Events

David Nelson is a coach, teacher, and founder of The Human Agenda.

David’s area of expertise, “appreciative inquiry” helps provide an intentional framework of listening and sharing diverse points of view to help us build on what’s right, (and what we have in common) instead of focusing on what’s wrong (and different) to live a fully human life.  This is especially important today, as we live in times of division, and instability around the world.

David Naster was a theater/psychology major in college. He soon realized he’d rather make fun of people instead of helping them. That’s what lead him to becoming not just a comedian, but an internationally, well-known comedian. Naster was the only American Comedian to open for Celine Dion’s World Love Tour. He has been a headline act for Norwegian Cruise Lines for 29 years, and he has received awards from colleges and TV for his comedic talents.

Yet, underneath all of the laughs, David discovered that humor and laughter could heal the deepest emotional and physical pains. That led him back to his psychology roots, creating You Just Have To Laugh.  This one-of-a kind brand and applicable philosophy inspires, encourages and brings joy to millions of people. By using real examples of real life from real people, David Naster speaks to professional and private organizations worldwide. 

David is an award winning author and filmmaker. His books and films have been implemented at the Stanford Cancer Center, Mayo Clinic and MD Anderson Cancer Institute. 

In his 40th year of making people laugh, David’s passion and purpose is simple “To Help Heal the World, One Laugh at a Time.”

Matt Mayer is the Kansas City Market President for Busey Bank (formerly CrossFirst Bank), a $20B financial institution headquartered in Leawood, Kansas with location in Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Texas, Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Florida and New Mexico.  Mr. Mayer joined CrossFirst Bank in August 2019, and was promoted to Market President in January 2023.  Mr. Mayer is responsible for all lines of business, including Commercial & Small Business Banking, Commercial Real Estate Banking, Community Development, Treasury & Payment Solutions, Private Banking and Retail operations.  Mr. Mayer is a graduate of the University of Kansas and resides in Olathe, KS with his wife and two children.

Marquita Taylor, MBA, serves as the CEO of MB Taylor Consulting, LLC, offering expertise in nonprofit fund development, marketing and public relations. She also is the President of the Santa Fe Neighborhood Council, is extremely active in several leadership roles in the community. 

She was appointed to the Jackson County, Missouri Memorial Wall Commission, the City of Kansas City's Neighborhood Tourism and Development Commission (NTDF), and the Kansas City Neighborhood Accountability Board (KCNAC). She also holds board positions with Historic Kansas City, Project Equality, The Community Resource Team (CRT) and The Leroy Satchel Paige Family Home, Inc.

Her past board contributions include the NAACP of Greater Kansas City, Boys Choir and Girls’ Choir of Kansas City, Midwest Association of Fundraising Professionals, and numerous other organizations dedicated to community service and development. Marquita has received various awards and accolades. 

In addition to her consulting firm, Marquita owns Marquita Brockman Taylor, Special Events, providing exceptional event coordination and management services for major fundraising events throughout the community.

Marquita earned her bachelor’s degree in management from the University of Phoenix in Kansas City and a master’s in business administration. She also holds certifications in Conflict Resolution and Mental Health First Aid. In her leisure time, she enjoys staying informed on global affairs and working in the community she loves.

Krishna Lee has an extensive background in athletics as both a decorated competitor and a seasoned coach. She served as the captain of the 2022 U.S. Women’s National Tackle Football Team, leading them to a gold medal victory at the IFAF World Championships in Vantaa, Finland. That same year, she was named Defensive Player of the Year and Team MVP for the Kansas City Glory Women’s Tackle Football team, as well as the Defensive Player of the Year for the Women's National Football Conference (WNFC).

Before excelling in football, Lee was a standout track and field athlete at the University of Missouri, earning three All-American honors, twelve All-Big 12 accolades, and a Big 12 Championship. Her achievements led to her induction into the 2024 class of the University of Missouri Intercollegiate Athletics Hall of Fame.

In addition to her playing career, Lee has over 25 years of coaching experience across multiple levels, including NCAA Division I, professional, and para-athlete track & field. She has also coached varsity high school track and basketball, as well as numerous youth recreational sports. Her passion for coaching and leadership extends beyond the field, as she regularly speaks to collegiate and high school athletes about strategies for success both in competition and in life.

She served as the Athletic Director of Kansas City Parks & Recreation for 6 years shaping the landscape of recreational sports in the city. Lee currently serves as the General Manager of the Kansas City Glory, continuing her leadership in professional women’s tackle football.

LaTasha Jacobs is executive director of Pathway Financial. 

LaTasha Jacobs is a seasoned professional with more than 10 years of commercial banking experience in the Kansas City area. As the Executive Director of Pathway Financial Education, she brings extensive knowledge and an enviable network of community relationships to her role. Prior to joining Pathway Financial Education, LaTasha served as a Community Development Banker at UMB, one of the region’s largest banks, where she helped clients with customized solutions to meet their banking needs and objectives.

