Events

Connor Uptegrove of CCVI

Connor Uptegrove is a public servant and leader in field of education and health care. He currently serves on the organizational leadership team of Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired, as the Director of Strategic Partnerships. For nearly 75 years, Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired (CCVI) has served students who are blind or have low vision. Through the Mobile Outreach for Vision Education (MOVE) Program, Early Intervention Program, and the Early Learning Academy, over 300 children annually receive educational support, evaluations, and therapy. All programming is designed to meet children and their families where they are, both geographically and developmentally. CCVI partners with the state of Missouri’s infant and toddler program, as well as area school districts to ensure that all children receive appropriate education from birth until age 21. With a priority on identification, intervention, and accessibility, CCVI teaches families how to navigate the sighted world and changes the way the world sees children who are blind. From the Kansas/Colorado border to Cape Girardeau, CCVI’s staff works to achieve the vision: empowered children, who thrive in an equitable system of support, regardless of their visual impairment.

Connor has held numerous positions at different organizations across the Kansas City metro area and beyond including CCVI, the Kansas City Zoo, and institutions of higher education. Connor is currently in the Centurions Leadership Program of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce. As a member of the Pinnacle Class of 2026, he has served on the Education Task Force, and currently serves as the co-chair for the Healthy KC Task Force and sits on the Community Leadership committee.

Jade Van Slykea from HopeKids

Jade Van Slyke is a passionate community builder and difference maker dedicated to creating hope-filled experiences for children and families in Kansas City. As the Program Manager at HopeKids Kansas City, she helps turn challenging moments into lasting memories for families with a child who has a life-threatening medical condition.

With over 20 years of experience in nonprofit leadership, community engagement, and event management, including roles with the American Lung Association, Love KC, and Heartland Community Church, Jade has devoted her career to strengthening relationships and building programs that bring people together for a greater purpose.

A proud Kansas Citian, Jade believes in engaging intentionally, serving compassionately, and making a meaningful difference in others' lives.

Elizabeth Keever of Harvesters

Lindsey Douglas is the Chief Operations Officer for KC2026. With more than 18 years of experience in government affairs and the transportation industry, Douglas is a proven implementation strategist for large initiatives and projects. 

Douglas previously worked as Deputy Secretary of the Kansas Department of Transportation.  She helped create, and worked with the legislature to pass, the 10-year, $9 Billion Eisenhower Legacy Transportation Program. She was also integral to the creation and passage of the T-WORKS Transportation Program in 2010.

Douglas has also served as Senior Director of Public Affairs for Union Pacific Railroad in Kansas City and in Chicago, representing the company in multiple states.

She serves on the Looking for Lincoln Board, the Student Activities Advisory Committee for the Blue Valley School Board, and the Advisory Board for Aligned.

Lindsey earned a Master of Studies in Environmental Law from Vermont Law School and a Bachelor of Public Administration from Washburn University.

Café Corazón, 110 Southwest Blvd., Kansas City, M O 64108

In this presentation, Stephanie Boyer, CEO of reStart, shares an overview of the current housing and homelessness landscape in the Kansas City region. We will explore the key drivers of housing instability, the impact on individuals and the broader community, and how reStart’s evidence-based housing solutions—including Rapid Re-Housing, Transitional Housing and Family Lodge—are helping people move from homelessness to long-term stability. The presentation highlights why housing is foundational to health, economic growth, and community well-being.

About Stephanie

Stephanie Boyer is a dedicated social work professional with over 25 years of experience advocating for increased access to behavioral health care and housing for underserved and vulnerable populations. She holds a Master’s Degree in Social Work from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has been a driving force in developing innovative programs that provide essential support to individuals and families in crisis.

As the Chief Executive Officer of reStart, Inc., Stephanie leads one of Kansas City’s most comprehensive nonprofit agencies serving individuals and families experiencing homelessness. reStart provides a continuum of housing services and wraparound support to help individuals exit homelessness and secure permanent housing. Under her leadership, reStart continues to expand its impact through strategic partnerships and evidence-based solutions to address homelessness in the region.

Stephanie graduated from the Greater Kansas City Chambers Centurion Leadership Program in January 2023. 

Before joining reStart, Stephanie served as the Director of ReDiscover’s Kansas City Assessment and Triage Center (KC-ATC), where she played a pivotal role in launching and overseeing the center’s operations. In collaboration with key community stakeholders, she helped establish KC-ATC as a diversion program for individuals experiencing behavioral health crises, reducing reliance on emergency services and the criminal justice system by connecting individuals to immediate behavioral health care and housing resources.

Stephanie also spent a decade at the Kansas City Municipal Court as the Deputy Court Administrator, where she enhanced the city’s specialty treatment courts, including drug court, veterans’ court, mental health court, and domestic violence court. She played a critical role in expanding access to treatment and diversion programs, ensuring individuals received the appropriate support within the justice system.

