Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Sylvester James and Unified Government Mayor/CEO Joe Reardon have appointed a Bistate Innovations Team of 12 individuals led by Mike Burke and Dr. Ray Daniels. The goal of the team is to be imaginative, innovative and inspired in recommending ways the Google Ultra High-Speed Fiber (“Google Fiber”) can benefit the KC metro area and its citizens. The group will explore ways the community can use Google Fiber to improve public services; create community; assist and advance education; spark economic development; create jobs; or otherwise improve the standard of life in the KC metro area.
The Innovations Team is charged with creating a playbook that identifies creative uses of the Google infrastructure and how best to market the KC metro’s high-speed fiber connectivity in recruiting business, industry and institutional interests to the area. A key goal of the team is to support the mayors in modeling how communities can effectively cooperate in a strategic, sustained initiative to advance the progress of the region.
Mayor Joe Reardon said “We’re asking the members of this unique team to think big about things that haven’t yet been imagined. The playbook they create will be inspired and innovative in its suggestions for using the Google fiber project to spark economic development, advance educational and health-care opportunities and improve daily life in our urban neighborhoods. But as important, this effort will create a sustainable model for how our two Kansas City communities can effectively work together to advance the entire region.”
“Google’s deployment in Kansas City is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I am very proud of the talented group that has agreed to shape this process. They are a diverse group representing each of Google’s high-speed focus areas. From designers to small-business owners, health care to education, the arts to industry, these exceptional individuals will work together to explore every possibility our exciting partnership with Google may offer. I am confident this team will seize this transformational moment for both Kansas Cities,” said Mayor Sly James.
The Mid-America Regional Council will convene and facilitate the group. Entities such as the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, the Wyandotte Economic Development Council and the Kauffman Foundation will be asked to serve as advisers. Other advisers and resources may be used upon agreement of the innovations team, The mayors will also ask Google to serve in advisory/resource role.
Mayor James’ Appointments:
Missouri Co-Chair Mike Burke is a director and Vice President of King Hershey, PC. He is a lifelong Kansas City resident and attended Rockhurst High School. He received his undergraduate degree in History from Georgetown University in 1970 and his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center. He was Research Editor for Law and Policy in International Business. Mr. Burke has served at the highest levels of many of the city’s boards and commissions, philanthropic organizations and public events. He was recently appointed by Mayor James to chair Kansas City’s newly created Arts Task Force. Mr. Burke is a resident of Kansas City, Mo., north of the river
Christopher Carroll is a Business Strategist with UMB Financial, responsible for enterprise-wide technology development and business process engineering. Prior to joining UMB, Mr. Carroll was a Business Development Executive with Cerner Corporation responsible for information technology engagements in the United Kingdom, United Arab Emirates, Australia, Saudi Arabia and Canada. Mr. Carroll brings more than 10 years of Engineering, Information Technology and Business Development Experience to the innovation team. Mr. Carroll earned dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Engineering and Business from the University of Arizona. He currently serves on the board of directors of the Sister City Association of Kansas City. He is a resident of Kansas City, Mo.
Jase Wilson is the CEO of the civic software development firm Luminopolis, headquartered from Officeport in the Crossroads. He was an early organizer and strong advocate for Kansas City’s Google Fiber bid. Mr. Wilson has studied the relationship between cities and technology for more than a decade, and is a member of the international urban technology think tank City Innovation Group. He holds degrees in city planning from UMKC and MIT.
Sandra A. J. Lawrence is Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice President of The Children’s Mercy Hospitals and Clinics, one of the nation’s leading pediatric hospital systems. Prior to her employment with Children’s Mercy, Ms. Lawrence served as CFO and SVP of Midwest Research Institute, as VP of Administration for Gateway Computers, and as President of Stern Brothers. Her board involvements include Westar Energy, the Nelson-Atkins Museum, the Hall Family Foundation, and the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which she formerly chaired. Also, she once served as Chair of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and on numerous other boards. Ms. Lawrence received her MBA from Harvard Business School, concentrating in the areas of finance and real estate; a Master’s of Architecture from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, specializing in civil engineering and urban design; and an A.B. from Vassar College with a major in Psychology and an emphasis in statistics. Ms. Lawrence has a long history of civic and professional involvement in the Greater Kansas City community.
Alex Couchonnal McManus is a Project Manager for the Bioscience Technology Business Center at the University of Kansas Medical Center, a business incubator focused on creating and growing early-stage life sciences and high-technology companies. Previously, she was a Business Analyst at the Lawrence Regional Technology Center (LRTC), a high-tech business incubator in Lawrence, Kansas. Prior to joining LRTC, Mrs. McManus helped develop and launch a start-up career advancement program for Swope Community Enterprises in Kansas City, Missouri. Mrs. McManus earned an M.S. in Technology Commercialization from the University of Texas at Austin McCombs School of Business, an MBA with a concentration in Entrepreneurship from the University of Kansas and a BBA in Finance from Southern Methodist University. Mrs. McManus is a resident of Kansas City, Missouri.
