WASHINGTON, DC (August 5, 2025) – Today, NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists announced that Missy Spears, Executive Director of Queer Kentucky, is the recipient of the prestigious 2025 Jeanne Córdova Award.

“Missy Spears is an undeniable leader in our community, demonstrating the power journalists have to improve public life every single day,” said NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists Executive Director Adam Pawlus. “Her extensive work has helped cover all things Kentucky, from the legislature to addiction prevention. It is an honor to recognize her and her lifesaving work with the Jeanne Córdova Award.”

The award is named for Córdova, who was a journalist and the editor and publisher of Lesbian Tide, which chronicled the 1970s lesbian feminist movement. The Jeanne Córdova Award recognizes the achievement of an LGBTQ+ woman for a current body of work in journalism and/or opinion, with an emphasis on but not exclusively coverage of issues of importance to the LGBTQ+ community, in any medium and on any platform.

Missy Spears 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.”