Events

Logan Bradshaw works at United Way of the Plains as the Director of Community Impact. In this role, Logan manages relationships with community partners and leads United Way initiatives with a focus on education and youth opportunity.

Logan has over eight years of experience in city government, community relations and project management. She brings a solid foundation in community engagement and a deep commitment to public service to this role. She holds a Master of Public Administration and a bachelor’s degree in Political Science with a minor in Psychology, both from Auburn University.

Cindy Chrisman, Principal at Lawrence Elementary, has been a principal for 11 years, and the last seven of those have been at Lawrence Elementary. She has worked in the district for 28 years. Her journey in education began as an elementary PE teacher, then as an Assistant Principal for 13 years at various elementary schools before moving into the Principal position. She believes that students should have every chance to learn that she had growing up and she strives to make sure that happens. She would not be where she is without the staff at Lawrence behind her doing the incredibly hard work that they do every single day to help their students be the best version of themselves that they can be.

Leslie Turner, Principal Benton Elementary, is in her third year as principal at Benton Elementary, prior to that she was at Black Traditional Magnet for five years and Christa McAuliffe Academy for four years.  Leslie works with students, staff and families is various capacities related to instruction, culture, personnel, family and community engagement and school improvement. Leslie’s goals for Benton are to create a safe, caring community where students, staff and families work together to help every child grow, learn and succeed.  She brings her own experiences as a WPS graduate, strong decision-making skills and a commitment to success.  Leslie holds a Bachelors in Exercise Science, a Masters in Curriculum and Instruction and a Masters of Science Education in Building Leadership.

Brandt Wilson is the founder of Love Schools, a nonprofit dedicated to building meaningful, sustainable partnerships between local communities and public schools. Under his leadership, Love Schools grew from a grassroots effort supporting a single school into a dynamic network spanning 13 schools and 42 community partners, including businesses, nonprofits, and faith-based organizations. Love Schools is now part of the Wichita Public Schools Foundation, where Brandt serves as Program Specialist. Before launching Love Schools, Brandt spent 17 years as a children’s pastor, where he discovered his passion for equipping people and building community. Brandt holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in the education field and uses his background in education, and experience building community to his role at the Wichita Public Schools Foundation. Brandt has been married for over 20 years to Jessica, his constant encourager, and together, they’re raising two incredible teenagers, Campbell and Grady. 

Greer Cowley is a native Wichitan and proud Wichita Public Schools graduate (go Aces!). A graduate of Westminster College in Missouri with a Bachelors in History and Political Science, Greer has spent nearly a decade in non-profit management, including most recently in fundraising development for HumanKind Ministries, and previously in education at Exploration Place. Greer and her husband Tyler reside in west Wichita with their young daughter, Sloane and rambunctious lab, Ace. They both see the value in public education, shaped by their own experiences graduating from Wichita Public Schools, and being part of a family of USD 259 educators.

Multi-Emmy Award Winning journalist and television personality Jemelle Holopirek has been in the storytelling business for nearly thirty years. After a long career as a television news anchor, producer and reporter Jemelle has continued her passion by sharing stories about her love of Wichita and the people who live here.

Jemelle is now the Director of Public Relations at Visit Wichita. She works with local, regional and national media to promote Wichita and the importance of tourism to our community. Jemelle is a native Kansan and has lived in Wichita for more than 30 years. She has three children Steele, Shaye, and Stratten. Her most important job is being a mother and supporting her children’s activities, goals, and future endeavors. In her personal time Jemelle attends many sporting events, loves to spend time at the lake and enjoys vacationing on a warm beach with her family.

Have you ever stopped to think about what it would take to meaningfully improve (or even save) the lives of significant numbers of our world’s kids? 

Dana Brewer and Colin McKenney will illustrate how we can each make a surprising amount of impact on those lives, for a very reasonable investment in their future.

Rotary District 5680's PolioPlus Society was established in 2024 by then District Governor Gloria Homeier, with assistance from current District Governor Isaac McNary and Dana Brewer.

