GreenLight Kansas City Announces Selection Advisory Council

GreenLight Fund Kansas City Announces Selection Advisory Council
Kicks Off First Investment Selection Process

Kansas City, MO – June 25, 2019 – GreenLight Fund Kansas City announces the formation of its Selection Advisory Council (SAC), a diverse group of community leaders who will work with the organization on its annual selection process. GreenLight Kansas City is dedicated to improving outcomes in low-income communities by identifying unmet critical needs and supporting the launch of proven, innovative solutions locally to make a transformative impact for children and families in Kansas City. The organization implements the GreenLight Method annually in partnership with the SAC, identifying a priority issue area and then investing in and bringing to Kansas City the best program to address that issue.

The GreenLight Fund Kansas City SAC is made up of leaders from across all sectors of Kansas City’s community ensuring a range of voices will contribute to the core of GreenLight’s work. Members include: Joseph Allen, Sherman Family Foundation; Deidre Anderson, United Inner City Services; Erica Andrade, El Centro; Dr. Karen P. Boyd, Ivanhoe Neighborhood Council; Julie Brewer, United Community Services of Johnson County; Carol Cartmill, United Methodist Church of the Resurrection; Diane Charity, Show Me KC Schools, KC Tenants; Samara Crawford Herrera, Kansas City Public Schools; Damon Daniel, Ad Hoc Group Against Crime; Gina English, Community Volunteer; Ghadeer Garcia, The BrandLab; Colleen Hernandez, SchoolSmart KC; Mark Logan, Idealect; Roosevelt Lyons, Kansas City Parks and Recreation; Jean McDonnell, Community Volunteer; Bryan McGowan, KPMG; Alex Munyard, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDCKC); Mary Nguyen, Cultivate KC; Tyler Nottberg, U.S. Engineering Company Holdings; Mark O’Renick, Community Services League; Kirk Proctor, United Way of Greater Kansas City; Katrina Scott, Mariner Wealth Advisors; Stephenie Smith, Sophic Solutions; Debbie Sosland-Edelman, Sosland Foundation; Denise St. Omer, Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; Leigh Anne Taylor Knight, DeBruce Foundation; Johnny Waller, Choose Your Passion; Justin Wells, KCU; Donna Young, Community Health Council of Wyandotte County.

GreenLight announced its Kansas City site in 2018 to address the area’s staggering poverty statistics and expand opportunities in the community. In Jackson County, Missouri, 1 out of 3 children under 6 and 1 out of 4 kids age 6-18 are living in poverty. Across the state line in Wyandotte County, Kansas, almost 4 out of 10 kids under age 18 live in poverty.

Sarah Haberberger, GreenLight Kansas City Executive Director will lead the annual selection process with support from the SAC, “I am thrilled to be serving Kansas City alongside this incredible group of leaders who, in partnership with Kansas City families, will identify unmet, urgent needs impacting economic mobility in our underserved communities, vet potential organizations based on results and local fit, and provide guidance throughout the process ensuring we invest in equitable opportunities for Kansas City youth and families.”

The diverse group of leaders on the SAC are committed to working together to strengthen Kansas City. One member, Tyler Nottberg, Chairman and CEO U.S. Engineering Company Holdings, explains, “Leigh and I believe that the Kansas City community can leverage GreenLight as an exceptional mechanism for innovative solutions to issues that will determine our whole community’s future success.”

GreenLight Kansas City began its first annual process examining four critical local issue areas impacting economic mobility. Those include violence prevention, early education, youth aging out of foster care, and jobs for returning citizens. The team’s next step is to narrow the issue areas and search the country for the best social innovations that are solving those issues with measurable results in other communities. Due diligence, community conversations, and SAC input will narrow down the options until one organization is selected and launched in Kansas City in early in 2020.

GreenLight accomplishes this important work by convening many facets of the community, all dedicated to improving outcomes in Kansas City. In addition to the newly formed SAC, more than 45 individuals, companies and foundations have contributed $4.4M to support the launch and work of GreenLight Kansas City over its first five years in the city. The investors include Burns & McDonnell, DST Systems, Inc., George K. Baum Family Foundation, Jack F. and Glenna Y. Wylie Charitable Foundation/Midwest Trust/Thomas A. McDonnell, John and Sue Simon, Millie and Mike Brown, Sherman Family Foundation, The DeBruce Foundation, The McDonnell Foundation, Inc, VantEdge – Paul Edgerley & Terry Matlack, Dave and Dee Dillon, Kemper Foundations, Mariner Holdings, Mollie Hale Carter/Sunflower Bank, Robert S. Kaplan, The Sosland Foundation, Tortoise Investments, Tracy and David Lockton, AdPredictive, Brad and Elizabeth Bergman, Darcy Howe and John Black, Fred and Lucy Coulson, Gautreaux Family Fund, Global Orphan Project Founders Circle, Global Prairie Foundation, Jean and Don Wagner, Kansas City Southern, Kansas Health Foundation, KPMG LLP, Leigh and Tyler Nottberg Family Foundation, Neal and Angela Sharma, Polsinelli, Raymond Kowalik, Regnier Family Foundations, Russ and Debbie Welsh, Sandra Price, The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection, Ottensmeyer-Porter Charitable Fund, Ron and Cassie LeMay, The United Way of Greater Kansas City, Abby Sosland and Mark Goodman, Thad and Susan Langford, Bank of America, Scott and Tammy Ford, and an anonymous donor.