Presenters' Bios

Sami Aaron:

Sami Aaron’s enduring concern for the world around us inspired her to found the nonprofit, The Resilient Activist. The organization’s mission is to cultivate resilience to environmental stress by supporting community, personal well-being, and vital ecological health. This mission was based on her personal experience with climate grief. Her older son, Kevin, was an environmental activist who was broken by the emotional burden he carried, believing that his personal well-being was of little importance when weighed against the needs of the world. He died by suicide in 2003.

Evan Absher:

Evan is the Co-Founder of Folks Capital, an investment platform that promotes wealth-building through attainable ownership. Evan was a Senior Program Officer at the Kauffman Foundation and designed, created, and implemented national programs directing over $120 million into cities to support entrepreneurship. Evan also is a repeat entrepreneur having started a theatre company in Chicago and is a classically trained actor. Evan combines his legal and artistic training to develop novel, but practical solutions to entrenched challenges.

Kyle Benson-Smith:

Kyle J Benson-Smith is the founder and Executive Director of Determination, Incorporated, a nonprofit in KCMO that is building a community of formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs with service-based businesses that are supporting one another on their reentry and entrepreneurial journeys. www.unlockeship.org.

Cassady Brewer:

Cassady V. “Cass” Brewer, Professor of Law, teaches Basic Federal Income Taxation, Nonprofit Organizations, Taxation of Business Organizations, Corporate Taxation, Partnership Taxation, and the Law of Social Enterprise. Brewer’s research and speaking engagements generally focus on federal income taxation. Brewer also writes and speaks on the legal and tax aspects of the intersection of tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations with for-profit enterprises and commercial activity (a/k/a “social enterprise”).

Brewer received his LL.M. (Taxation) from New York University, where he served as a graduate editor of the Tax Law Review. Brewer received his J.D. from the University of Arkansas School of Law, where he was editor-in-chief of the Arkansas Law Review. He received his undergraduate degree from Vanderbilt University.

Brewer co-founded the Nonprofit Law Section of the State Bar of Georgia and is a past co-chair of the Section. Brewer currently serves on the Legislative Proposals Committee of the Section. Further, Brewer served on the Georgia Business Law Section’s drafting committee for the Georgia Limited Liability Company and Limited Liability Partnership Acts.

Brewer is a Fellow of the American College of Tax Counsel and previously was a partner and practice leader in the Tax Group of Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, Atlanta, Georgia.

Allen Bromberger:

Allen Bromberger is nationally recognized for his groundbreaking work on the development of nonprofit and for-profit legal structures that support the simultaneous pursuit of financial and social goals. Through his legal practice, and as an author and lecturer, Allen has been at the forefront of fourth sector and social enterprise movements that have risen to prominence in recent years. From foundations and family offices to funds and entrepreneurs, Allen offers counsel and serves as a trusted advisor and connector for his clients. Allen was previously President of Power of Attorney, and Executive Director of Lawyers Alliance for New York. 

Kate Garman Burns:

Kate serves as the Executive Director to MetroLab. Before joining, she was a Senior Associate at Cityfi, a firm focused on fostering innovation and new thinking in the urban environment. Previously, she was a part of two mayoral administrations. Kate was the Technology Policy Advisor for Mayor Jenny Durkan in Seattle, WA. And before moving to Seattle, she was the Innovation Policy Advisor for Mayor Sly James in Kansas City, MO. These roles shared similar missions and values, including drafting new regulatory schemas for transportation networks and short term rentals, as well as implementing and promoting privacy and surveillance regulations. Kate was a part of the MetroLab network while in Seattle in Kansas City, and continues to uphold a passion for the work between cities and universities. She has a juris doctorate from the University of Missouri Kansas City, and a B.S. in Journalism from the University of Kansas.

Kristan Chamberlain:

Kristan Chamberlain is the Executive Director of KC Can Compost. Her vision for a social and environmental venture emerged in 2016 when she met Joe Colaizzi, then Executive Director of the Kansas City Rescue Mission. Together, they sought to create a viable enterprise that would benefit the Kansas City community, create living-wage employment opportunities for men and women transitioning out of homelessness and generate revenue to support the ongoing mission. Kristan’s entrepreneurial vision, coupled with her experience in strategic planning and business management provided the necessary foundation to develop and grow KC Can Compost– a now thriving regional compost business that simultaneously operates Green Core Training, a workforce development program that prepares men and women struggling with barriers to employment for work in the green economy.

Jocelyn Evans:

Dr. Jocelyn Evans joined the Bloch School of Management in August 2022 as the Associate Dean of Diversity, Retention and Academic Integrity and the Henry W. Bloch Endowed Professor of Finance and after serving as the Associate Dean and Bank of America Professor of Finance at the College of Charleston.

