Nicole Yates has a passion for making her community and the Commonwealth of Kentucky a better place, and the arts are a big part of that. She currently serves as the Chair of the Board of Directors for Fund for the Arts and is also the Vice President for Growth and Community Engagement for Passport by Molina Healthcare, where she leads teams around the state to ensure that the underserved people of Kentucky have access to quality health care. Her efforts lead to real results that have real effects, and we can’t thank her enough.
Audience Magazine caught up with Nicole to hear more about her life’s work as an advocate for disadvantaged populations.
Douglas Dreisbach: Thank you for your time today, we are excited to catch up and hear about what you have going on. But, first, tell us about you, your background, and how you got to this point in your career.
Nicole Yates: I have had an interesting route to get into health care, but I have always been about the people — and grassroots, specifically — work as most of my background comes from the political world. I worked with Congressman Baron Hill in Indiana’s 9th Congressional District for over 10 years, then went on to work with Mayor Greg Fischer for eight years, and I led the office as District Director for Congressman John Yarmuth in Kentucky’s 3rd District. I was also on a campaign in Indiana of Barack Obama in 2008, so I’ve been in the political world for a long time here.
It is my life’s work to serve and advocate for folks who are less fortunate. I really don’t like to use the word “less fortunate,” but they are disenfranchised. They are at risk. They don’t have access. When I realized that I had access, I promised God that I would use it for good, and that is what I do. I’m an advocate for many people behind the scenes and in front of the scenes, there’s a lot of work that I do that people don’t even know about.
There is a misconception that if something is not on social media then it didn’t happen, and that is simply not true in my world. I don’t think it’s always important to let people know what you are doing, and it’s OK to work behind the scenes, and not always be taking the credit and being in the forefront. I get fulfilled by that. I’m a people person, and I enjoy the work that I do.
DD: Having a background in politics, do you feel that you have more of an awareness about the areas of need in the community and throughout the state?
NY: I say all the time that everybody should go work in the mayor’s office for one day. It is not just dinners and events and ribbon cuttings. You may have someone who calls the mayor’s office who is distressed because their trash hasn’t been picked up, and it’s 10 o’clock. Or another matter that is significant to that individual. It doesn’t matter what is on the minds of people when they call the office, they deserve to be able to tell you what’s on their mind. They deserve to get the attention, to solve the problem.
I think one of the things I’m big on is that everyone can use a touch-up on what civics are. A lot of people don’t understand the layers of state, local, and federal government, so a lot of times the same people would call the Congressman’s office, and they weren’t sure, and that is OK. But working with and listening to people who just want to be heard and giving them a chance to say what’s on their mind is important, and they appreciate that whether you can solve their problem or not, just the fact that you gave them a platform to hear them is very important.
DD: Can you give us some examples of what you and Passport by Molina Healthcare do throughout the community and the state and what some of your goals are?
NY: At Molina Healthcare, our mission is to provide access to care and to improve the lives and the wellbeing and health of our members. We cover the whole state of Kentucky, which encompasses about 250,000 members. However ,a lion’s share of our members are in Jefferson County. We want people to be healthy. We want people to be able to have access to care. If you don’t have a bed to lay your head in, and you’re hungry, you’re probably not learning much. You can’t hardly think. People deserve, just as human beings, to have the right to have a place to live, food to eat, education that’s affordable, and definitely they deserve the right to have affordable healthcare.
My job, every day, is to make sure the members at Passport by Molina Healthcare are served in the way they deserve. I will go to a lot of members and meet them where they are. We are big on working on maternal health and mental health. We are also making sure that the kiddos get their shots and get immunized so that they are able to go to school and are healthy. So, whatever that is, if that is a medical clinic, a dental clinic, if that’s going to rural Eastern Kentucky or rural Western Kentucky, where the tornadoes were, we are there.
DD: You referenced that everyone should have the right to do these basic things, they should have a place to lay their head, have health care and more. One of the themes I’ve seen with Fund for the Arts is that art is a right, not a privilege. It might be a big jump, but how do you feel the right of art is relevant to the work you are doing?
NY: I believe art is a part of health care, because it is part of your everyday life. Do you sing in the shower? Do you sing in the car? Everyone is an artist, right? And I think an artist, and how good of an artist you are, depends on you. You might think you sing very good in the shower, but someone else might think differently. We also know that art can be therapeutic. So if people have something that can relieve their mind from stress, and that something is art, then that really is another form of health care.
I have always believed in the arts. I can’t draw a circle, but I love to go to the plays and shows. I love going to the music festivals and all that they encompass. Art comes in different forms, in different shapes and different people, and I think it is important to take art to the people and make it accessible.
When my friend Stephen Reily became President and CEO of the Speed Museum, he was like, “Nicole, you have to join the Speed.” I said, “Oh, I don’t have Speed money. I can’t afford the Speed.” And he proved me wrong, and I joined the Speed Museum.
When we take arts to neighborhoods, we are taking it to the people and there is a sense of belonging. Some folks may not feel like they can go to the Speed Museum, because it’s very grand, and it is. But everyone is welcome at the Speed Museum, and Molina Healthcare sponsors community days there and at the Muhammad Ali Center, so that people can go to them for free.
So, art is a right and everyone has the right to be able to experience art and to express themselves, and I believe that truly.
DD: What have been some of the major accomplishments at Fund for the Arts during your time there?
NY: I have been on the board for three years. Andre Kimo Stone Guess (President of FFTA) is such a visionary. He has these grand visions and has taken Fund for the Arts to an all-new and higher level that people really couldn’t see. But it’s something new, right?
I think everyone thought of Fund for the Arts as a place where you could do your workplace campaigns, but what we have done, is raised a million dollars from the city under the direction of Mayor Greg Fischer, and then also Mayor Craig Greenberg has given to the Fund for the Arts, as well, under his administration. Programs like the Cultural Passes have been taken to a whole new level. We now have 27 cultural partners, and just a few years ago only had 14.
There is another program called HeARTS, Healing in the Arts, and with that, we have been able to really expand access to the arts world to students and individuals. We’ve gone into the neighborhoods, and you might find us in community centers all over the city. Instead of people thinking they have to go Downtown to find all of the great art facilities, we try to bring art to them.
DD: That’s amazing. You’re doing a lot of awesome things. We can’t thank you enough for your time today. Is there anything else you’d like to add for our readers?
NY: I would hope that all of you would check out Fund for the Arts, and I hope you sing in the shower. If you don’t do anything else, just remember that everyone is an artist. Just repeat, “I am an artist.”
I think that, for the city, the Fund for the Arts and the arts world is very high-level. We have a lot of good stuff going on, as far as the arts world is concerned, in Louisville, and Andre Guess and his team at Fund for the Arts have just taken it higher and higher. So, check us out, go to a show, go to a music festival and ultimately, support the arts.
Photo credit (for all): Bill Wine Photography
Interview intro music by James McMurtry
