Kentucky Excellence in Environmental Leadership (KY EXCEL)
Known as KY EXCEL for short, Kentucky Excellence in Environmental Leadership is the Commonwealth's environmental leadership program. As a program, KY EXCEL's goals are to educate, assist and encourage citizens and businesses pertaining to all aspects of environmental leadership. An environmental leader is one who inspires and motivates action to benefit the environment. Often, this starts with striving to be in compliance with environmental regulations. It also includes environmental management planning and stewardship. This is why one will often hear environmental leadership referred to as "going above and beyond compliance".
Facilitating Environmental Leadership
KY EXCEL offers a home filled with information, resources and assistance for those new to and those familiar with environmental leadership. To encourage both development and continuous improvement, the program provides the following services to all:
- Technical assistance with the development and implementation of environmental management plans and/or systems.
- Virtual or on-site consultation and research assistance to help with environmental stewardship, sustainability, and pollution prevention efforts.
- Tools and resources for assessing your environmental leadership.
- Enforcement discretion when working with KY EXCEL.
- Coordination with other Department services, such as the Environmental Compliance Assistance Program (ECAP).
- Educational and networking events.
- Public speaking and outreach exhibits.
- A monthly eNewsletter, Green Moments.
Recognizing Environmental Leaders
Environmental leadership practices can help a household or organization save money by reducing operation costs and even regulatory fees. Another benefit of environmental leadership is an enhanced reputation among the general public and partners. This positive notoriety can also instill a sense of pride amongst staff, thus helping with employee retention and recruitment. One way to recognize an environmental leader is to take note if they are a member of KY EXCEL by reviewing our online list of members or looking for the KY EXCEL Member logo.
Since 2006, KY EXCEL has been recognizing environmental leadership through our free, annual membership program. KY EXCEL has three levels of membership: Bronze, Silver, and Gold. The tiered levels are designed to not only recognize but to help them continuously develop and improve. To achieve this, all members must annually complete an environmental leadership self-assessment. The self-assessment is a standardized, scored questionnaire that helps the user identify areas of potential opportunity and improvement. This feedback can then be used to help establish environmental goals, which is the second base requirement for all members. They must annually propose and report upon at least one SMART goal that is voluntary and benefits the environment.
Anyone and everyone can apply to be a member of KY EXCEL! To learn more about membership, click here. We look forward to seeing your membership application and are available to assist you with every step of the application process.