Philip Gaskin:

Philip Gaskin is vice president of Entrepreneurship for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he is responsible for leading the Kauffman Foundation’s efforts to build an economy that works for all people by making entrepreneurship an integral component of economic development policies, practices, and programs.

As a leader with deep expertise in implementing strategies that change conditions in communities of all types, Philip provides the vision, strategic thinking, and thought leadership to scale and deepen the impact of the Foundation’s comprehensive entrepreneurship portfolio, which aims to eliminate systemic barriers and enhance economic activity through inclusive entrepreneurship. With deep experience in organizational management in a variety of settings, he is also responsible for the department’s strategic planning, talent acquisition, program execution, grants process, budgeting, and operations. Philip uses his collective life and work experiences to inspire each associate to achieve extraordinary things, reach their full potential, and impact the lives of those the Foundation serves.

Natasha Herdman:

As Founding CEO of Pawsperity, Natasha Herdman believes in a two-generation approach to breaking the cycle of poverty. Basic needs for food and shelter must be met before a parent can focus on guiding children through school and out of poverty, so a living-wage, family-flexible career for the parent is key. Natasha’s innovative approach to breaking the cycle of poverty and proven success has received several awards and the attention of a national catalyst foundation.

Natasha has an undergraduate degree in Political Science from the University of Iowa and an Executive Master’s degree in public administration from the UMKC Bloch School. She is passionate about working with mothers and fathers with multiple barriers to entering the workforce, such as low reading skills, severe trauma, or past incarceration and brings experience in both staff and volunteer roles for Healing House, Reach Out and Read, Community LINC and Stop Child Trafficking Now to Pawsperity. Natasha enjoys spending time with her two kids ages 19 and 15.

Matthew Houston:

Matthew Houston is a Lecturer in Management at the University of North Texas at Dallas, CEO of Collaborative Culture LLC, and a Principal-Management Consultant with MLH Enterprises.

Christina Hoxie:

Christina Hoxie started a Community Planning practice called Hoxie Collective in 2017. The focus of this community engagement-focused small business is to fill a gap of community planning services for underserved communities in collaboration with city departments, community development partners, and environmental conservation organizations. The work of Hoxie Collective focuses on providing comprehensive, actionable planning solutions that are pragmatic, creative, and owned by their unique communities. Christina has been practicing urban and regional planning in the greater Kansas City area since 2008. Prior to 2008, Christina worked in architectural practices in Chicago and Houston since 1995. 

Christopher Hoyt:

Chris Hoyt teaches courses in the areas of federal taxation, business organizations, retirement plans and tax-exempt organizations. Previously, he was with the law firm of Spencer, Fane, Britt and Browne in Kansas City, Mo. He received an undergraduate degree in economics from Northwestern University and dual law and accounting degrees from the University of Wisconsin. He has served as the chair of the American Bar Association’s Committee on Lifetime and Testamentary Charitable Gift Planning (Section of Trusts and Estates) and serves on the editorial board of Trusts and Estates magazine. He is a frequent speaker at legal and educational programs and has been quoted in numerous publications, including The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, MONEY Magazine, and The Washington Post.

Reda Ibrahim:

Reda Ibrahim is the founder and owner of RK Contractors, a general contractor that hires and empowers immigrants and refugees to help make Kansas City more beautiful and more like the Kingdom of God. www.rkrckc.com/.

Randall Johnson:

Randall K. Johnson joined the University of Missouri-Kansas City, School of Law as a Professor of Law in 2022. A graduate of University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, London School of Economics, New York University, and University of Chicago Law School, Professor Johnson teaches Property I, Property II, Fair/Affordable Housing and Real Estate Transactions. Professor Johnson's scholarship appears in recent volumes of the Washington University In Saint Louis Law Review (2023), the Southern California Law Review Postscript (2022), the Iowa Law Review (2021, 2017), the California Law Review Online (2020), the Minnesota Law Review Headnotes (2019) and the Indiana Law Journal Supplement (2018).

Georgann Jouflas:

Ms. Jouflas has taught at Colorado Mesa University since 1991.  Prior to this Ms. Jouflas had significant business development experience working as a Product Manager for the second largest value-added IBM reseller in Los Angeles.  She was also the owner/operator of a restaurant/bakery and a restaurant/nightclub. During this time, she was CEO of a small food manufacturing company whose products were carried by several major food distributors in Los Angeles, Chicago, and Denver. After selling her business, she worked with the Business Incubator Center to start a kitchen incubator program as well as teaching and advising over 50 business startups per year. In addition to teaching, she is the advisor for Entrepreneurship Club running Innovation Challenges and Elevator Pitch competitions each semester.  She led a group of students through the stages of starting a student run coffee house/pub.  She worked with student groups for ten years overseeing 25 students from all disciplines each year in running this business.  She also served as the Program Manager for the Coleman Faculty Entrepreneurship Fellows program at CMU working with over 15 Fellows from various disciplines to infuse entrepreneurship in their courses.

