We love seeing families and community members at our Board meetings!

Please join us on the fourth Wednesday of each month from 4:30-6:00 PM. There are no meetings in December or July.

We meet at KC Girls Prep Academy, 5000 East 17th Street. Or, join via Zoom. Login information is available on our Calendar page.

The agenda will be made available to the public the fourth Monday of the month. You can click here to access the agenda when it is available.

Our annual calendar of meetings, policies, and bylaws and protocol for public comment are on our Policies page.

The KCGPA Board of Directors will be holding an off-site ‘step-back’ meeting to review data in anticipation of its strategic planning process on Friday April 5th.  The meeting will be held at SchoolSmart Kansas City, 3105 Gilham #205, KCMO 64109.

Interested in serving KC Girls Prep through committee or board participation? Do you know someone who would be a great fit for the Board team?
Email boardchair@kcgpa.org to learn more! 

Judge Lisa White Hardwick, Board Member

Lisa White Hardwick has served as a judge on the Missouri Court of Appeals for the Western District since 2001, including a term as Chief Judge from 2010 – 2012. Judge Hardwick is actively involved with Supreme Court committees to improve judicial administration in Missouri. Currently, she co-chairs the Missouri Commission on Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts. In private practice with the law firm of Shook, Hardy, & Bacon from 1985 – 2000, Judge Hardwick was the firm’s first attorney of color and then partner in 1991. She served as a trial court judge on the Jackson County Circuit Court from 2000 – 2001. In her judicial career, she was the first African-American woman to serve as circuit judge in Jackson County and on any appellate court in Missouri. As a community leader, Judge Hardwick is Board President of the Delta Educational and Economic Development Foundation (DEED Foundation), helped found Academie Lafayette, and serves a variety of other community institutions.

Current Term: October 1, 2022 - October 1, 2024

Nicole Smith, Board Member

Nicole Smith has taught students of all abilities, at grade levels ranging from kindergarten to college. She currently serves a dual role at St. Teresa's Academy. Smith is the Director of Equity and Inclusive Education and a chair of the Business and Computer Science department. She is also the moderator of the DECA club and the Black Student Coalition. Smith has 15 years of single-sex education experience. She has served on several education panels and her work and success have been featured in academic magazines. She previously served as a board member of the Journalism Educators of Missouri KC (JEMKC). 

Smith has an MBA with a concentration in Organizational Development from Rockhurst University, a Master of Arts in Education with an emphasis in Curriculum and Development from the University of Phoenix, and a Bachelor of Science in Journalism with an emphasis in Public Relations from the University of Florida. She is also a certified facilitator for the Entrepreneurial Learning Initiative. Smith holds numerous teaching certifications in business and journalism-related subjects. She is completing her doctoral degree at Rockhurst University.

Smith is the proud mom of three adult sons.

Current Term: August 17, 2022 - August 17, 2024

Nikki Newton, Board Member

Nikki joined UMB in 2019 as UMB Private Wealth Management (PWM) president. In this role, he is responsible for developing and strategically executing PWM initiatives, including driving service and revenue goals and managing senior leadership. teams in the division. Before joining UMB, Nikki worked at Waddell & Reed in positions of increasing leadership within the investment arena, from the president of global distribution to the president of Ivy Distributors, a subsidiary of Waddell & Reed. Nikki earned a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in economics from the University of Central Arkansas, in Conway, Arkansas, and a master’s degree in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. He is actively involved in the community and currently serves as a board member for the Saint Luke’s Health System, American Jazz Museum, Health Forward, and Miracle of Innocence. Internally at UMB, he serves as the executive sponsor for the Blacks for Empowering People Through Inclusion and Collaboration associate resource group.

Current Term: September 21, 2022 - September 21, 2024

Christine Kemper, Board Member

Following a fifteen-year career that began in the U.S. Department of Justice and evolved to include roles in business communications, politics and higher education, Christine founded a marketing and research consultancy that has advised local, national and global brands since 2002. She is co-founder of The Collectors Fund and The Kansas City Collection, two enterprises that invest in art and build markets for artists, as well as YEP, an internship and scholarship organization focused on nurturing entrepreneurship among high school students. She has served in leadership roles for dozens of regional nonprofit organizations, including the Women’s Foundation, Women’s Employment Network, WIN for KC, the WWI Museum and Memorial, DeLaSalle Education Center, the Symphony Foundation and University Academy Charter School. Her current passion is in her role as a founder and board chair of Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy. 

