Appointee Profile: Mary Shannon

Mary Shannon was appointed by County Executive Frank White, Jr. as a district four member to the Jackson County Ethics, Human Relations, and Citizens Complaints Commission.  Mary is a small/diverse business advocator. She is the founder of Connectus Worldwide, a certified professional consulting firm that specializes in the delivery of services to Minority, Woman-owned, Veteran, and LGBTQ Business Enterprises, as well as majority organizations wanting to become more intertwined in the entrepreneurial ecosystem. She is passionate about her work and possesses decades of experience and knowledge that blends corporate strategy and business solutions with entrepreneurial spirit and personalized service. Prior to starting Connectus Worldwide, Mary managed a supplier diversity program for Hallmark Cards for several years.

Mary is on the Leadership Council for the National Small Business Association in Washington D.C., serves on the Board for the International Association of Women, KC Chapter, and the Prospect Business Association. She is a community partner with the Kansas City SCORE Community Strategic Alliance, a philanthropic member with the Sister’s Circle of Greater KC, and a Black Achiever in Business and Industry, Southern Christian Leadership Conference of Greater KC.  She holds a Master of Arts in Management from Webster University. Mary lives, plays, works, and worships in the greater Kansas City, Missouri area.

Appointee Profile: Jacquelyn Eidson

Jacquelyn Eidson was appointed to the Jackson County Ethics, Human Relations, and Citizen Complaints Commission (District 5) by County Executive Frank White, Jr.  Jacquelyn is a SBDC business counselor through the UMKC Innovation Center. Jacque's background includes strategic planning, entrepreneurship, transformational coaching, and teaching at the collegiate level. A Blue Springs resident, Jacque is actively involved in United WE, PREP-KC, KC Mom Collective, and KC Scholars. In addition to being an Organizational Psychology PhD candidate working dutifully on her dissertation, Jacque, along with her husband, is an unpaid Uber driver and cheerleader for her four children.

Appointee Profile: Joni Wickham

Joni Wickham was recently appointed by Governor Mike Parson to the Senate Independent Bipartisan Citizens Commission, tasked with redistricting Missouri Legislative maps.  Joni is co-founder of Wickham James Strategies and Solutions, providing services in public and government relations, mediations, public policy, and leadership development.  Prior to launching her consulting business with former Kansas City Mayor Sly James, Joni spent eight years with the mayor’s office—the majority of them serving as Chief of Staff—Joni has proven herself as an accomplished political strategist, communications expert, and organizational leader. She directed public policy initiatives, communications tactics, and administrative decision-making during her tenure, all while promoting women’s leadership and empowerment issues. 

Joni has worked with the American Federation of Teachers, the Missouri Department of Transportation, and in the office of Missouri Secretary of State Robin Carnahan. While a student at Meredith College, where Joni received her Bachelor of Arts in political studies, she studied abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia. An accomplished alumnus of University of Missouri where she earned her Masters of Arts in political science, Joni was the recipient of the 2019 University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs Mel Carnahan Public Service Award.

Empowerment beyond a lifetime.

United WE Donor Feature: Sherri Wattenbarger

Sherri Wattenbarger with husband, Brian Beins

In 2021, United WE is celebrating 30 years of empowering women. As part of that celebration, we are honoring 30 Founding Members into our Legacy Society and invite you to join, empowering women beyond your lifetime.

“I read an article in the newspaper back in 1998 asking for volunteers. I knew I had to get involved,” says Sherri Wattenbarger, describing how she first got involved with United WE, formerly Women’s Foundation. “The organizations’ impact on the community and the way it makes change in multiple ways really spoke to me.”

Since that destined newspaper article, Sherri has served United WE in numerous roles as an event Chair and Emeritus Chair, on the Board of Directors, as Board Chair, on the Advisory Council, Campaign Cabinet, Patron Committee, a Trailblazer, and a Legacy Society member.

“I decided at age 11 that I wanted to go into public service and have never detoured from that. After law school, I knew I wanted to use my talent and skills to make my community a better place. Supporting and empowering women became a passion.”

As a trial attorney for over 25 years with the Department of Justice, Sherri’s greatest support lies with United WE’s policy work. “How the organization approaches policy in a nonpartisan, collaborative model is amazing to me. The policy work, and the preceding research, creates the biggest area of impact. It makes lasting changes for women and creates economic equity.”