Throughout her career, LaTasha has been dedicated to supporting under-resourced communities, frequently leading financial education workshops and providing technical assistance to those in need. Her strong background in branch banking and operations has given her a comprehensive understanding of the unique needs of local residents, and how to connect them to the proper resources.

LaTasha was raised in Wyandotte County, Kansas, where her dedication to community service took root early. While in high school, she volunteered with nonprofit organizations, nurturing her passion for empowering individuals and families to build financial skills, knowledge, and security.

As Executive Director, LaTasha is committed to broadening Pathway Financial Education’s reach and impact and strengthening its partnerships. Her leadership is instrumental in driving equity, expanding access to the underserved, and helping break the cycle of generational poverty that afflicts many underrepresented communities.

Angelique Cheatem, Adult and Youth Program Manager

Angelique Cheatem is a highly dedicated and skilled professional in the financial services industry, with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Financial Counseling earned in 2017 from the University of Missouri-Columbia. During her academic journey, Angelique actively engaged in the Financial Planning Association, demonstrating her early commitment to mastering the complexities of financial literacy.

Her passion for community service began in her youth, where she volunteered with the nonprofit organization Ladies/Teens of Essence, contributing to programs aimed at supporting and uplifting those in need. This dedication to service has remained a cornerstone of Angelique’s career, as she strives to empower individuals and families through financial education.

With four years of extensive experience in the finance industry, Angelique has honed her expertise and continues to focus on improving financial literacy for everyone she meets. Currently, she serves as the Financial Education Program Manager at Pathway Financial Education, where her work reflects her unwavering commitment to making a positive impact in the lives of others.

Brittany Peterson has served in the reentry community with the Second Chance Risk Reduction Center since 2013. Believing deeply in developing community collaboration and strengthening Kansas City, she is a member of the Violence Free Kansas City Committee, KC360, leads the Reentry Subcommittee group of KC360, the Greater Kansas City Reentry Team Network, Regional Workforce Intelligence Network, a National Trainer in Workforce Development for the National Institute of Corrections, and sits on the Advisory Board of the Educational Opportunity Center. Brittany conducts Reentry Simulations to support Community Education and Special Projects initiatives, helps to build awareness around the barriers of successful reintegration efforts, as well as working to break down deeply rooted systemic injustices. Her focused and determined efforts at promoting an inclusive workforce has helped lead the Second Chance Program to a successful, evidence-based reentry program. She strives to help break the practice of working in organizational silos amongst fellow social service agencies and is helping to lead the charge in implementing fair hiring practices in the Kansas City Metro.

Danielle D Jones PhD MPH

VP of Accountability, Belonging, and Culture

Association of Women’s Health Obstetrics and Neonatal Nurses

Danielle joined AWHONN in 2022 as the organization’s first Vice President of Accountability, Belonging, and Culture.  She previously served as director of the American Academy of Family Physicians’ Center for Diversity and Health Equity (CDHE). In this role, she operationalized the strategic priorities of the AAFP’s Board of Directors and executive leadership on issues of workforce diversity, health in all policies, medical education and practice tools that advance equity. 

Prior to joining the AAFP in 2017, Danielle served as Director of Maternal Child Health for March of Dimes Kansas and a Fellow with the Army Public Health Center at Fort Leavenworth KS advising the Senior Commander of the Combined Arms Center. Both roles involved the development and implementation of equity focused health promotion strategies to reduce disparities in maternal mortality, preterm birth, substance use and suicide by addressing the social determinants of health, policy, systems and infrastructure.

Danielle’s service to the Kansas City area includes board appointments to organizations like Uzazi Village, KCKCC Foundation, Reach Healthcare Foundation, United Way of Greater Kansas City, and Young Women on the Move.  She also holds an adjunct faculty appoint at the University of West Florida Department of Public Health. 

Danielle completed her doctoral degree from the University of Kansas School of Medicine in Health Policy and Management where her research on unconscious bias has led to the development of evidence-based curriculum and training for faculty. She also earned a Master of Public Health from the University of West Florida and a Bachelor of Science in Biology from the University of Missouri Kansas City.

Chris Harren is the Senior Vice President of Development for Gillon Property Group and Country Club Plaza leading all current and future development for the Plaza.  In his role for Country Club Plaza, Chris oversees all aspects of development, long-term planning, place making and value creation.  Prior to joining the Plaza ownership team, Chris worked for a family-owned private equity office in Houston building a robust real estate development portfolio in multiple asset classes including mixed-use, multifamily, office and hospitality.  Earlier in his career, Chris worked for a global real estate developer as head of multifamily construction in the Southwest region of the US after leading multiple corporate office build-to-suit completions in the Houston area.  Chris started his career working with a general contractor in the healthcare, life science, and higher education markets after graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a degree in civil engineering.  In total, Chris has developed or built nearly 6 million square feet of real estate including over 2,500 multifamily units and 1.4 million square feet of office over his 20-year career. 