Current Term: October 1, 2022 - October 22, 2024

Mayor Sly James, Board Member

Sylvester “Sly “ James Jr. served as Mayor of Kansas city, Missouri from 2011 to August 1, 2019. During his tenure, Kansas City enjoyed a renaissance boasting nationally recognized success in modern transportation development - from a new streetcar to a new, single terminal airport - third grade reading initiatives, SMARTcity technology deployment, and adoption of a 20 year infrastructure repair program. He served on the Advisory Board of the US Conference of Mayors, as a past Chair of the National Conference at Democratic Mayors, and as a past President of the African American Mayors Association.

Before holding office, James practiced law for 26 yers as a trial attorney with trial, litigation, and mediation experience as both a defense and plaintiff’s attorney with over 70 cases try to juries and over 200 mediations. He was the first African-American Associate and Partner and the Blackwell, Sanders, Metheny, Weary, and Lombardi Law Firm and, prior to that he served the United States Marine Corps during the Vietnam era.

Current Term: October 1, 2022 - October 1, 2024

Julie Tomasic, Board Member

Julie is a twenty-seven-year veteran of the KCMO Police Department. She has dedicated her career to improving the safety, success, and quality of life for urban core residents. She has served in a wide range of functions, including Patrol, Vice/Narcotics, Tactical Response Team, Intelligence assigned to the FBI, Sex Crimes Unit, Cold Case Crimes, Community Support Division/Victims Assistance Unit, Hostage Negotiator, and Mayor’s Security Detail. She has seen again and again the critical importance of education in opening doors for KC’s youth.

Current Term: October 1, 2022 - October 1, 2024

Debby Ballard, Board Member

Debby recently retired from a thirty-five year career with Sprint, where she held management positions in corporate social responsibility, organizational development and sales. Most recently, she served as a director of Community Affairs and as president of the Sprint Foundation, where she was a catalyst for positive outcomes for communities at both a local and national level. Her efforts have led to millions of dollars invested in positive programming in areas of Education (K-12), Youth Development, Arts & Culture, Community/Civic Infrastructure and Disaster Relief. She has received numerous honors, including the 2019 Distinguished Alumni Award from University of Central Missouri and an honorary doctorate from William Jewell for her civic and community leadership. In 2016, she was the recipient of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s ATHENA Award for achieving professional excellence, her work in the community, and actively assisting women in their attainment of professional excellence and leadership development. She also was recognized as one of The Network Journal’s 25 Influential Black Women in Business. Debby holds a Bachelor of Science degree from University of Central Missouri. She resides in the Kansas City area with her husband Gary and they have 3 adult children.

Current Term: October 1, 2022 - October 1, 2024

Martha Salinas, Ex Officio Board Member

Martha Salinas is the Chief Commercial Officer at TreviPay, a global B2B payments company, facilitating transactions for customers in over 190 countries. She is also an angel investor and a member of both Mid-America Angel Investors and the Women’s Capital Connection. Her angel investment work has been particularly focused on women founded and women led start-up business opportunities. She is also a business mentor with Techstars and sits on the advisory board of Kenzen, a startup company pioneering the next generation of personal health monitors and analytics. Thru Medical Missions Foundation, she volunteers as a Spanish translator for medical teams in Guatemala. She holds a BA in Economics and International Business from St. Louis University and a Masters in Economics from the University of Missouri – St. Louis.

Lesley Elwell, Ex Officio Board Member

As Chief Human Resources Officer and Chief Diversity Officer, Lesley Elwell leads Evergy’s human resources organization, with an emphasis on talent strategy, employee engagement, organizational development and performance management. She has more than 25 years of experience holding human resources and operations leadership roles for large, publicly traded companies in consumer and business-to-business industries.

Ms. Elwell previously served as chief people officer at JE Dunn, from 2017-2021, where she led the transformation of JE Dunn’s human resource functions and aligned the talent strategies with its strategic business priorities. Before joining JE Dunn, she served as Vice President People Strategy / HR Business Partner of Walmart Corporation (2016-2017), where she played a key role in the people transformation to rewrite the associate experience, and digitally enable all the workplace, HR, and management practices that impact people on the job. Prior to Walmart Corporation, she served as Vice President HR Business Partner Operations at DIRECTV (2012-2015), and in various roles of increasing responsibility, including as Vice President, with Sprint (1997-2012; 2015-2016). Ms. Elwell currently serves on the Board of Directors at Tecta America, a commercial nationwide roofing company and Starlight Theatre. She is the co-chair of KC Global Design Workforce Development. Ms. Elwell received her bachelor’s degree in industrial engineering from the Universidad Nacional Experimental del Táchira, Venezuela and a Master of Engineering Management from the University of Kansas where she was a Fulbright Scholar.