Through United WE’s Legacy Society, Sherri and her husband Brian Beins are not only investing in the future of women but continuing the work she personally has been endeavoring to achieve. “We have worked hard to support women and girls over these last 30 years, but the pandemic has set us back significantly. We need, now more than ever, our community’s support to empower women beyond our lifetime.”

“We need, now more than ever, our community’s support to empower women beyond our lifetime.”

— Sherri Wattenbarger, United WE Legacy Society Member

We invite you to join Sherri and Brian and become one of our 30 founding members of our Legacy Society by including United WE in your estate plans. We thank Sherri and Brian for their on-going support and passion for empowering women and celebrate their tireless work with United WE. Thank you!

Please contact Angie Heer, Chief Development Officer at cdo@united-we.org or 816.988.2007 for further information regarding our Legacy Society.

Appointee Profile: Junetta Everett

Junetta Everett was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly to the Wichita State University Board of Trustees.  Junetta, class of 79’ Wichita State University (WSU) and its first African American Registered Dental Hygienist graduate, joined Delta Dental of Kansas (DDKS) in 1987 serving as the Vice President of Professional Relations for 27 years. Recently retired after 33 years, Everett was responsible for the statewide and national relationships, recruitment, credentialing and overall support of the dental network. She is very involved in the community serving on several boards including the Kansas Health Foundation, Wesley Hospital, Equity Bank and WSU Foundation and National Advisory Council. She previously served as president on the WSU SASO Board.  In 2020 she served as the first person of color and 6th female to Chair the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and is currently servings as the Chamber’s Interim Director of DEI.

Junetta whose passion is intentional inclusion has been honored with numerous awards including the WSU Distinguished Alumni Recognition Award, WBJ Leaders in Diversity, Women Who Lead and Women in Business awards, and the RSCK 2020 Citizen of the Year award. In 2020 she was inducted into The Kansas African American Museum Trailblazer’s Hall of Fame. 

Junetta is married to WSU 78 Alum, Victor Everett, Retired State Farm Agent and the proud parents of five sons and 8 ½ grandchildren.

From Our President & CEO: Join Our Efforts to Create Lasting Change in Missouri & Beyond

This month our mission to advance women’s economic and civic leadership took a huge leap with the first of several Economic Development Task Force Town Hall meetings. 

As I discussed last month, we launched a first-of-its-kind statewide effort to better understand and address the issues affecting Missouri women’s participation in the workforce. At United WE, a key piece of our work is the belief that research + solutions = results. With these town hall meetings between July and October, we will gather the critical qualitative and quantitative data needed to generate solutions that will allow women to reach their full economic potential. We look forward to hearing stories from real women across Missouri, because we believe that our work is only as strong as the people behind it, and that women’s voices need to be heard to create effective change. 

We are fortunate to have generous partner organizations helping us bring these meetings to life over the next several months. This initiative has been made possible with funding from Missouri Foundation for Health and Centene Charitable Foundation. Our strategic partner, the Hawthorn Foundation, has been instrumental in making the town halls a reality, helping to secure host sites and encourage participation. 

On July 20 we held our first Town Hall meeting, which was a virtual conversation with members of our Task Force, leaders from Missouri Southern State University, and residents from the Joplin, MO, area. Thank you to the participants for your honesty and openness, and for sharing your voice. 

In just one meeting, we heard themes on the barriers facing women throughout Missouri whether they live in rural, suburban or urban areas. In particular, access to childcare continues to be a challenge for families, as does healthcare. We also heard that internet access can be a barrier, with skyrocketing costs to create the physical infrastructure to have more reliable internet during pandemic work-from-home conditions. We are continuing to see the impacts of COVID-19 on our communities, and know that women bore the brunt of the impact in the workforce and at home.

Missouri women: I encourage you to attend an upcoming town hall meeting to make your voice heard. In addition to game-changing policy impacts in Missouri, we will strive to develop strategies to engage more states across the country in the future. To do this, we need to hear from women like you. Your stories will inform -- and more importantly, inspire -- the policy changes we need to affect everyday life for women across the nation. It is my hope that this work impacts not only today’s generation of working women, but that it supports future generations of women. Consider as we approach the end of summer and back to school season, what type of future do you want to help us create for today’s young women and girls?

If you aren’t located in Missouri, please know that United WE will replicate this model in Kansas in 2022 and look to communities across the nation as part of our long-term strategic plan. Our work today creates a template for executing a data-driven program approach that drives awareness, policy changes, and ultimately stronger communities. 