Maxfield Kaniger:

Maxfield (Max) Kaniger is the Founder and CEO of Kanbe’s Markets. See https://www.kanbesmarkets.org/.

Travis Lesser:

Travis is an Instructor in the Department of Management and Organization at Penn State University’s Smeal College of Businesses, teaching courses in entrepreneurship, social entrepreneurship, and responsible business leadership.

In addition, his role as Program Coordinator with the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation & Entrepreneurship, he administers such programming as the CIENT Student Experienceship Program, Propel Business - New Innovation & Entrepreneurship Program and is also working on projects focused on social entrepreneurship and impact. He is also the faculty advisor for Penn State Net Impact Undergraduate Chapter.

Jason Lortie:

Dr. Jason Lortie is an Associate Professor in the Daveler and Kauanui School of Entrepreneurship at Florida Gulf Coast University. Dr. Lortie's research focuses on social entrepreneurship and new venture funding, with publications in journals such as the Journal of Business Research, Entrepreneurship and Regional Development, The Journal of Social Entrepreneurship, and the Journal of Business Venturing Insights. He has also presented at numerous academic conferences.

In addition to his academic pursuits, Dr. Lortie has industry experience as the owner/operator of a holding company with over 50 web properties. He has expertise in buying, selling, and maintaining websites, and has provided mentorship and consulting to student and community start-ups.

Dr. Lortie brings his entrepreneurial background and research interests to the classroom, where he teaches in the entrepreneurship degree program at FGCU. He is a member of the Academy of Management, the Southern Management Association, and USASBE.

Ajamu Loving:

Ajamu Loving is an Assistant Professor in Finance at the Business Department at the University of North Texas at Dallas, and President and CEO of Dr. Ajamu C. Loving Consulting, LLC.

Anthony (Tony) Luppino:

Tony Luppino is a Professor and Director of Entrepreneurship Programs at the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law and a Senior Fellow with the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship & Innovation at UMKC. Prof. Luppino received the University of Missouri System’s inaugural Entrepreneurship Educator of the Year Award in 2017, the 2018 UM System President’s Award for Economic Development, and in 2019 the UMKC Trustees’ Leo E. Morton Community Service Award. He teaches business, tax, and entrepreneurship courses, and has co-taught several interdisciplinary courses. His scholarship focuses primarily on legal and policy issues significantly affecting entrepreneurs, and on entrepreneurship education. Among his activities in social entrepreneurship, along with John Tyler, Evan Absher, and Kathleen Garman, Prof. Luppino co-authored an article published in 2015 in the Quinnipiac Law Review entitled Producing Better Mileage: Advancing the Design and Usefulness of Hybrid Vehicles for Social Business Ventures.

Carla Mandell:

Dr. Carla Mandell, is a hybrid thinker, where design thinking and strategy blends with business practice. She brings a diverse background in accounting, non-profit planning & program development, event management, as well as project & data management. Carla’s position at Rutgers University focuses on continuous improvement processes and supporting students with professional skill development, including experiential learning opportunities. She specializes in entrepreneurship, innovation, and employable skill development. Carla is an adjunct instructor at Rutgers University and Thomas Jefferson University. She recently earned her Ed.D. from Northeastern University. Carla has an MBA in Strategic Design and a BS in Accounting from Thomas Jefferson University. She earned her CPA and certificates in Professional Meeting Planning and Online Teaching. Carla is a lifelong learner.

Rebecca Martin:

Rebecca D. Martin, McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan, P.C., rmartin@mcdowellrice.com. Rebecca D. Martin is a shareholder of McDowell, Rice, Smith & Buchanan, P.C.,  and is experienced in tax law, business and real estate transactions, estate planning and probate practicing law for over 34 years. In 2014, Ms. Martin obtained her Certificate in Social Entrepreneurship through the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, and advocates for social entrepreneurship. She is a certified meditation teacher, and presents wellness and mindfulness seminars for Kansas and Missouri bar associations.

Father Justin Mathews:

For 10 years Fr. Justin has been the Executive Director & CEO of Reconciliation Services [RS] (www.RS3101.org) a quickly growing social venture located at 31st and Troost, the historic racial and economic dividing line of Kansas City, MO. The vision of RS is “By living our core values of dignity, community, and advocacy, we cultivate a community seeking reconciliation and reveal the strength of our city.” Since Fr. Justin took over as Executive Director RS has grown from a $650,000 organization with 4 employees to over $ 4.5 million annually with 30 employees and hundreds of volunteers.

