Teams
KC Rising’s Steering Committee Members, Action Teams and Volunteers are made up of a collective of local professionals from a diverse range of industries. Together we ensure that our initiatives are met.
Steering Committee
The Steering Committee establishes the goals and objectives of the work of the Action Teams and recommends to the Leadership Committee proposed system metrics and action metrics to be adopted and activities to be undertaken. The Steering Committee monitors progress of each Action Team in successfully achieving its action metrics.
- The Steering Committee is business-led and includes approximately 25 public and private sector volunteer leaders with experience, expertise, and commitment to a shared vision of regional prosperity for all.
- The composition of the Steering Committee should reflect the diversity of the community, and selection of members will be guided by the principles set forth in the diversity, equity, and inclusion charter.
- Two representatives from each of the KC Rising civic support organizations (Civic Council, Chamber, MARC and KCADC) will be appointed to the Steering Committee by the board of each organization.
- Other Steering Committee members are invited by the Co-Chairs with advice from the Leadership Team and should include education; philanthropy; elected officials; along with business leaders.
Leadership
David W. Frantze (Co-Chair)
Partner
Stinson
Carolyn Watley (Co-Chair)
Vice President, Community Engagement
CBIZ
C. Mauli Agrawal
Chancellor
University of Missouri - Kansas City
Bill Baird
Bill Baird
City of Lee’s Summit
Jeff Blaesing
Vice President
JE Dunn
Michael Boehm
Mayor
City of Lenexa
Jessica Dain
Superintendent
Piper School District
Michael Duffy
Community Development Director
City of Riverside, MO
Steve Edwards
Retired Chairman & CEO
Black & Veatch
Andrea Hendricks, Ph.D
Chief Diversity Equity and Inclusion Officer
Tico Productions
Gretchen Ivy
Central States Office Leader
HNTB
Cokethea Hill, Ph.D
CEO
Blaque KC
Larry Jacob
Consultant
Kauffman Foundation
Sam Huenergardt
CEO
AdventHealth Mid-America Region
Charlotte Kemper Black
Director, Charitable Trusts & Foundations
Commerce Bank
Randy Lopez
Wyandotte school board chair
Wyandotte Health Foundation
Elizabeth MacLeod Walls
President
William Jewell College
Maria Meyers
Executive Director
UMKC Innovation Center
Greg Mosier
President
KCKCC
Rich Muller
Executive VP, Development
VanTrust
Tracey Osborne Oltjen
President
Overland Park Chamber of Commerce
Bob Regnier
President & CEO
Bank of Blue Valley
Dennis Ridenour
President & CEO
BioNexus KC
Rich Smith
President - Emeritus
Henderson Engineers
Qiana Thomason
President & CEO
Health Forward Foundation
Shalea Walter
Vice President, Marketing Manager
Arvest Bank
Fred Wise
Chief People Officer
Bardavon Health Innovations
Pedro Zamora
Executive Director
Hispanic Economic Development Corporation
The Workforce Action Team
1. Research + Recommend:
a. Determine needs of targeted business sectors for the workforce and identify talent/workforce development strengths and opportunities broadly and in KC Rising targeted sectors.
b. Recommend strategies to coordinate the efforts of educational institutions and businesses for workforce pathway systems to support in-demand good jobs in target sectors.
c. Review the workforce system in Denver and make recommendations for our region.
2. Convene:
Host discussions with industry experts to review needs; recommend potential solutions; and bring resources to employers to support their workforce needs.
