Behind the scenes of Kansas City’s most impactful causes are some of the hardest working, mission-driven people you will meet. One such person is Jason Banks, whom The Independent has recognized as one of its Rising Stars of 2024. Jason has consistently devoted himself to a variety of charitable organizations during the years, volunteering and holding positions of leadership. Those closest to Jason will tell you he has a passion for creating a more equitable playing field for everyone and ensuring that others have a voice. This is evident in his work and the organizations he has championed through the years. 

As the son of a single mother and retired elementary school teacher, Jason is particularly drawn to serving in matters of early childhood education, as well as diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). Growing up, he saw firsthand the impact that devoted teachers can have on the lives of children and families. “My mother sacrificed a lot to raise my sister and I on a teacher’s salary, and she just made it happen,” he said. “I’ve always viewed teachers as special individuals, but my mother particularly. Sometimes I joke that she must have had a clone to be able to do all the things she did, with the means that she had – both in resources and time.”

Recently, Jason’s mother had a short stay at the hospital. Coincidentally, one of the nurses was a former student from the third grade class she taught. Having recognized her, the nurse poured out gratitude for the impact she made on him and his family. 

Seeing the positive influence his mother made in his and others’ lives, Jason knows firsthand the opportunity to thrive starts at an early age. Currently, he leads his church’s children’s ministry and serves on the executive committee of the board of trustees at The Pembroke Hill School. A recent addition to Pembroke’s mission, which lands close to Jason’s heart, is its vision to cultivate a diverse, equitable, and inclusive community in which all individuals can realize their greatest potential. 

Along those lines, Jason also currently serves as board president at Donnelly College, which was established to provide affordable Catholic higher education to urban immigrants and the working class. Its mission is to serve those who are most underrepresented in higher education settings, and might not otherwise have access. 

Similarly, in the past, Jason was a board member and advisor for Entitled Learning, an organization rooted in Black culture and empowerment through education. By providing educational opportunities and resources, Entitled Learning is dedicated to making a positive impact on children’s lives, helping to break cycles of poverty, inequality, and marginalization.

Outside of DEI in education, Jason is focused on diversity and inclusion within his workplace at JE Dunn Construction, where he serves as Vice President, National Procurement Director. André Davis said, “Jason uses his platform to make sure that those without one have a voice. Most recently he led his company’s national Employee Resource Group (ERG) initiative to bring attention to the lack of minority leadership in his company.”

While a shortage of workers may be a common problem across industries, in construction it is punctuated by an underrepresentation of minorities. As someone who is passionate about DEI, and who actively volunteers to affect positive change, we can only infer that Jason stood out as an obvious choice to provide strategic support to the Blacks United in Learning and Development initiative (BUiLD). 

As an ERG, BUiLD is a voluntary, employee-led group with an aim to foster diversity in the office, on construction job sites, and within the community. Jason and a couple of other Black executives at his company provide programming support and guidance to the BUiLD national committee, as well as to regional leaders. “When people see their interests reflected in bigger company dialogues and strategy discussion, that really means something,” Jason said. 

From Jason’s perspective, his company’s four ERG’s create connectivity and make a 4,000-employee workforce feel more like a community of friends and allies. “In a large and growing company like JE Dunn, it can be easy to get lost,” he said. “And what the ERG’s do is create more opportunities to connect, to share common or even uncommon interests, to advocate for and champion each other’s work, and to lift one another up.”

In 2022, BUiLD hosted its first national summit in Kansas City, of which Jason was involved in planning and coordinating. The Summit included a full day of career development aimed at helping Black employees learn the necessary pathways to leadership roles at work. 

This is only some of the charitable work and volunteer leadership Jason has engaged in through the years. Along the way, he has gained many close friends and allies. When asked how it feels to be recognized as a Rising Star, Jason said he is honored and humbled. Moreover, he said, it’s the people who nominated him that make the honor even more special. 

One of the lessons Jason has learned from his teachers, mentors, friends, and colleagues is to make a conscious effort to lift others up, which he aims to do everyday. He said he is now passing that lesson on to his nine-year-old son. “Be the person that you need to show up to somebody else,” he said. “My service on boards, volunteer efforts, mentoring young professionals, I do it all because I’ve been blessed to have people pour into me my entire life. I wake up everyday thinking about those individuals and do my best to make them proud by being a blessing to others.”

Featured in the April 6, 2024 issue of The Independent.
By Monica V. Reynolds
Photo Credit: Tom Styrkowicz