Fr. Justin is a published author and the creator of The Social Leader Essentials E-Course (www.thesocialleader.org), a transformative leadership development course designed to teach CEOs and senior leaders how to lead with greater social impact to transform their company and community. In 2021 Fr. Justin co-founded the Social Venture Studio (www.socialventurestudio.com) with the KCEDC and Downtown Council’s “Launch KC” initiative.  Additionally, In 2018 Fr. Justin led the RS team in the launch of Thelma's Kitchen (www.ThelmasKitchen.org), a 5-Star Yelp-rated, social venture “donate-what-you-can” box lunch catering company in Kansas City.

Shanita McAfee-Bryant:

Founder & Executive Director of The Prospect KC. 

Chef Shanita is a Kansas City native and a civic-minded chef eager to transform the lives of those suffering from food apartheid in Eastside neighborhoods by creating food-based solutions addressing food insecurity, nutrition education and culinary job training.

She fell in love with cooking as a teen and went on to receive her professional culinary training at Johnson County Community College. She created and owned a restaurant and competed on The Food Network’s “Cutthroat Kitchen.”

In 2019, Chef Shanita founded The Prospect KC, a social enterprise designed to address food apartheid, a racist and oppressive system that creates inequitable food systems by addressing food insecurity, nutrition education and culinary job training.

Chef Shanita is a board member for Harvesters, Kansas City’s food bank, serving 26 counties and more than 800 agencies, and a board member of the Greater KC Food Policy Coalition, NourishKC and Lazarus Ministries KC.

She was selected to attend the James Beard Foundation’s Chef Bootcamp for Policy and Change, a unique opportunity for civically and politically minded chefs to mobilize the support for policy decisions that impact our food system. In October 2022, Chef Shanita attended the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health, the first such gathering in more than half a century, at the invitation of U.S. Representative Emanuel Cleaver.

Additionally, she was selected for the new Launch KC Social Venture Studio, which offers professional support, grant awards, and network connections designed to strengthen individual business concepts.

Chef Shanita has been honored with the Urban Hero Award 2023, a lifetime achievement award is presented annually by the Downtown Council to leaders whose vision, guidance, and commitment have helped set Downtown Kansas City on a path for revitalization. The award’s namesake, J. Philip Kirk Jr., epitomized these qualities.

Kevin McGinnis:

Kevin McGinnis is the President & CEO of Keystone Community Corporation. See https://www.keystonedistrict.org/about-us.

Anthony (Tony) Mendes:

Dr. Tony Mendes, Managing Director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Missouri – Kansas City, is an acclaimed entrepreneurial educator and administrator of nationally and internationally recognized programs. In his role with the Regnier Institute, Dr. Mendes is responsible for the integration of entrepreneurship in all of the academic units of the university. He also leads university efforts to support entrepreneurial ventures in the Kansas City area. He formerly served as Director of the Murphy Center for Entrepreneurship at the University of North Texas and Executive Director of the Academy for Entrepreneurial Leadership (AEL) at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. During his tenure at Illinois, the university achieved national status for entrepreneurship education by the Princeton Review & Entrepreneur Magazine, Fortune Magazine and the National Consortium of Entrepreneurship Centers and was ranked among the top 25 entrepreneurship programs in the US. Prior to the University of Illinois, Dr. Mendes was Director of College Initiatives at the Kauffman Foundation, Kansas City, Missouri There he managed a program grant portfolio with over 150 colleges and universities. Many of the collegiate programs that he initiated have received national prominence including: The Kauffman Campuses program, the National Consortium for Life Science Entrepreneurship, the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship in the Liberal Arts, the National Association of Community College Entrepreneurship and the Kauffman Faculty Scholars program. Dr. Mendes is Former President of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).  Prior to joining the Kauffman Foundation, Dr. Mendes was founder and president of Mendes and Associates, a private consulting company, located in Kansas City, Missouri. He also spent 13 years with AT&T as manager of training and development. His teaching experience includes courses at; Rockhurst University, Kansas City, MO; Rutgers University, Piscataway, NJ; Polytechnic University, Brooklyn, NY and the University of Illinois, Urbana- Champaign, Illinois, and now UMKC.

Ina Montgomery:

Ina P Montgomery, M.Ed. is the Founder and Executive Director of  Urban Technology Empowered Communities dba/ Urban TEC.  Urban TEC's mission is to close the digital literacy divide in urban schools and communities.  Ms. Montgomery equips clients with the knowledge, competency and credentials to enhance, improve and secure their career paths.

Ms. Montgomery has been a technology professional for over twenty years. Her career began in corporate America as a computer based training developer with Booz, Allen, and Hamilton in Washington, DC.  Ms. Montgomery transitioned her knowledge, skills and abilities into education as a school Technology Director and has continued her passion for working to help close the digital divide for underserved students who reside in urban schools and communities. 