Those fundraising efforts led to the establishment of more than 100 PolioPlus society memberships in our district. The ongoing donations at $100 per year per member raises more than $10,000 annually.

The current 2-to-1 match from the Gates Foundation multiplies the total raised to more than $30,000 per year. Rotary International tells us that three dollars raised will vaccinate one child, so at least 10,000 of our world’s children would be protected against possibly crippling polio or a fatal case of measles, as well as four other diseases prevalent in children: tuberculosis, diphtheria, whooping cough, and tetanus.

As President and CEO of HumanKind; the largest provider of permanent supportive housing in Sedgwick County, Kansas; Adam leads efforts to create stability, opportunity, and belonging for individuals and families experiencing housing insecurity.

He previously co-founded and served as Executive Director of The Neighboring Movement, an organization dedicated to fostering meaningful connections and improving quality of life within neighborhoods.

Across his career, Adam has championed a simple but powerful idea: thriving communities are built through connection, compassion, and collective action.

Star Lumber has had to change as well as reinvent themselves several times over the last 9 decades and Patrick Goebel will highlight some of the key pivotal points as well as share some of the unique ways Star Lumber has governed itself to maintain a happy and healthy family-owned business. 

Patrick grew up in Wichita graduating high school from Bishop Carroll, ran XC for Kansas State University where he earned an accounting degree. Out of college he worked for AGH CPAs for several years before returning to Star Lumber where he worked his way through nearly every part of the company. In 2006, he earned his EMBA from Wichita State Barton School of Business where he later served on the Dean's Advisory Board.   Since 2010, he has served as Star Lumber President, and last year gained the CEO title with Chris Goebel's retirement.  Patrick has been happily married to Paulette for 32 years!  They have 5 children and 3 grandchildren.  Patrick has served on a number of Wichita civic boards in the Catholic Diocese, Habitat for Humanity, Guadeloupe Clinic and most recently served two terms as board chair of Exploration Place.  He also serves as President of Pathway Captive Insurance Company as well as serving on the KC Federal Reserve Economic Advisory Council.  Patrick was named to the Wichita Business Journal 40 under 40 Hall of Fame, was  named an Industry Top Gun and last year Star Lumber was awarded the 2024 large independent dealer of the year by LBM Journal. 

Star Lumber is a 5th generation 87 year old family business serving professional builders throughout Kansas and Oklahoma with locations in Wichita, Manhattan, Oklahoma City & Tulsa as well as a variety of sales offices.  Star has multiple manufacturing plants including two truss plants, three door shops, a customer millwork shop and a countertop fabrication plant. 

For fun Patrick loves to travel and hang out in the back yard lake with the family, smoke meat on the Yoder and has been known to do some crazy endurance events like running up Pikes Peak Ascent 5 times, biked the Dirty Kanza and 119 mile Hondo as well as running couple marathons.  

Megan Kice serves as the Executive Director of Simply Hygiene, a nonprofit based in Park City that is transforming lives through access to essential hygiene products. She is passionate about ensuring every child, family, and individual have the hygiene essentials that promote health, dignity, confidence, and hope. Megan is continually inspired by the generosity of the Greater Wichita community and the thousands of volunteers, donors, and partners who have helped make Simply Hygiene's mission possible.

Since its first distribution in 2019, Simply Hygiene has grown into the nonprofit hygiene hub for South Central Kansas. The organization provides essential items including soap, shampoo, deodorant, toothpaste, toilet paper, diapers, and feminine hygiene products that are critical to health and wellbeing but are not covered by government assistance.

Today, Simply Hygiene partners with more than 250 schools and 120 nonprofit organizations across a seven county region, providing access to hygiene essentials for more than 105,000 people each month. Through these partnerships, Simply Hygiene is helping create healthier communities where everyone has the opportunity to thrive with dignity.

Outside of work, Megan enjoys spending time with her husband, Drew, and their three boys, Caleb, Nate, and Ryan. She also enjoys traveling, reading, and hiking whenever she has the opportunity.