Meet the Board
Charles Duke
Charles L. Duke is the Director of Human Resources at the Fayette County Attorney’s Office, where he provides strategic leadership for all human resources and operational functions, supporting the office’s mission to serve the citizens of Fayette County with professionalism, accountability, and integrity.
Charles brings more than 20 years of progressive human resources leadership experience, along with 30 years of distinguished service in the United States Air Force, where he retired as a Senior Master Sergeant. He is also a retiree of Toyota. Throughout his career, he has applied his expertise in leadership, workforce development, and organizational strategy to strengthen both public and private sector organizations.
Charles resides in Lexington, Kentucky, and enjoys traveling, exploring new restaurants with his wife, and building websites
Vice Chair
Brittany Coldiron
Brittany Coldiron is a Human Resource Administrator with the Kentucky Justice and Public Safety Cabinet. Prior to joining state government, she built a successful career spanning sales, leadership, employee development, and human resources, often combining these disciplines to develop teams, strengthen organizational performance, and foster employee growth.
In 2020, Brittany began her state government career with the Kentucky Department of Education. After serving in a non human resources role, she transitioned into the HR field with the Cabinet for Health and Family Services before joining the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, where she currently serves as the Cabinet Coordinator for KECC and the Performance Management Administrator for Department of Corrections, alongside her daily HRA tasks.
Passionate about people and organizational success, Brittany enjoys teaching, mentoring, and sharing knowledge to help others reach their full potential. She finds great fulfillment in supporting employee growth, building strong workplace cultures, and helping individuals and organizations achieve their goals. She believes that investing in people is one of the most meaningful ways to create lasting success.
Outside of work, Brittany enjoys spending time with her husband, Allan, and their son, Colton. As a family, they enjoy cheering on the University of Kentucky Wildcats and supporting Colton as he continues to develop his golf game and pursue new opportunities.
Chair
Paula Weglarz
Secretary
Paula Weglarz has worked for the Commonwealth of Kentucky for over 30 years across several cabinets include the Cabinet for Public Protection, the Cabinet for Economic Development, and the Finance & Administration Cabinet. Paula is an experienced Human Resources and Equal Employment Opportunity investigator and has served as an EEO Coordinator for various agencies through her state government career. She also works in other roles with the Finance & Administration Cabinet as the key program investigator for the Minority and Women Business Enterprise Certification Program and serves as a Mentor in the Finance & Administration Cabinet’s mentoring program.
Desta Cogan
Treasurer
Desta Cogan is a Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania native who found her way to Kentucky to attend college, earning a Bachelor of Science from the University of the Cumberlands (formerly Cumberland College) and a MPA from the University of Louisville. Along the way, Kentucky became home as she has spent close to 30 years in the bluegrass state. She has over 25 years of experience in the public sector, including quasi-government agency management, local government benefits administration and FMLA administration at a Dept of Energy facility. Her time with the Commonwealth of Kentucky started as a Business Manager at a Kentucky State Resort Park, before moving into HRG roles with CHFS, GAPS (formerly included the Labor Cabinet, PPC and EEC), DPA and at the Personnel Cabinet with Class and Comp and DCO. In 2019 Desta relocated to Madison, Wisconsin where she worked for the State of Wisconsin as a Payroll and Benefits Specialist, Senior and as a Payroll and Benefits System Consultant, Senior. Desta returned back “home” to Kentucky in the summer of 2025 and is currently working at the Personnel Cabinet in the Payroll Branch. Prior to her move, Desta was a very active participant in previous Human Resources Professional Development group and held professional level certification.
After 6 years in Madison, Wisconsin, Desta and her husband relocated back to Frankfort in 2025. When not working on their new house, Desta might be out and about seeking great opportunities at thrift stores or consignment shops. Even when visiting family in Ohio, Georgia, Texas or traveling back to Madison, there are great “new-to-you” items waiting to be found wherever you may go. Desta is a proud pet parent to her 2 fur-kids of the canine variety.
Gwen McDonald
Vice Treasurer
Gwen McDonald is a career employee with over 21 years of experience with the Commonwealth of Kentucky, with over 16 years of experience in Human Resources. Prior to working for the Commonwealth, Gwen worked in retail, manufacturing, data processing, as human resources for a large horse farm/horse sales operation, and legal administrative assistant. Gwen started her government career in 2025 with the Energy and Environment Cabinet, Department of Administrative Hearings, before transitioning to the Kentucky Personnel Board in 2011. In her current Supervisor role, Gwen provides exemplary customer service to state employees who are dealing with employment disciplinary issues while providing support to the various Cabinet counsels and the Board.
After work, Gwen enjoys reading, gardening, baking and sharing life and laughter with her husband, children, and grandchildren.
Tiffany Brophy
Tiffany Brophy is a Human Resources professional with over 20 years of experience with the Commonwealth of Kentucky. She started her career with the Administrative Office of the Courts in 2005 before transferring to the Personnel Cabinet in 2017. Having started her career assisting employees in a wide variety of areas, she is now the Personnel Cabinet Consultant for the Justice and Public Safety Cabinet, Finance and Administration Cabinet, and the Economic Development Cabinet. Now, she can be found with a warm smile on her face and a servant leader mentality as she focuses her assistance to the classification, compensation, and organizational management areas and provides guidance to HR liaisons and Executive Leadership. Since 2023, Tiffany has been the lead trainer for the Classification Compensation and Organizational Management Branch providing technical training and assistance in the KHRIS system to new and tenured employees.
Member at Large
Galen Linville
Immediate Past Chair
With over 20 years of HR experience in State Government and a variety of experiences prior, my efforts are focused on improving those around me. I’ve counseled applicants on job prospecting, trained staff and leadership on how to better function in their roles (current and future) and managed people directly and indirectly to fulfill agency missions and goals. I’m currently the Human Resource Branch Manager at the Kentucky Office of the Attorney General. I am blessed with a loving wife, two beautiful children and one moderately crazy dog.