Ms. Montgomery earned a Bachelor of Science from South Carolina State University - Orangeburg and a Master’s of Education in Instructional Technology from the University of Virginia – Charlottesville. 

Laura Moore:

Laura Moore is a Senior Program/Project Coordinator in the Department of Entrepreneurship and Management in the Bloch School of Management at UMKC.

Sarah Muntean:

Sarah Muntean is a serial entrepreneur and the owner of All American Construction Contractors which provides labor and construction cleaning on commercial jobs.

Brent Never:

Brent Never (Ph.D., Indiana University) is an Associate Professor of Public Affairs at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management. His research considers the spatial and geographic implications of a decentralized human service system. Using Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and spatial regression methods, he has worked to identify communities underserved by human services. He has also worked to highlight clusters of financially distressed nonprofit organizations, those most likely to go out of business in the near future raising the question as to who is served by financially ‘sick’ human service providers.

Never has served as Visiting Professor in the School of Community Resources & Development at Arizona State University where he conducted research on the continued devolution of human services from government provision to private-sector provision through contracts, vouchers, and grants. He has published in Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, Voluntas, Human Service Organizations: Management, Leadership & Governance, and Nonprofit Policy Forum. In addition, Never regularly writes for the practitioner audience in the Nonprofit Quarterly. 

Never’s research has been funded by national and regional foundations. He was a Fulbright Scholar (2003-04 to Benin and 2007 to Northern Ireland), and in 2011-2013 was awarded a Young Scholar Research Grant from the Kresge Foundation. In 2018, he and Prof. Jim DeLisle was awarded the Alteryx Excellence Award for their method of data cleaning, mixing, and analysis; their work is now being used to understand patterns of abandoned housing in Kansas City.

Dina Newman:

Dina Newman has the honor and privilege to serve as the Director of Leadership for the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s (UMKC) Center for Neighborhoods (CFN) where she manages staff, volunteers and student interns. As the Center’s first Director, Ms. Newman is instrumental in establishing and administering the internal office environment for CFN while also providing overall daily external management of the Center. A key part of her day-to-day efforts include close collaboration with UMKC faculty on the Center’s curriculum development, programs, technical assistance, community engagement, development and outreach, fundraising, grant writing and leadership development training. Housed in the Department of Architecture, Urban Planning and Design, the Center for Neighborhoods opened in April 2016, and has contributed to the leadership development and capacity building of over 100 neighborhoods and more than 240 neighborhood leaders, advocates, and residents. Under Dina’s unique and dynamic leadership, the Center has grown to be an important advocate for community inclusion and sustainable neighborhood development.

David Noble:

David R. Noble is the Saint Louis Market President and Director of Community Economic Development for Midland States Bank. He is an experienced astute Senior Banking Leader with a triumvirate combination of experience in application of the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) Regulation, Fair Lending and Diverse, Inclusive and Equitable Community Economic Development Strategies. His “Value Proposition” is that he has an innate ability to facilitate cooperation from various interests to create opportunities assisting in problem solving and achieving objectives through marketplace solutions.

Ramy Rahimi:

Director, Embry-Riddle Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.  

Dr. Ramy A. Rahimi is a seasoned leader in technology development and commercialization startups, with over 18 years of experience in the creative technology industry. He has made significant contributions to the industry as a creative technologist, entrepreneur, and educator, specializing in innovation and entrepreneurship.  

Currently, Dr. Rahimi serves as a tenure-track Assistant Professor of Entrepreneurship at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (ERAU), where he channels his expertise to advise and mentor students to lead and disrupt the future of aviation, aerospace, and space. His unique combination of experience and skills make him an exceptional mentor, as he instills in his students the startup mindset, innovation, and business acumen necessary to embark on the entrepreneurial path.  

In addition to his role as an educator, Dr. Rahimi is a founder and CEO of several startup ventures. He serves as the ERAU Center of Innovation and Entrepreneurship's director and strategic adviser, bringing his wealth of experience to aspiring entrepreneurs in the aviation, aerospace, and space industries. Through his leadership, Dr. Rahimi guides the development of new technologies and businesses that can transform the industry and create a lasting impact on society.

Stephanie Raible: 

Dr. Stephanie E. Raible is an Assistant Professor and Faculty Director of Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics of the University of Delaware. For the past ten years, she has been an entrepreneurship educator, mentor, and board and advisory member of several nonprofits, including the Social Enterprise Alliance. She is also co-author of the 2022 book, Social Entrepreneurship: A Practice-Based Approach to Social Innovation and was recently recognized as a 2022 40 Under 40 awardee by the Delaware Business Times and as the 2023 "Excellence in Social Entrepreneurship" awardee by the International Council for Small Business.

