About our 2023 Luminaries

Janet Steele Holloway
Award winning Kentucky-based author and entrepreneur, Janet’s life credentials include teaching, theater production, public relations, youth worker and university instructor.

After sixteen years in small business development, in 1990 Janet started Women Leading Kentucky, Inc., a successful non-profit designed to create opportunities for women to lead, learn and give back to their communities. Women Leading Kentucky, Inc. has awarded over $200,000 in scholarships to promising young college women.

Upon retirement, writing became her passion, highlighting her upbringing in Appalachia and Virginia in books and poetry. She has been published in Silver Threads, Appalachian Heritage and West Virginia South. At 81, she published, Ain’t Nobody’s Business If I Do, a fictional autobiography, self-professed to be her last book.

PG Peeples, Sr.

Porter G. Peeples, Sr. is President and CEO of the Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County. Born in Harlan, Kentucky, and completing his higher education at the University of Kentucky, Mr. Peeples joined the newly formed Urban League of Lexington in 1968 as Director of Education Programs. In 1971 he rose to the position of President, becoming the youngest president of an Urban League affiliate in the nation.

In 1981 Peeples established the Fayette County Development Corporation to provide affordable housing. Through this arm of the Urban League, over $28 million has been invested in Lexington housing with more than 261 affordable housing units built, including three important senior citizen housing projects: ETL Housing, Elm Tree Lane and the Russell School apartments.

In 2018 the Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County was awarded the National Urban League’s Housing and Community Development Champion award. Through these and many more accomplishments in education and social justice, Porter Peeples has enabled the Urban League of Lexington-Fayette County to participate in and help build future successes for Lexington and, especially, its minority population.

Lt. Col. David I Carter

Lt. Col. Carter can boast a storied career of over 70 years in United States diplomatic – military missions, international political – military problem solving, intelligence operations and military logistics. He is the recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal (1969), Air Medal (1965), Joint Service Commendation Medals (1965, 1968) and the US Joint Chief of Staff Badge (1966).

Fifty years of planning and management experience in finance, facility construction, operation and maintenance fundraising, human resource administration – all were performed through the US Marine Corps and public higher education at the Universities of Maine, Alabama and Kentucky.

In 1978 he became the Deputy Executive Director of the Council on Higher Education, Commonwealth of Kentucky, working to provide a non-political basis for the funding and program approval of Kentucky’s eight public universities and a uniform financial reporting system for public higher education.

He remains active with the Marine Corps Coordination Council of Kentucky and the local chapter of the Navy League.