Kathleen Johansen is a senior communications strategist at The University of Kansas Health System. Her love of philanthropy began more than 30 years ago when she became a Brownie in South Carolina. Fundraising clearly made an impact on her because she was consistently her troop’s top Girl Scout cookie seller. Kathleen volunteered at retirement homes […]

The Belles of the American Royal are pleased to announce the selection of Margaret McKee Burditt as the 2019 BOTAR president. Mandy is a BOTAR, class of 1991, and was a BOTAR Page in 1978. Her leadership roles in BOTAR include recording secretary in 2006, and BOTAR Ball vice president in 2015, as well as […]

Cristen Summers and her father, Richard Hudson, have been devoted volunteers at KidsTLC since 2012. Cristen initiated bringing The Birthday Party Project to residential clients. She helps with new attendees and guests at KidsTLC fundraisers and has served as a special event committee member. Richard has been a volunteer at the KidsTLC Open Golf Tournament, […]

André L. Davis’ community work started with Big Brothers Big Sisters. He became a “Big” in the program, mentoring his Little Brother and then joined the board. André is entering his sixth year as a board member (his final year) and also had served on the Diversity Task Force (a subcommittee within BBBSKC) as chairman for several […]

Ashley Renfrew is a project manager and deputy delivery manager with HNTB Corporation. She is a member of the Centurions Spring Class of 2020. Ashley serves on the projects committee and is a co-chairman of the Benchmarking Trip Task Force. Ashley has volunteered with numerous groups. Among the ones she most enjoys are HappyBottoms, Project […]

Estelle Jane Glatt Sosland is serving as the honorary chairman for this year’s Jewel Ball. She was married for 72 years to Morton Irvin Sosland who passed away on April 25th. Estelle was the chairman of The Jewel Ball in 1991, the year that her grandson Andrew Russell Brown was presented. Another highlight of that […]

Andy McDonald is one of the original ushers at The Folly Theater. Always dressed to perfection, Andy has served as an usher since 1981. He is a committed volunteer who helps to preserve The Folly’s history and share it with visitors. Also featured in the May 25, 2019 issue of The Independent  

UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance’s Crescendo will return to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts on November 8th. Guests will gather in Brandmeyer Great Hall for cocktails and dinner to celebrate talented UMKC Conservatory students who will perform in Helzberg Hall, guided by internationally-acclaimed faculty and teachers of music and dance. After the […]

Kimberly Wilkerson is one of our Rising Stars, Class of 2015. As agency principal and vice president of Haas & Wilkerson Insurance, Kimberly co-owns and operates a privately held retail brokerage and is responsible for community outreach, culture and branding, quality and control, process and procedure, and customer service. She supports a variety of non […]