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Jacqueline Layne Coleman (born June 9, 1982) is an American educator and politician serving as the 58th lieutenant governor of Kentucky since 2019. She has worked as a high school administrator, teacher, and basketball coach. Coleman is the founder and president of Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. She is a member of the Democratic Party.
Jacqueline Coleman | |
|---|---|
 Coleman in 2022 | |
| 58th Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky | |
| Assumed office December 10, 2019 | |
| Governor | Andy Beshear |
| Preceded by | Jenean Hampton |
| Secretary of the Kentucky Education and Workforce Development Cabinet | |
| In office December 10, 2019 – October 21, 2021 | |
| Governor | Andy Beshear |
| Preceded by | Derrick Ramsey |
| Succeeded by | Cabinet abolished[a] |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Jacqueline Layne Coleman June 9, 1982 Danville, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Spouse | Chris O'Bryan |
| Children | 4 |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Jack Coleman (grandfather) |
| Education | Centre College (BA) University of Louisville (MA) University of Kentucky |
Coleman attended Mercer County High School in Harrodsburg, Kentucky, where she played basketball.[2] She enrolled at Centre College in 2001 to study history, earned a bachelor's degree in 2004, and played college basketball for the Centre Colonels as a 5'-6" (168 cm) shooting guard.[3][4][5][6] As a senior at Centre in 2003–04, Coleman averaged 26.4 minutes, 7.4 points, 2.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists, with 14 starts in 25 games.[5][7] She earned a master's degree in political science at the University of Louisville in 2008, and was a graduate assistant on the Louisville Cardinals women's basketball team in 2005–06 under head coach Tom Collen.[4][2][8]
After graduating, Coleman became a social studies teacher at Burgin High School in Burgin, Kentucky, and coached the girls' basketball team.[9] From 2008 through 2015, she coached and taught advanced government at East Jessamine High School in Nicholasville, Kentucky.[2]
Coleman ran in a 2014 election to represent the 55th district in the Kentucky House of Representatives as a member of the Democratic Party. She lost the election to incumbent Republican Kimberly King by over 30% in a Republican-dominated district.[4][10][11]
In 2013, Coleman founded Lead Kentucky, a nonprofit organization focused on education policy reform. Inspired by Emerge Kentucky, the mission statement reads: "Lead Kentucky is a non-profit organization that recruits the best and brightest college women in the Bluegrass and empowers them to become the Commonwealth's next generation of leaders."[12] By focusing on leadership development of college aged women through emphasis on networking, finding a work/life balance, and overcoming obstacles (specifically in Kentucky), Coleman hopes that this program will empower women to take on roles that they may otherwise avoid.[13]
She became assistant principal at Nelson County High School in Bardstown, Kentucky in 2017,[4] a position she held until her resignation in November 2019, following her election as lieutenant governor.[14] Coleman is a doctoral student at the University of Kentucky, where she is studying educational leadership.[15]
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Elections
Andy Beshear selected Coleman as his running mate on the Democratic ticket in the 2019 Kentucky gubernatorial election.[4] On November 5, 2019, Beshear was declared the winner of the election, making Coleman the lieutenant governor-elect.[16] After the election, Coleman said she would focus on education and rural economic development as lieutenant governor.[17]
Coleman was again Beshear's running mate in the 2023 Kentucky gubernatorial election.[18] Beshear and Coleman were re-elected on November 7, 2023.[19]
Tenure
Coleman and Beshear were sworn into office on December 10.[20] In addition to serving as lieutenant governor, Beshear tapped Coleman to be the Secretary of Education and Workforce Development in his cabinet;[21] however, she stepped down from this position in October 2021, saying that "seeing these commitments through requires a laser-like focus".[22]
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Coleman's grandfather, Jack Coleman, played in the National Basketball Association.[3] Her father, also named Jack, served in the Kentucky House, representing the 55th district from 1991 through 2004.[4]
Coleman and her husband, Chris O'Bryan, announced her pregnancy during the 2019 campaign. Their daughter was born on February 8, 2020, making Coleman the highest-ranking elected executive official and first lieutenant governor in Kentucky history to give birth while in office.[23] Coleman also has another daughter, a former student she coached, whom she and O'Bryan adopted in December 2019, and is the stepmother to O'Bryan's two sons from a previous relationship.[3][24][25][26] On December 18, 2023, Coleman had a double mastectomy due to her family's history of cancer.[27]
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- After Coleman resigned, Beshear combined the Education and Workforce Development Cabinet with the Labor Cabinet, creating the Education and Labor Cabinet. Secretary of the Labor Cabinet Jamie Link continued as secretary of the combined cabinet.[1]
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