Gov. Bevin appoints executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Women

Also acting director of the Governor’s Office of Minority Empowerment

FRANKFORT, Ky. (June 14, 2016) — Gov. Matt Bevin today announced that Cordelia “Dee Dee” Harbut has been appointed the executive director of the Kentucky Commission on Women. Harbut will also serve as the acting director of the Governor’s Office of Minority Empowerment.

Harbut is a graduate of Eastern Kentucky University, with a Masters of Business Administration. She began her career as the center director for the Lexington Area Small Business Development Center in 2001, where she worked until becoming the State Director of Special Programs for the Kentucky Small Business Development Center in 2005. She left to become the statewide director for the Kentucky Procurement Technical Assistance Center, where she has been since 2014.

Harbut has won several awards throughout her career, including the SBA Kentucky Minority Small Business Advocate of the Year in 2013 and the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council Southeast, Supplier Diversity Advocate Award in 2008. She also was recognized by the University of Kentucky as one of several African American women who made contributions to UK, along with Edith J. Hayes, Valerie Still and Doris Wilkerson.

Harbut lives in Lexington, and has four adult children. She is a aommissioner on the Lexington Fayette County Parking Authority and a member of the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc., Beta Gamma Omega Gradate Chapter. She is a Kentucky Colonel and worships at the Consolidated Baptist Church.