Our next town hall is in person in Sedalia, Missouri on August 9, where we will have a breakout session for Spanish-speaking attendees. Additional in-person and virtual town halls will be held in the coming months. View the full schedule and RSVP here: Town Halls - United WE (united-we.org). 

Join our efforts to impact the lives of women across Missouri now and into the future. Thank you for your continued support of our mission to elevate women. 

Kindly,

Wendy D. Doyle, President & CEO

Appointee Profile: Tracee Adams

Tracee Adams was appointed by Governor Laura Kelly to the Wichita State University Board of Trustees.  Tracee serves as president, founder and chief strategist at Hawthorn Capital LLC, an investment and wealth management firm located in Wichita. Ms. Adams has several years of experience in the financial services industry, including as a financial advisor for four years at Morgan Stanley Wealth Management. She also worked at New York Life Insurance Co. for two years as a producer, while simultaneously working as a financial advisor for NYLIFE Securities – a subsidiary of this organization – for a year. Ms. Adams is actively involved in her community. She currently serves on several nonprofit trustee and governance boards, and public boards of trustees, including for the Urban League of Kansas, Junior League of Wichita and pubic fiduciary of the Wichita Police & Fire Pension Fund and Joint Investment Committee, and A Director of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in pre-law/sociology from the University of Maryland.

Appointee Profile: Jillian RainingBird

Jillian RainingBird was recently appointed to the Kansas City Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities.  She also sits on the Board for Eitas and the DESE’s Special Education Advisory Panel.

Jillian is a resident of Kansas City, MO. She is a Cash Operations Manager at a local casino, where she has been employed for 13 years. She is a wife and mother of three girls (17, 8, and 3). 

Jillian’s middle child (Jaelah) was wheelchair bound. This thrust Jillian into advocating and lending her voice to help the disabled community. She has championed for children with special needs on the local, state, and national level. Jillian was the 2021 recipient of the Special Needs Advocate of the year by the National Parents Union. 

Jillian believes that advocacy & support is a vital function for the disabled community. She hopes that her unique perspective of raising a child with physical disabilities positively impacts as many people as possible.

“And however difficult life may seem. There is always something you can do, and succeed at. It matters that you don’t give up.” – Stephen Hawking

Appointee Profile: Christine Comer Stannard

Christine Comer Stannard has been appointed to the Emerging Technology Commission and the Downtown Economic Stimulus Authority Commission in Kansas City, Missouri by Mayor Quinton Lucas.  

Christine is Vice President of Marketing at Labconco, a leading laboratory equipment manufacturer located in Kansas City, Missouri, leading a team that comprises product management, application support, marketing communications and vertical marketing.  Christine is relatively new to the Kansas City area – she is a native of the Chicago area where she managed sales and marketing teams for companies such as Panasonic and NEC.  Her prior board experience has been serving as Chairman of the Laboratory Product Association, Dominican University, Brennan School of Business Advisory Council Member, and currently serves on the LPGA Amateurs KC Metro Board of Directors. 

Christine earned her undergraduate degree from Southern Illinois University and her MBA from Dominican University.  Outside of work she is an avid golfer and tennis player. 

Appointee Profile: Dr. Sybil B. Wyatt

Dr. Sybil B. Wyatt was recently appointed to the Mayor’s Committee for People with Disabilities, tasked with assisting the city in identifying and responding to the needs of citizens with disabilities through advocacy, technical assistance, and coordination of community and governmental services. Additionally, Dr. Wyatt is a member of the Board of Directors for the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, an organization committed to providing a multitude of specialized support services for LGBTQIA+ victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and hate crimes.

As of June 2021, Dr. Wyatt also holds the position of Diversity & Inclusion Officer for the Kansas City VA Medical Center, a position that is first of its kind within the VA system. In this role, she leads the overall development, management, and implementation of strategies meant to advance and sustain a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment for veterans and their families, visitors, and employees. Prior to joining the KCVAMC, Dr. Wyatt worked to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, the University of Kansas, and the Missouri Commission on Human Rights. Dr. Wyatt, a Missouri native, earned her law degree, doctorate in educational leadership, and MBA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and has a master’s in criminal justice from the University of Central Missouri, as well as a bachelor’s in broadcasting from Northwest Missouri State University.