Throughout her career, Stephanie has remained committed to creating pathways to stability for those in need. Her expertise in program development, crisis intervention, and community collaboration continues to drive meaningful change in Kansas City’s housing and behavioral health landscape.

Website: www.restartinc.org

reStart LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/restartkcmo/

reStart Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/restartinckc/

reStart Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reStartKC

reStart YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@restartinc.1660

CEO Integrated Psychiatric Consultants

This presentation explores the power of inclusion through the lens of sport, storytelling, and community impact. Drawing from my work with Special Olympics Kansas and my experiences as a coach and author of my children's book, "Becoming Confident", I will share how creating opportunities for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities builds confidence, leadership, and belonging. Attendees will leave with tangible ways to foster inclusion in their own communities and understand why “putting them in” creates life-changing moments for everyone involved.

Bio:

Katelyn Andrist is a Special Event Coordinator for Special Olympics Kansas, a five-time Unified Special Olympics Coach, and the author of the award-winning children’s book "Becoming Confident." A Wichita native and K-State graduate, she has dedicated over a decade to empowering individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities through sport, literacy, and advocacy. Katelyn is a 2024 Presidential Volunteer Service Award Lifetime Achievement recipient and a Top 4 Finalist for the 2024 Remarkable Woman of Kansas. Through her platform, “Put Them In, Coach: Full-Court Inclusion,” she works to create opportunities that build confidence, leadership, and belonging across communities.

Everyone knows they need an estate plan. Even if you have one, though, it’s important to be aware of what can go wrong. Laura will share eye-opening scenarios to help you review your own estate plan through a slightly different lens.

Laura McKnight | Creative Planning

Laura McKnight serves as the Managing Director of Practice Development, helping extend the firm’s services into specialized industries and other trusted networks where clients have distinctive needs, such as business ownership, aviation, law enforcement, dentistry, professional sports and entrepreneurship.

Laura began her career practicing tax, corporate and estate planning law. Thereafter, spent six years leading business development and market expansion efforts as the president and CEO of a large community foundation that managed more than $5 billion in assets. In 2012, Laura took on the role of CEO at a private equity firm that administered nearly $8 billion in donor-advised fund assets on its SaaS platform before later facilitating the company’s sale to another private equity-owned company.

Leopold Gallery is one of Kansas City’s oldest art galleries. Founded in 1991 by Paul Dorrell, he and his staff have spent 35 years advancing culture in business and in KC. Paul will share his story of Leopold Gallery, how he supports the arts, and how KC businesses have supported the arts in return.

 Lessons from the Road: A Cross-Country Driver’s Story to Purpose and Community

In this engaging and inspiring talk, Emmah shares her journey from Nairobi, Kenya, to leading one of the U.S.’s largest entrepreneurship programs at the Kauffman Foundation. Framed through the lens of a cross-country driver, she reflects on resilience, adaptability, and the pursuit of purpose, while highlighting the critical role of community in driving entrepreneurial success. She also introduces 1 Million Cups, a national movement with over 85,000 members and 800 volunteers across 100+ communities and invites Rotary members to help strengthen local entrepreneurship and expand economic opportunity.

Dr. Emmah Muema is a leader, published scholar, and advocate for entrepreneurship and economic opportunity. She supports the national 1 Million Cups program at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the largest community-driven entrepreneurship initiatives in the United States.

Originally from Nairobi, Kenya, Dr. Muema has built a career across corporate banking, higher education, and public service. She also serves as an adjunct faculty member at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln, teaching international public relations.

Dr. Muema is passionate about building spaces where entrepreneurs can be seen, heard, and supported in strengthening entrepreneurial ecosystems, advancing inclusive economic mobility, and empowering communities through connection and shared learning.

Glimpse into the world of professional storyteller Cynthia Orr. Learn about the armed prison guard who told her, "I guess we won't have to shoot you" and enjoy stories that blend humor and heartfelt wisdom. Cynthia recently took first place in the KC Moth storytelling competition.

Cynthia became a full-time storyteller for ten years, starting in the late 1970s. After a 40-year break from storytelling, she recently moved to Kansas City, where she is happily returning to storytelling. She tells original stories and as well as stories from different cultures and times. Always, her intent is to enrich and delight.

After ten years of extreme hostility between the two presidents, Ike, as president, was scheduled to come to Kansas City for the 40th anniversary of the building of the Liberty Memorial.  Joyce Hall decided that the two presidents should reconcile on that occasion, so he, with a friend of mine, orchestrated the highly unusual, and difficult, reconciliation.  My speech is based on little-known information my friend revealed to me, and on my talking directly with President Truman.

Regional Director Jeff Kahrs will give a high-level overview of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Regional office which he oversees. Participants will gain a better understanding of how HHS staff and programs operate at the local level to serve Missourians. Mr. Kahrs will also discuss HHS accomplishments and priorities under the leadership of President Trump and HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., including the MAHA movement.