Leadership
Molly Weaver (Co-Chair)
Founder
Sunflower Talent Strategies
Dr. Scott Balog (Co-Chair)
Executive Vice President Kansas City Kansas Community College
Brandi Riggs (Co-Chair)
Vice President, Human Resources
McCownGordon
Dr. Greg Mosier (Co-Chair)
President
Kansas City Kansas Community College
Dr. Tyjaun Lee
President - Penn Valley Campus
Metropolitan Community College
Andy Bowne
President
Johnson County Community College
Keith Smith
Executive Director of Legal Services
KC Public Schools
Anita Davis
Chief Mission Officer
MOKAN Goodwill
Teddy Dixon
Chief of Training and Development
Custom Truck
Angie Grant
Talent Acquisition & Development Director
Henderson Engineers
Laurel Hogue
Vice Provost, Online Learning and Engagement
University of Central Missouri
Greg Kindle
President
Wyandotte Economic Development Council
Frank Lenk
Director of Research Services
Mid-America Regional Council
Tracey Lewis
President/CEO
Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, MO
Jennifer Lundgren
Provost and Executive Vice Chancellor
University of Missouri - Kansas City
Mickey McCloud
Executive Vice President/Provost
Johnson County Community College
Clyde McQueen
CEO
Full Employment Council
Christine Murray
Director of Workforce Initiatives
KC Tech Council
Kelly O'Connor
STEM, Diversity and Recruitment
Garmin
Torree Pederson
Founding President
We Are Aligned
Angie Salmon
SVP and Executive Search Consultant
CBIZ
Keely Schneider
Executive Director
Workforce Partnership
Delano Sheffield
Employer Engagement Manager
KC Scholars
Tim Shroba
Recruitment Manager
Burns & McDonnell
Ryan Spaulding
Vice Chancellor, Community Engagement
KU Medical
Anna Stubblefield
Superintendent of Schools
Kansas City Kansas Schools
Sherry Turner
Founder
Women's Employment Network
Ben Wolfe
Dean and CEO
KSU Olathe
Eric Young
Operations Manager
Amsted Rail and KC FAME
Josh Akers
Research Manager
MARC
Danielle Hilton
Managing Director, Team KC
KCADC
Kelly O'Connor
STEM, Diversity and Recruitment
Garmin
Stacey Wright
Talent Acquisition Director
HR Block
Fred Wise
Consultant
Wyze HR Consulting
Dr. Kenny Southwick
Executive Director
Cooperating School Districts KC
Angela Consani
CEO and Founder
Bioscience Core Skills Institute
Industry Action Team
1. Research + Recommend:
Determine if there are sufficient existing assets in the Kansas City region in the cybersecurity, biologics/life science industries and advanced manufacturing to allow the region to target these sectors for focused development. Engage Brookings and Enterprise KC for data to validate.
2. Convene:
Convene industry groups in sectors with identified potential for growth to target opportunities and create a business plan and strategy to execute those opportunities. Stand up industry coalitions in identified sectors to build broad based support.
Leadership
Tiffany Stovall (Co- Chair)
CEO
Kansas Manufacturing Solutions
Leah FitzGerald (Co- Chair)
Managing Director
CBRE
Joe Massman
CFO, COO
Kansas City University
Laura McConnell
Chairman & CEO
Labconco
Agnes Otto
Transportation Director
Burns and McDonnell
Jim Erickson
Director of Strategic Initiatives
EDC
Eric Mooney
Pillar Leader
Enterprise KC
Ashley McClellan
CEO/Founder
MedCurate
Eric Young
President
Alpha Robotics
Adam Allman
Director of HR
Catalent
Adam Arredondo
Community Connector
Dennis Ridenour
CEO
BioNexus KC
Erin Christensen
COO
KC Tech Council
David Frankland
Principal
Enterprise KC
Jodi Krantz
Vice President
Independence EDC
Scott McCullough
Community Development Director
City of Lenexa
Tina Peterson
Founder
T Mobile Accelerator
Katherine Carttar
Executive Director
ULI
Frank Lenk
Director of Research Services
MARC
Kim Randolph
CEO
Heartland Black Chamber
John Hutzenbular
HR Director
Quest diagnostics
Melissa Bennet
Senior Director, Workforce Strategy
NetSmart
Kelly Williams
Product Manager
LabConco
Jackie Foy
Health Principal
HDR Engineering
Julie Pierce
Community Sector Executive/Principal
Henderson Engineers
Tim Geary
Director, Operations and Services
Stowers Institute
Tonya Phillips
Regional Sales Director
Zerto
Myles Gartland
Dean, Helzberg Business College
Rockhurst University
The Grants Action Team
1. Research + Recommend
a. Research grants and funding strengths and opportunities for the KC Region.
b. Analyze current grant pursuit mechanisms and processes in the region to determine efficiency and effectiveness.
c. Recommend strategies to coordinate the efforts of region to take advantage of available governmental and foundation grant and funding opportunities to support economic growth and inclusion.
2. Convene:
If research identifies the need for improvement and strategies to increase success in pursuit of grants; stand up team to implement strategies.
Leadership
Larry Jacob (Co-Chair)
Consultant
Kauffman Foundation
Scott Hall (Co- Chair)
Vice President of Development
VanTrust
Mclain Bryant-Macklin
Vice President, Policy and Impact
Health Forward Foundation
Simone Curls
Executive Director
Prospect Business Association
Aaron Deacon
Managing Director
KC Digital Drive
Ashok Gupta
Senior Energy Economist
Natural Resources Defense Council
AJ Herrmann
Director of Policy and Program Innovation
Accelerator for America
Dan Kennedy
Vice President
BioNexus KC
Melissa Miller
Director
Greater KC Chamber
Maria Meyers
Executive Director
KCSourceLink/UMKC Innovation Center
Marlene Nagel
Director of Community Development
Mid-America Regional Council
Melissa Roberts-Chapman
Director of Regional Entrepreneurship
Federation of American Scientists
Miles Sandler
Director of Policy and Engagement
Kauffman Foundation
Andrew Weisberg
Director of Talent
Overland Park Chamber
The Housing Action Team
1. Research + Recommend
a. Research to evaluate whether the cost of housing impacts business attraction and retention in our region and, if so, how does KC Rising engage to help to resolve the issue.