Mike Theobald – born and raised in rural Iowa.  Moved south for college and never really left.  Original plan was to be a secondary social studies teacher but quickly learned that teaching history & government to teenagers wasn’t going to work out.  Learned that you can have a career in higher education and not be a faculty member.  Obtained a master’s degree (Allen Jenks and I have the same degree … he can explain it) and have worked on a college campus for over 35 years.  In my 23rd year (I’m calling it my Michael Jordan year) at Rockhurst University as Director of Career Development.  Very fortunate to have discovered a career path that I truly enjoy.

Each summer, 30 youth ages 14 to 16 commit to a two-year position working on the BoysGrow farm. For many, it’s their first paid job — an experience that teaches them responsibility, teamwork, and core vocational skills in areas such as culinary arts, construction, agriculture, marketing, and mechanics. Through hands-on work and mentorship rooted in farming and entrepreneurship, the boys gain a sense of pride, identity, discipline, and a practical understanding of the business world.

Public Media has faced immense headwinds in the last decade, none more disruptive than the recission package passed by Congress in July of 2025. Sarah Morris, General Manager of KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR station, discusses the warning signs and the decisions made in advance of the federal funding claw back, and the changes necessary to make KCUR sustainable well into the future.

Biography: Sarah Morris

Sarah Morris was named General Manager of KCUR 89.3, Kansas City's NPR affiliate, and 91.9 Classical KC in 2021. Both are a service of the University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC). KCUR is home to three major collaborative journalism services: the nine-state Harvest Public Media, the statewide Kansas News Service, and the NPR regional Midwest Newsroom, which provides investigative and in-depth reporting for Kansas, Iowa, Missouri and Nebraska.

During her early tenure, Sarah helped create the Midwest Newsroom, as well as a local news collaborative, the KC Media Collective, which includes six nonprofit media organizations. She secured a $1 million, three-year grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to support this effort.

She also launched KCUR Studios, which currently produces podcasts of local and national interest, reaching an average of 100,000 people each month. Prior to her current position, Sarah spent nearly two decades in various leadership positions in the private and nonprofit sectors. Most recently, she was Assistant Vice Chancellor of Strategic Marketing and Communications at UMKC, which included oversight of KCUR, from 2004-2020.

Sarah currently serves as a board member for the Station Resource Group. She is a 2024 Public Media Diversity Fellow of the Riley Institute at Furman, received an MBA from Baker University and a Bachelor of Science-Journalism degree from the University of Colorado, Boulder.

Kansas City University Medical School

Jennifer Montgomery is a Rotary Peace Fellow and global human rights advocate with over 25 years of experience in advocacy, program management, public administration, and strategic communications. She spent a decade as the Director of Human Trafficking Education and Outreach for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office and is a subject matter expert on human trafficking and Gender-Based Violence with the Attorney General Alliance Africa Partnership for Justice.

In 2021, she was awarded a competitive Rotary Peace Fellowship at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The focus of her fellowship initiative was transforming conflict-based sexual violence through arts-based inquiry, differentiation and storytelling with women in extreme poverty. In response to her work with at-risk women and girls in Africa, she partnered with three Ugandan professional women to form Magenta Girls Initiative (MGI), an international NGO mobilizing community support for girls’ education and empowerment. MGI is dedicated to lifting vulnerable women and girls in Africa out of generational poverty through psychosocial support, education, and vocational skills training. Jennifer currently serves as President and CEO.

In 2025, Jennifer partnered with Kansas Rotarians in her home District 5710 on The Intersection to Care (ITC) project, a comprehensive reentry and support initiative for women who have experienced trauma and exploitation. As part of this effort, she designs and facilitates a healing arts program that fosters emotional safety, resilience, and self-expression. Her work contributes to the project’s broader goals of addressing trauma, promoting empowerment, strengthening long-term stability through skills training and housing support, and reducing recidivism among participants.

Jennifer holds a B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas, an M.A. in Arts Education from the University of Florida, and a Postgraduate Diploma in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation from Makerere University. Jennifer is an elected member of the Rotary Peace Fellow Alumni Association Board of Directors and a regular speaker at Rotary clubs, district conferences, and zone institutes across the United States and Africa. Last year, she was selected and trained as a Rotary Positive Peace Activator for the North America and Caribbean Cohort. She is also a Paul Harris Fellow.

Kansas City Chamber of Commerce

Mrs. Kansas 2025