Bobbi Jo Reed with Healing House and Kyle Mead with Heartland Center for Behavioral Change

Bobbi Jo Reed found that helping others kept her sober and gave her purpose. Bobbi Jo founded Healing House in 2003 to provide a stable home for women who, like herself, needed a safe place to fully recover after leaving substance abuse treatment.

Kyle Mead assumed the position of President/CEO of Heartland Center for Behavioral Change (HCBC) in August 2019. Kyle has over a 26-year history of serving in various roles at HCBC, previously as Vice President of Behavioral Health Services overseeing all substance use disorder treatment (SUD) programs. Kyle will share the history and services being offered by Heartland Center.

This presentation examines the repetitive rhetorical labor of women workers at the Donnelly Garment Company (DGC) as they resisted the unionization efforts of the ILGWU. In 1937, when tensions with the ILGWU were at their height, over 700 DGC employees penned short letters that asserted their desire to remain free of union interference. Through their epistolary efforts, the workers established their knowledge of the local labor market, described how they used their wages to support their families, detailed the safe working conditions of the DGC factory, and wrote with great affection about the DGC founder, Nell Donnelly Reed.

Speaker Bio: 

Jane Greer is a University of Missouri Curators’ Distinguished Teaching Professor in UMKC’s Department of English. She focuses her archival research on the rhetorical performances and literacy practices of women and girls in the United States in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries and is particularly interested in the rhetorical practices that allow women to claim greater economic agency in the workplace. In 2023, she published Unorganized Women: Repetitive Rhetorical Labor and Low-Wage Women Workers, 1934-1937 with the University of Pittsburgh Press, and it received an honorable mention in the Winfred B. Horner Outstanding Book competition sponsored by the Coalition of Feminist Scholars in the History of Rhetoric and Composition. 

My story begins long before I was born. In 1984, following the anti-Sikh violence and genocide in India, my parents' generation was forced to navigate fear, uncertainty, and the difficult decision to leave behind everything they knew in search of safety and opportunity. As the daughter of Sikh immigrants, I grew up carrying the weight of those sacrifices while trying to understand my own identity as both American and Punjabi. In this presentation, I share my family's journey from Punjab to the United States, the challenges of growing up between two worlds, and how those experiences inspired me to found Eye of an Immigrant. Through storytelling, community building, and immigration support, Eye of an Immigrant works to ensure that immigrant families feel seen, valued, and welcomed. This is a story about resilience, belonging, and how the sacrifices of one generation can become the purpose of the next.

Komalpreet Kaur is the founder and executive director of Eye of An Immigrant (EOAI), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization dedicated to helping immigrant families overcome cultural barriers and achieve their American Dream. She founded EOAI as a junior in high school with a mission to elevate voices, fund pathways to citizenship, and foster a welcoming community. Through EOAI, she launched a storytelling campaign to highlight the immigrant experience and provide critical resources and financial assistance for immigrants seeking a legal pathway to citizenship.

Pat Smithson brings a career spanning nonprofit leadership and entrepreneurship to her role as President and Senior Concierge of Purposeful Aging Concierge LLC, a small business that helps seniors embrace purposeful aging through customized services — event planning, home improvement project management, and community engagement. A former major gift officer and co-owner of a printing business, she combines project management expertise with a passion for helping seniors stay independent, connected, and fulfilled

How do you reinvent an institution without reinventing its identity?

As technology, demographics, family expectations, and the pace of change continue to reshape education, organizations face a defining challenge: adapt—or become dated…or worse, irrelevant. Diane Marty will share how Rockhurst High School has strategically evolved its approach to recruitment, student formation, fundraising, and long-term planning while remaining unwavering in its Catholic, Jesuit mission.

Using one school's experience as a case study, participants will leave with practical insights into leading organizational change without compromising core values. The setting may be a high school, but the lessons apply to any mission-driven organization.

Diane - a former Plaza Rotarian who manages to cling to her somewhat tenuous membership in the Plaza Rotary Scotch tasting events - has spent her entire career in the nonprofit world, starting in community development before moving into full-time fundraising in 1998. She served various organizations in-house before starting her own consultancy (Faire Consulting LLC) in 2010. After earning her doctorate in education with a focus on human and organizational development, she accepted an in-house, full-time role with one of her clients, Rockhurst High School. (After all, educational organizational development is a whole petri dish of study for inquiring minds!) With Rockhurst full-time since January 2021, she appreciates the deep community connections, a 5-minute commute to work (except when State Line Road or 95th Street are under construction!), and the chance to learn something new every day. Diane and Kirk (and Zeke, their Bernese Mountain dog) live in Leawood and take every opportunity they can to visit sons Max and George (presently in Chicago and Minneapolis, respectively). Grateful for the invitation to visit with the Club on September 11!