Michael Rendler:

Michael Rendler has taught at various Community Colleges and State Universities in Architecture, CAD/BIM and GIS since 1999. He started his innovative understanding of computer-aided design for the built environment in 1981. His architectural work – projects such as the Venable House and Mariposa Apartment Buildings which has been published in international and national magazines. In 1987, he partnered with Glen Small (founder of the Biosphere) and ran a successful practice in the City of Santa Monica for more than 10 years. During this period, they built structural innovation and spectacular systems, which caught Hollywood’s attention, culminating with “Idol House.” In 1994, he had an installation at the Los Angeles Gallery “LA SEMILLA” (SEED), which gained the attention of the press and the field of higher education. During this installation, he investigated the connection between urban spaces and the neighborhood that need empowered by technology. In addition, Rendler was a keynote speaker at the 2009 National AIA with “Putting It ALLTogether, WhatTools, Which Process.” With local student talent and as part of a high-tech team, he designed the LACCD e7 Architecture Studio to produce the largest geospatial repository and scientific visualization tools that support decision making for a building’s life cycle. Rendler is a national leader with the buildingSMART Alliance, working on how to implement new technologies in the Architecture, Engineering, Construction and Owner-operated (AECO) world. He is also working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and Safe School project to virtualize educational environments following national standards, energy demands and first-response scenarios. In 1982 he graduated from SCI ARC (Southern California Institute of Architecture), Rendler holds an architectural license in California.

Colleen Robb:

Dr. Colleen Robb currently serves as an associate professor for Florida Gulf Coast University’s School of Entrepreneurship.  Formerly, she was the director for the Center for Entrepreneurship and an assistant professor of entrepreneurship for California State University, Chico (CSUC). Her background includes nearly twenty years of teaching entrepreneurship and strategy at various universities including directorship roles for entrepreneurship centers. She also has over fifteen years working as a fundraising advisor to start-ups in the athletic, cosmetic, construction, education, manufacturing, nonprofit, retail, and technology sectors.

Clint O. Robinson:

Associate Vice President, Black & Veatch Corporation Clint is the father of three publicly educated girls; a recovering school board member; and a registered professional engineer in a global engineering corporation. Individually none of these accomplishments are significant but in concert they are a powerful force towards better connecting education and business.

Clint is the great grandson of one of the first three professors at the University of Kansas teaching Greek and Latin back in 1865. He is also the great grandson of an attorney that made elixir in his basement and founded the Burma Vita Corporation. This company was responsible for one of the most successful advertising campaigns with roadside jingles for the first brushless shaving cream, Burma Shave. It is not surprising then that Mr. Robinson has dedicated himself to finding ways to improve education and how we sell it.

While serving on the Blue Valley School District School Board he helped create and implement the successful Center for Advance Professional Studies (CAPS) which revolutionized how business and education work together for a common goal. Now while providing thought leadership in his industry to the US Conference of Mayors and National League of Cities he is never very far away from the topic of how to create jobs, fill the pipeline, and change the landscape of education forever. His motto is “learn to teach” which means 1) if you can teach it then you know it and 2) there is no value in learning something if you are not willing to teach it to someone else.

Irma Russell:

Irma Russell is the Edward A. Smith / Missouri Chair at the UMKC School of Law. Before joining the faculty at UMKC in 2015, she served as Dean of the Montana School of Law, and as Professor of Law and Director of the National Energy-Environment Policy Institute at the University of Tulsa College of Law. In the Spring of 2022, she taught Environmental Law and Public Land Law as the Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of Kansas.  She taught as Visiting Professor at Pace Law School and Lewis and Clark School of Law. She served as chair of the ABA Section on Environment, Energy, and Resources and has chaired several AALS Sections, including Professional Responsibility, Natural Resources & Energy, and Socioeconomics.  She has served on the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and the ABA Standing Committee on Ethics and Professional Responsibility.

In practice, Russell represented potentially responsible parties, government entities, and lenders on matters arising under the National Environmental Policy Act, CERCLA, and other state and federal law.  She is author of the treatise LEGAL ETHICS IN THE PRACTICE OF ENVIORNMENTAL LAW, which is in process for its second edition, and last year, She co-authored a book with John C Dernbach and Matthew Bogoshian: Sustainability Essentials: A Leadership Guide for Lawyers (ABA Press - SEER) (2022) She is an elected member of the American Law Institute and the American College of Environmental Lawyers.

Leslie Scott:

Leslie has over a decade of direct experience as a dedicated, community-connected nonprofit professional committed to effecting positive change in the urban core of Kansas City. Leslie specializes in the areas of entrepreneurship, mentoring, digital literacy, tech training, public education, as well as a variety of social justice issues. 