2. Convene:
Conduct meetings to review the impact of the cost of housing on business attraction and retention and whether this is an issue currently or potentially in the future.
Leadership
Graham Smith (Co-Chair)
Associate Principal
Gould Evans
Michael Boehm (Co-Chair)
Senior Vice President
Commercial Lending at Commerce Bank
Pedro Zamora
Jamee Rodgers
Jennifer Tidwell
Katie Killen
Josh Akers
Geoff Jolley
Data & Analysis Resource Team
The Data & Analysis Resource Team exists to support KC Rising in creating and maintaining a metrics framework to measure progress toward goals, enable community action and provide data for decision-making. Regular reports will be provided to the steering committee and annually to the community at large regarding Horizon Goals, system and strategy metrics. In addition, the DART will support driving and enabling committees in finding data to inform activities and provide data analysis and visualization to tell the story of committee work.
Leadership
Ahmed Abdelmoity (Co-Chair)
Director, Division of Neurology
Children's Mercy
Steven Howland
Associate Economist
Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City
Trent Armbrust
Pillar Leader
Enterprise KC
Kate Bender
Co-Founder
PorchLight Insights
Cindy Brittain
Senior Director, Research
Kansas City Area Development Council
Karin Chang
Executive Director
University of Kansas City - Missouri, Urban Education Research Center
Doug Davidson
President
County Economic Research Institute, Inc. (CERI)
Alex Francisco
Senior Population Health Scientist
Kansas City Health Department
Todd Jordan
Chief Community Engagement Officer
United Way of Greater Kansas City
Frank Lenk
Director of Research Services
MARC
Jeff Pinkerton
Director, Economic Research
MO Department of Economic Development
Robin Smith
Senior Director
DeBruce Foundation
Drew Stiehl
Senior Data Analyst
mySideWalk
Alex Villagran
Project Manager
Great Jobs KC
Communication & Engagement Resource Team
The Communication & Engagement Resource Team exists to support KC Rising in creating and maintaining a comprehensive communication strategy to engage corporate businesses, stakeholders in education, elected leaders, nonprofits and disconnected communities, and to promote community action toward the KC Rising shared vision pillars of prosperity. The CERT will provide strategic guidance to staff in oversight of the contracted public relations and marketing firm, support an interactive online presence through social media, help plan events, coordinate an ongoing communications strategy, and create regular marketing collateral to tell the KC Rising story.
Leadership
Laura McCarthy (Co-Chair)
Executive Director, Marketing and Communication
University of Kansas Health System
Eric Morgenstern (Co-Chair)
CEO
Morningstar Communications
Jacqueline Camargo
Segura Marketing
Kate Crockett
Communications Manager
Great Jobs KC
Michelle Cronk
Communications Manager
KC Chamber
Meryl Dillman
Sr. Specialist, Foundation Programs & Operations – Social Impact & Sustainability
T-Mobile
Ashlie Hand
Director of Communications
Diocese of Kansas City-St.Joseph
Kristin Johnson Waggoner
Director, Communications & Public Affairs
Mid - America Regional Council
Melanie Mattes
Senior Vice President, Marketing
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce
Tim McCoy
President + Creative Director
Yoodle
Mark Mears
Chief Growth Officer
L.E.A.F Growth Ventures, LLC
Sarah Mote
Director, Marketing and Communications
Mid America Arts Alliance
Jessica Palm
Vice President, Marketing & Public Relations
KCADC
Nicholas Segura
Founder & Creative Lead
Segura Marketing & Media Solutions
Angee Simmons
Program Leader, Communications & Engagement
Kauffman Foundation
Susan Wally
President & CEO
PREP-KC
Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Advisory Committee
Our region continues to experience significant economic disparities by ethnicity and race. Initiated in 2018, the KC Rising Steering Committee created a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging Advisory Committee to ensure that KC Rising is inclusive of diverse backgrounds and community stakeholders, in both its volunteer participation and public outreach and strategies.
Leadership
Tahir Atwater (Co-Chair)
Director of Donor and Volunteer Engagement
Jackson County CASA
Teresa Ascencio (Co-Chair)
Chief People Officer
Academy Bank
Rebecca Baumgartner
Senior VP, People and Operations
KC Chamber
Lauren Conaway
Founder & CEO
InnovateHER KC
Denise St. Omer
Vice President of Grantmaking and Inclusion Initiatives
Greater Kansas City Community Foundation
Consuelo Ross
Director of Finance
Civic Council of Greater KC
Nicholas Segura
Founder
LaStema.org
Nicole Jacobs-Silvey
President & Founder
Connection Coach KC
Rodney Smith
President/CEO & Co-Founder
Sophic Solutions, LLC
Nicole Collier-White
Director
KCPS Education Foundation