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Jennifer Dawani (2008 Urban Administration and Nonprofit Management) works as an Environmental Scientist at the US Environmental Protection Agency’s Region 7 office in Kansas City, KS.   Jennifer is the Solid Waste Program Manager for the Region, which is comprised of the states of Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. The work involves partnering with Region 7 states, municipalities, nonprofits, and businesses to promote several waste-related voluntary programs, overall waste reduction / recycling, and recycling market development.  

Jen Fox,  MPA 2007, used her emphasis in health administration to become a nursing home administrator in Iola, KS.
Find out more by reading a wonderful article written about Jen and the nursing home. For article click here

Xin (Joe) Zhao, MPA Summer 2008,  now works for the New York State Government as a Senior Adminstrative Analyst in NYC. Congrats Joe.

MPA Alumna Earns EPA Silver Medal:
Debbie Bishop, MPA 2002, has been awarded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Silver Medal for superior service. Bishop is an environmental protection specialist with the Agency's Region 7 office in Kansas City, KS. and a member of the Lead Poisoning Prevention Community Initiative Team. The Lead Poisoning Prevention Team is a partnership between Region 7's Lead and Environmental Justice Program and the Kansas City, MO. Health Department. They conducted a community initiative to ensure that parents, child care providers and community  members know about the dangers of lead poisoning. Bishop's work with the team has included outreach and information to the public to provide parents with knowledge to help protect their children and others from lead toxins. She has also helped in train-the-trainer sessions with the community. The award was presented in a ceremony at EPA headquarters in Washington D.C. on June 13th, 2007.   

Randy Dunn, MPA 2007, City Planning and Development, City Hall, Kansas City Missouri

Kerrie Tyndall, MPA 1996, Missouri Business Development Officer, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City 

Andrea Babbitt, MPA 2003, Project Coordinator for Bridging the Gap

Meghan Baker, MPA 2005, Volunteer Coordinator, Catholic Charities of San Francisco

Amber Bourek, MPA 2003, Volunteer Coordinator and Communications Manager for Hope House

Ronnie Chanvitayapongs, MPA student: Kauffman Intern for the Autism Asperger Resource Center. During the internship, Ronny helped the AARC out with writing grants, business plan revision, and planning a golf tournament for the AARC. With the tournament being in July and the KEIP Internship over in May, he promised to finish the golf tournament with no financial burden on the AARC. The golf tournament was a success and the AARC has hired Ronnie back on board to provide them with financial development/grant writing/fundraising/event coordinating opportunities.

Current MPA student, James Cianciaruso has accepted the full-time position of Director of Planning and Development at Northland Neighborhoods, Inc., a community development organization located north of the river in KCMO.

Kelly Curran, MPA 2003, Development Manager for Special Olympics Kansas

Krista Dickerson, MPA 2005, Budget Analyst, Budget Department City of Kansas City

Denise Rendina, MPA 2000, Marketing and Communications Manager, The Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art

Lucy Jones, MPA student, recipient of the Kansas City Society of Association Executives Scholarship--the first ever.

Charlene Meeker, MPA 2004, Deputy Director, Community Development Corporation, Denver

Alice Park Manies, MPA 2003, Director of Special Events for Kansas City Public Television

Gerry McReynolds, MPA 2002, Support Services Manager at Independence Power and Light.

Joan Pu, PAA Ph.D. student, has co-authored an article with Mark Funkhouser (an adjunct member of the IPh.D. Faculty and fellow Bloch alumni). The article is entitled “Government Performance Auditing in the U.S. and China: Lessons Drawn from a Comparative Review”, and appears in the Chinese Public Administration Review (September/December, 2004). Joan also presented the article as a paper at the First Sino-American Public Administration Conference in Beijing in 2002. The article can be found here.

Mark Randall, MPA 1982, City Administrator of Pleasant Hill. Recipient of the JT Bell Award for City Administrator of the Year.

Doug Riley, MPA 2004, received the Student Entrepreneur of the Year award for 2004. Doug is the Executive Director of the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project. Doug was honored along with the other honorees at a reception and dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center on Tuesday, November 16, 2004, and he will receive a $2,000 award. Riley was chosen as a winner based on his founding of KCAVP in 2002 and his perseverance to set up a nonprofit to fill a gap in services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and bias crimes including procurement of funding and collaboration with other agencies.

“I am honored to receive this award, especially considering the other people being recognized for their work,” said Riley. “In this environment of anti-LGBT rhetoric, it’s great that UMKC and the Council for Entrepreneurship would choose me and KCAVP to receive this award.” Jen Kiper, board president of KCAVP said “The board and staff of KCAVP is very proud of Doug and we look forward to continued success in the future.”

The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP) is a Missouri nonprofit corporation committed to providing services, advocacy and education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and bias crimes within the five counties that encompass the metropolitan Kansas City area. For more information about KCAVP, visit www.kcavp.org. Congratulations, Doug!

Steve Rinne, MPA 2005, Business Development Specialist, KCMO City/Economic Development Corporation- Port Authority 

Linda Roser, MPA 2003, Director, Community Relations and Development for Spofford

Brian Schaeffer, MPA 2000, is currently Assistant Chief of the Spokane, WA City Fire Department

Marilyn Siegel, MPA 2005, Community Development consultant, Kansas City, MO

Debby Sisk, KCMO City, Prevailing Wage Analyst 1 in the Contract Compliance Division in the Capitol Improvement Management Office

Heather Starzynski, MPA and Ph.D. student (economics) appointed to the KCMO Board of Zoning Adjustment

Theresa Titus-Howard, Ph.D. student, has co-authored her first peer-reviewed article! "The Community Initiative on Depression: Report from a Multiphase Work Site Depression Intervention" was published in the January 2005 Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine. A copy of the article can be found here. Congratulations, Theresa! May this be the first of many!

Scott Walterbach, MPA 2005, Law School student, IUPUI in Indianapolis.

Henry Wash, MPA student: A commentary titled, "26-Year-Old is Leading By Example," in the June 29 edition of the Kansas City Star featured Henry Wash, who has founded the High Aspirations program. Mr. Wash hopes his organization will help other African-American males to attend and finish college. Wash was one of the first students selected as a Henry W. Bloch Scholar. A full text of the article can be found here.