Leslie leads KC Digital Drive's inclusion-based programs, and her tenure in Kansas City's digital inclusion ecosystem has created a unique perch as a national expert with a hyper-local lens in which she approaches inclusion, equity and belonging with meaningful interventions, particularly informed by managing KC Digital Drive’s Internet Access Support Program, a broadband subsidy program that predates the FCC’s Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP). 

Leslie is a frequent and regular contributor to broadband access, affordability and adoption initiatives across the bi-state region and the nation, lending her expertise to panels focused on the ACP and focus groups related to digital equity topics, such as digital discrimination. 

She is an active member of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance; the Kansas Broadband Advisory Board, which will help guide the Kansas Office of Broadband Development’s plan for implementing the funding authorized through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; the Kansas City Coalition for Digital Inclusion; and the Kansas Digital Equity Collaborative. She is also a board member and contributing volunteer for One Kansas City Radio, a low-power, nonprofit community radio station, and sits on a variety of other community organizations’ governing and advisory boards.

Julienne (Julie) Shields:

Julie Shields is the President and CEO of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE).  See https://www.usasbe.org/? Among her previous professional work, she had served as the Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Millikin University.

Kechia Smith:

Tru-Kechia Smith (Kechia) began her role as Programs Director for Bridging The Gap (BTG) in
December 2018 and has evolved into the Director of Environmental Justice and Organizational
Growth. Under her leadership she provides oversight and direction for various environmental
programs. Her community-centric approach ensures BTG’s program impact is equitable, diverse
and inclusive by prioritizing people and partnerships within its natural environment focus.  Kechia's catalytic nature and strategic focus fuels her successful track record of leveraging organizational strengths into effective partnerships and mission driven results. In 2022 she was selected for the Justice40 Accelerator Cohort, a 12-month program designed to assist BIPOC leaders from climate and environmental organizations build capacity to access federal funding.

Kelsey Stacker:

Kelsey Stacker is a serial entrepreneur and a business consultant for Strong Start, a service-oriented employment social enterprise powered by Determination, Incorporated that helps formerly incarcerated people get back to work while also healing from past trauma and growing as a professional. www.strongstart.biz.

Ilya Tabakh:

Over a decade of technology and startup experience has put Ilya in a central vantage point of value creation. He understands how ventures go from idea to scale and has taken part in this process first hand. 

Currently Ilya serves as an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Black & Veatch, a Global EPC firm focused on delivering critical human infrastructure. In this role he supports the company's Growth Accelerator, the corporate level innovation team, and works with other parts of the business to connect to forming markets around infrastructure. Construction and Engineering are undergoing a rapid period of change. Navigating this change will drive an important evolution in much of the infrastructure that humanity relies on every day.

Ilya uniquely applies first principles and systems thinking to solve complex problems. A strong academic background and diverse professional experiences act as a strong foundation. Ilya has gained exposure in a wide variety of fields (education, energy, marketing & advertising, transportation, technology). He has built his career at the intersection of computing, people, and systems.

Ilya currently serves in an advisory capacity to a number of organizations including entrepreneurial ventures and venture capital.

Previously Ilya has founded, raised funds for, and run a number of entrepreneurial ventures. One venture was the first to utilize IBM’s Watson to power a sports analytics app.

Ilya holds a BS and MS degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Kansas. During his academic career he helped build a university wide transportation research institute that grew to $80M of activity. After completing the Global Scholar Fellowship at the Kauffman Foundation and embedding in the Cisco Systems IP group as part of that experience, he left ABD (all but dissertation) as a Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Engineering to pursue entrepreneurial ventures.

John Tyler:

John Tyler is general counsel, secretary, and chief ethics officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. He has authored or co-authored numerous law review articles, academic articles, and book chapters including on distinctive aspects of social entrepreneurship/enterprise like ethical implications of hybrid forms, fiduciary duty, regulation, public private partnerships, social impact, and clarity of purpose and accountability as matters of policy and practice. He also frequently presents and guest lectures on those topics. John has designed and is teaching two masters’ level courses for Columbia University’s Masters in Nonprofit Management, including one on social purpose businesses. Missouri Lawyers Media acknowledged John in 2018 as an inaugural Top Legal Innovator.

Antonio (Tony) VanTrece:

Tony L. Van Trece is a lifelong resident of Kansas City, MO., a dedicated family man, and aspiring community activist. A 2019 graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law. Tony is a current member of the Missouri Bar Association (where he serves on various committees and sections for the state of Missouri, including the Real Property law section),   Tony was also a 2020 Barrister graduate of the Ross T. Roberts Trial Academy and 2023 graduate of the Real Estate Diversity Initiative, stepping into the role as a real estate developer with the Urban Land Institute (ULI). 

