8/20/17 — Erik Jarboe of the New Kentucky Project

Today on the podcast we have a special guest, Eric Jarboe. Mr. Jarboe is the executive director of the New Kentucky Project, which is an organization led by Matt Jones and former Auditor Adam Edelen. The NKP has been around for a year, and is doing a tour of the state. Thank you, Eric, for joining My Old Kentucky Podcast today!

• Now that you’ve achieved the one year mark, how does the organization feel? Have you exceeded your expectations? Have you learned any lessons moving into year two?
• I have always wondered why NKP decided to organize as a 501(c)(4) non-profit, instead of a a 527 or Political Action Committee. Why isn’t the organization more political?
• Your executive committee is made up from voices all over the state. Have you ever had all of the people on your board in the same room? What’s that like? Do you feel that the diversity in your board has led to discussion of issues that get overlooked in most political discussions in Kentucky?
• From a more local perspective, often Louisville gets carved out from groups like this — political groups are typically ALL Louisville or NO Louisville. This group has a good mixture of Louisville, Lexington, and Eastern KY, with some other Central Kentuckians and a few Western Kentuckians mixed in. Has this group shaped how you view the urban/rural divide that is often talked about?
• A few times when I’ve brought up the NKP to more grizzled and hardened Kentucky political activists, they respond by saying “Oh, you mean Adam Edelen’s gubernatorial campaign?” The two people who started NKP have expressed some political ambition in the past (and the present!). How does that impact the educational and organizational work that you are doing?
• What’s next for NKP? What are your long term goals for the organization and the state?