A local advocacy group will celebrate women Thursday in an effort to foster relationships between women in Central Kentucky.

The Bluegrass Activist Alliance will host its first-ever “A Year of Kentucky Women,” a casual meet-and-greet, on March 8 for any woman who would like to get to know other women throughout the region. Thursday is the International Day of Women.

“The real purpose is to create connections and make space for relationships to grow and voices to be amplified who are typically silenced,” said Julie Martinez, a co-chair and original founder of the Bluegrass Activist Alliance. “We would like to invite all women to participate in this effort to connect women across the Commonwealth.” 

The Bluegrass Activist Alliance is part of a national movement that promotes fairness and honesty in government. This group wants to engage in communication with local Congress members to hold them accountable for their words and actions in Washington, D.C.

Throughout the next year, the alliance wants to focus on connecting with, listening to and growing relationships with women in Central Kentucky. Thursday’s event will kick off this goal.

The first step in doing so is hosting “A Year of Kentucky Women.” The goal of this event is to engage as many women as possible to represent all the women in the communities across the area.

This event will be at Mirror Twin Brewery from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. There will be pizza and many of those in charge of the event will bring their families, so this is a kid-friendly environment.

The Bluegrass Activist Alliance also conducts research on issues and promotes the education and qualifications of its members through speakers and research reports. The group is non-violent and believes that mutual tolerance and respect are necessary qualities for a democracy to function.

This organization is composed of a steering committee and six other teams. The steering committee provides direction to all groups and plans events and activities. The other teams include research, Congress watchers, visitors, outreach, website and social media and communications.

“Instead of just putting on an event, we have decided to take a long form approach in order to make time needed for networking and building relationships,” Martinez said.

In the future, the organization wants to hold a series of meetings quarterly throughout the year. While the kick-off is on March 8, the first official meeting will be held on June 9. These meetings are open to all women in Central Kentucky and will engage each woman as an active planning member, an adviser or a promoter for the organization.