Currently at the City of Kansas City, Missouri, Tony will be focusing his practice on real estate development; public/private partnerships (affordable housing); and public finance.  Previously, Tony worked at Franke Schultz & Mullen P.C. (FSM) handling real estate transactions, construction litigation, and torts from (2022-2023).  Prior to FSM, Tony was an Assistant Prosecutor at the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office from (2020 to 2022) and Law Clerk for the Honorable Judge John M. Torrence from (2019-2020). 

Jacob Wagner:

Jacob A. Wagner, PhD, Associate Professor of Urban Planning & Design, and co-founder of the UMKC Center for Neighborhoods (CFN). He serves as a co-investigator on the research project entitled Everyday Entrepreneurship in Kansas City – funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which looks at the relationships between local business development and neighborhoods in Kansas City.

In 2015, he co-founded the Center for Neighborhoods (CFN) as a research and outreach center in the UMKC Urban Planning & Design Program. CFN provides neighborhood leadership development, advocacy planning, and capacity building for neighborhood leaders in the Kansas City region. CFN has served hundreds of leaders, advocates and organizations since 2016.

Wagner has worked to establish and build Kansas City’s membership in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as the first and only UCCN City of Music in the United States. He is an active participant in the UNESCO Creative Cities Network with the Cities of Music and was recently elected Deputy Coordinator by his peers. In 2020, he and his colleague Anita Dixon-Brown received the Public Service Award for a Leading Music Cities Professional from Sound Diplomacy.

He is a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Urban Design. His research has been funded by HUD’s Office of University Partnerships, Local Investment Support Corporation (LISC) and the City of Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Wagner has published planning research in the Journal of Planning History, the Journal of Planning Education and Research, Cityscape: HUD’s Journal of Policy Development and Research, the Journal of Urban Design, and the Journal of Urbanism.

William Wells:

William Wells Jr. is the Executive Director of aSTEAM Village. William is responsible for running over twenty innovative STEM programs and adult certification readiness in the I.T. sector. Under William’s leadership, aSTEAM Village was recognized as the 2019 - 2020 National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE) Jr. Pre-College Initiative (PCI) National Chapter of the Year. As the architect of aSTEAM Village’s innovative program methodology, aSV robotics and engineering teams have reached national championships with a student impact rate of over 85% of aSTEAM Village students move on directly to college, digital workforce, or the military. With the experience of installing a metro-wide wireless broadband network in 2002, William knew the end-to-end process of designing, building, installing, provisioning, and maintaining a 24/7 digital voice, video, and data network would not only empower communities to become SMART Communities that leverage digital technology and a community network. 

Today, aSTEAM Village is under a 2-year contract with the City of Kansas City, Missouri to deploy a community-driven broadband network as a STEM Education and Digital Workforce Development program for middle school and high school students. This initiative named Digital KC Now has the students who call themselves the RedTails Digital Engineering Alliance, have successfully deployed an active network that is currently providing broadband connectivity to residential and commercial customers in Kansas City's 3rd Council District. 

aSTEAM Village and the RedTails have also partnered with STEM City USA to create a digital twin of Kansas City called STEM City Kansas City which is where education, healthcare, workforce development, and enterprise merge the physical world and the virtual world to leverage broadband intensive applications that can live and thrive in the Metaverse.

William is committed to supporting today's youth as they emerge today as the leaders of tomorrow.

Megan Williams:

Megan Williams is the Community Outreach Coordinator/Operations for aSTEAM Village. She brings her expertise in nonprofit leadership. Megan is the founder of Smiles and Kuts, a nonprofit organization that provides gifts of confidence to youth in Kansas City by providing haircuts, confidence building workshops, and resources. She also has over 20 years of entrepreneurship experience. Megan is passionate about helping people, communities and oversees the implementation of outreach strategies, community engagement and operations for aSTEAM Village. 

Tate Williams:

Tate Williams is the owner and founder of CoBuild which works at the intersection of affordable housing and social entrepreneurship to help youth get excited to work in the trades. www.cobuildkc.com.

York Wilson:

York Wilson is the President and CEO of Strategic Workforce Development Inc.

Pedro Zamora:

Pedro Zamora is the Executive Director of the Hispanic Economic Development Corporation in Kansas City. Pedro’s experience in starting and selling small businesses and working in corporate wireless technology companies that generated huge profits for investors allowed him to share his passion in helping others by serving as a board of directors’ member for several not-for-profit charitable organizations. These organizations provide financial, housing and education assistance services to the underserved communities. 

While serving on the board of directors for HEDC, he used his entrepreneurial and technological experiences and helped the organization develop an online bilingual business training program that is used across the country teaching immigrant and refugee business owners how to manage their business online and improve their operations and increase their profits.

Pedro is also the Executive Director for the Impacto Loan Fund that provides small business startup and growth affordable loans necessary to stabilize family business and developing affordable housing in LMI communities.