ALAN HOSKINS
Two of the top executives from the world’s largest foundation devoted to entrepreneurship – Kansas City’s Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation – will headline the 2013 Innovation Summit at Kansas City Kansas Community College Friday, April 5.
Tom McDonnell, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kauffman Foundation, and Jon Robinson, the manager of the Foundation’s Entrepreneurship programs, will deliver the keynote addresses at the Innovation Summit to be held beginning at 8 a.m. in Upper Jewell on the KCKCC campus at7250 State Avenue.
McDonnell and Robinson will outline the mission of the Kauffman Foundation, the deep commitment to entrepreneurship by the late Mr. Kauffman and the innovation as its relates to Kansas City along with exploring the trends that are being seen in entrepreneurship education, workforce development and the Kansas City region.
“The keynote presentations are a great kickoff to the exciting opportunity to vie for $5,000 in prize money in the State Street Perfect Pitch competition which is a major part of the Innovation Summit April 5,” said Jay Matlack, KCKCC Workforce Development coordinator..
Qualifying for the Perfect Pitch completion will be held starting at 9 a.m. Wednesday, March 27, in Room 3619B in the Flint Building. Registration for the competition is now open on-line at www.kckcc.edu and selecting Workforce Development on the Quicklinks followed by Innovation Summit or by contacting KCKCC Workforce Development at 913-288-7210 or jmatlack@kckcc.edu.
Named Kansas Citian of the Year in 2003, McDonnell served as president and CEO of DST Systems, Inc., from 1973 until his retirement in 2012. Elected to the Kauffman board in 2003, he served as chairman of the Foundation’s Board of Trustees before being named president and CEO of the Foundation.
Active in numerous civic organizations, McDonnell’s other honors include the William Jewell College Yates Medallion for Distinguished Civic Service and the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Centurion Leadership Award.
Robinson leads the Foundation’s efforts to deliver entrepreneurship resources through community colleges, programs to support military veteran entrepreneurs and other projects to improve local and regional entrepreneurial ecosystems.
An eight-year veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps, Robinson was defense and security specialist in public affairs in Edelman, N.Y., where he provided strategic communications counsel for a variety of non-profit, corporate and government clients before joining the Kauffman Foundation.
State Street Corporation is a provider of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, management and research and trading. It operates in 29 countries and more than 100 geographic markets.