Anthony Magliano is the founder and Artistic Director of Quixotic, Kansas City’s eclectic and innovative work of performance, visual and musical theater. Mr. Magliano collaboratively leads Quixotic’s company of performers and technicians to create original, passionate and unpredictable work culminating in the company’s annual state performance. A percussionist and composer, Mr. Magliano is also an award-winning graphic and motion designer serving as Interactive Creative Team Leader at Bernstein-Rein Advertising, one of the nation’s largest and most successful firms. Mr. Magliano lives in Kansas City, Missouri.
Mayor Reardon’s appointments:
Kansas Co-Chair Ray Daniels is former Superintendent of the Kansas City, Kan,, School District and current Chair of the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College Board of Trustees. He is a Senior Associate with Cross & Joftus, LLC. He serves on numerous civic boards and commissions, including United Way of Wyandotte County, the Children’s Campus of Kansas City, KCPT public television and the Community Foundation of Wyandotte County. Daniels began his career in education as an English teacher in Kansas City, Kansas.
Barbara Atkinson is Executive Vice Chancellor of the University of Kansas Medical Center and Executive Dean of the University of Kansas School of Medicine. She leads the University of Kansas Medical Center’s efforts to enhance human health by championing leading-edge biomedical research, providing exceptional students with excellent educational opportunities and patients with access to the latest advances in medicine. She is focused on improving our region’s health by bringing a National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center to the Medical Center and advancing the Medical Center’s prestigious research programs in cancer, neurology, liver, kidney and reproductive biology. In 2010, she was appointed by President Barack Obama to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues.
Bernard Franklin is Assistant to the Vice President of student life at Kansas State University, education consultant at Redeemer Fellowship, and a higher education consultant. Dr. Franklin has had a long career in both business and higher education, and has consulted to numerous local, national and international organizations on a wide range of leadership, diversity, urban father, family, and youth issues. Dr. Franklin’s work in higher education has led to positions at the University of South Alabama, Rollins College, Kansas State University, and Donnelly College, and as former President of Metropolitan Community College-Penn Valley in Kansas City, Missouri. He also served as Executive Director of Kauffman Scholars. Dr. Franklin serves on the board of Truman Medical Center, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City, Partnership for Children, the Franklin Center, and is president of the board of the Satchel Paige Foundation. He resides in the Argentine neighborhood of Kansas City, Kan.
Bill Miller is a certified public accountant with Cochran Head Vick & Co and a former Commissioner for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County/Kansas City, Kan. His public service career began in 1995 when he was appointed to serve on Kansas City, Kansas, City Council and was active in the consolidation of Kansas City, Kansas, and Wyandotte County. He was nominated Leader of the Year by KCK Housing/National Community Development and selected Ingram’s Magazine 40 Under 40 Power Elite Class of 1998.
Daniel Serda is a city planner whose work focuses on revitalizing urban neighborhoods through strategies that reinforce sense of place while enhancing access to economic opportunity. He teaches in the Dept. of Urban Planning in the KU School of Architecture, Design and Planning, and has led planning studios that contributed design concepts and redevelopment proposals to neighborhood plans on both sides of the state line. In addition to prior civic appointments and service to both cities, Dr. Serda currently serves on the Wyandotte County
Planning Commission and the Kansas City (Mo.) Transportation and Parking Commission. He is also one of two Kansas representatives on the Board of Advisors to the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Dr. Serda holds a Ph.D. in City Design and Development and master’s degree in city planning, both from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, as well as an undergraduate degree in political science from Harvard University.
Latoria J. “Torrie” Chinn is Principal of Trini-Con, Thel & Beck, LLC, a small government contract compliance results company. Before forming in 2010, she was Compliance Officer for International Speedway Corporation (ISC), namely, Kansas Speedway, for 10 years. Trini-Con continues to represent ISC, Kansas Speedway, Kansas Entertainment (a joint venture of Kansas Speedway and Penn National Gaming) the developers of Hollywood Casino at Kansas Speedway. Currently, Ms. Chinn recently has served as the first Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Contract Fairness Board for the city of Kansas City, Kansas; is Advisor to the state-appointed Kansas African American Affairs Commission; and served on the Board of Directors for the Kansas City, Kansas, Community College H.E.A.R.T. (Hospitality, Entertainment and Retail Training).
