Annual Awards
KRC AWARDS
Every year, KRC formally honors individuals who have demonstrated an active dedication to advancing justice and equity in community health and environmental policies in Kentucky through two awards: the Sue Anne Salmon Community Advocacy Award and the Winnie Hepler Lifetime Achievement Award.
Keep reading to learn more about these awards and past winners.
Nominations are open trough September 30, 2022 for the 2022 awards.
You can make a nomination at by completing the nomination form.
The recipients of KRC's Annual Awards are voted on by the Board of Directors. These Awards are a formal acknowledgment of the recipient's dedication to advancing justice and equity in Kentucky's community health and environmental policies.
SUE ANNE SALMON COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AWARD
On January 9, 2010, the Board of the Kentucky Resources Council authorized the first award ever given by KRC. The “Sue Anne Salmon Community Advocacy Award,” is intended to recognize those who demonstrate principled and courageous environmental advocacy for the betterment of community and the environment, as Sue Anne did for her whole life. Sue Anne “smiled from ear to ear” when she learned of the award, according to her sister Lucy. Sue Anne died on January 13, 2010 after a six-year battle with ovarian cancer. This award is to be given to honor and recognize recent, outstanding acts of community advocacy in a way that advances environmental justice in Kentucky.
2021 SUE ANNE SALMON COMMUNITY ADVOCACY AWARD WINNER
Preston Miles
WINNIE HEPLER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
In 2019, the Board of the Kentucky Resources Council established a new award to be bestowed annually on an individual whose life's work has shown the dedication, selfless commitment to nature, the and courage to speak against injustice, as has been the life's essence of the individual for whom the new award was named: Winnie Hepler. From walking in the picket line in support of civil rights in Louisville in the 1960s to her arrest for trespassing at the construction site of the Marble Hill nuclear power plant in 1977; from her early advocacy for air pollution control in Louisville to her work in 2004 and 2005 as a member of the Justice Resource Center and Rubbertown Emergency ACTion towards instituting and then defending an air toxics control program in Louisville; from her work with coalfield residents in the late 1960s in support of a ban on surface coal mining, to her presence at an EPA hearing on mining-related pollution in 2012, Winnie Hepler has been a polestar in the horizon of faithful advocates for justice.
2021 WINNIE HEPLER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD WINNER
Cathy Hinko
In 2021, we award the Winnie Hepler Lifetime Achievement Award to two outstanding individuals. The first is Cathy Hinko. Cathy recently retired from the Metropolitan Housing Coalition after serving 15 years as their Executive Director, and has benefited thousands through her 40 years of housing advocacy work. A graduate of Vanderbilt University Law School, Cathy practiced in Tennessee and Kentucky, focusing on housing law. She was the Executive Director of the Jefferson County Housing Authority before coming to MHC. Cathy has made a truly positive impact when it comes to fair housing, affordable and safe housing, and racial and social justice. Her work with KRC includes reforming the Land Development Code committee, work with Air Pollution Control and LG&E cases on rates and on Demand Side Management. For this we are honored to acknowledge her with this award.
Oscar Geralds, Jr. (posthumously)
Past recipients of the Sue Anne Salmon Community Advocacy Award include:
- Aloma Dew
- Corinne Whitehead
- Wendell Berry
- Chris Schimmoeller
- Alice Howell
- Winnie Hepler
- Cassia Herron
- Wendell Berry
The Kentucky Resources Council is a non-profit, 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the conservation and prudent use of Kentucky’s natural resources. Since 1984, we have dedicated ourselves to protecting Kentucky’s land, air, water, and communities.