts of the west end and as far north as Interstate 75. Some of the major corridors in the District include Georgetown Street, Newtown Pike, Russell Cave Road, N. Limestone, N. Broadway and Midland Avenue.
The district is made up of over 15 neighborhood parks and community centers, including two parks that are over 100 years old, Duncan Park and Douglass Park. Many of the District’s downtown neighborhoods are on the National Register of Historic Places, such as homes on Constitution Street, Elsmere Park and Gratz Park. Most recently, the legendary Lyric Theatre & Cultural Arts Center was renovated and reopened in 2010, as well as the Charles Young Community Center and park in 2012.
The City has adopted three small area plans in the district. Those areas include the Central Sector, the East End neighborhood and the Winburn and Russell Cave Road neighborhoods.