Higher MPact

Michael Williams / Chair

Williams Law LLC — Founding Partner

Williams represents employers in arbitrations and is an experienced litigator of discrimination and retaliation claims. Mr. Williams counsels business clients regarding human resource, workers' compensation and employment issues. He is an experienced speaker to employees, management and human resource officers on various employment law topics. Mr. Williams is also a requested presenter at employment law seminars for continuing legal education and human resource professional organizations. Mr. Williams is very active in the Kansas City community as a mentor for disadvantaged youth. He is chair of both the Diversity Committee for the firm and the Heartland Diversity Legal Job Fair.

Jane Shelley / Vice Chair

Waterford Property Company, LLC — Partner

Shelley has over 22 years of commercial real estate experience with specialization in property management. She has lead property management teams responsible for over 11 million square feet of office space. Additionally, she supervised new account transition teams including coordinating new staffing, operations and process mapping for five new clients totaling over 1.2 million square feet of space. Jane also develops and implements formal customer service surveying programs and measurement plans to gauge customer service satisfaction and metrics.

Janet D. Byars, MS, LCMFT / Secretary

Friends University - Adjunct Professor —

Byars is a licensed Marriage & Family Therapist in Missouri and Kansas and an adjunct professor at Friends University. She is a clinical member of American Association of Marriage & Family Therapist, American Association of Christian Counselors, Association of Traumatic Stress Specialist and EMDRIA. She specializes in healing the pain and suffering caused by trauma, including: sexual abuse, crime, combat, natural disasters, molestation and accidents.

Kim S. Perkins / Treasurer

Bridges and Yallaly, CPA, P.A. — Certified Public Accountant

Perkins is a graduate of Kansas State University and a licensed CPA but left the full time work force in 1995 to concentrate on parenting. As wife to husband Rick and mother to their two sons, Perkins currently balances a part-time position with Bridges and Yallaly CPA's P.A. and volunteering with three non-profit organizations. She also is active with children’s ministry and missions at Westside Family Church.

James (Jim) R. Carnes / Member

Willowbrook Partners LLC — CEO

Carnes is the CEO and founder of Willowbrook Partners, an Internet marketing company focused on subprime credit as well as debit products. Carnes is also founder and CEO of Blitztrade LLC, a high frequency stock trading company.

Peter Dunn / Member

BRR Architecture, Inc. — Senior Associate and Director of Business Development

Dunn holds a degree in Education from University of Missouri in Columbia. He founded PCG after working as Vice President of Reseller Development at Skylight Financial; a leading provider of employee paycards. His 19 years of experience in successfully working with Fortune 500 firms and large local employers in a wide range of industries as a consultant and trainer on a referral basis gives his clients a unique advantage in the marketplace. After ranking among the top 1% of Leadership Management Inc franchises for several years, he became a partner with a payroll processing firm. Once he rebuilt the entire sales process and the sales team the firm grew from $2 million in annual sales to $8 million in 6 years. A clear and consistent commitment to leading the most well-trained sales force in the market was a big key to the firms growth, profitability and success. Beyond his passion to make a difference in business, Peter has served as Chairman of Board at the Don Bosco Centers for several years.

Renee Flowers / Member

Higher M-Pact — Executive Director

Flowers is the wife of founder Tyrone Flowers and is an integral part of the development of Higher M-Pact. An educator whose experience serves the organization well, Flowers earned a Masters in Education from the University of Missouri and currently serves as the Executive Director of Higher M-Pact. Along with her experience working in the public schools, she has years of experience working with youth through the Kansas City House of Hope, Awesome Ambitions, Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Hope Center and Daughters of Destiny. She is a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority.

Tyrone J. Flowers / Member

Higher M-Pact — Founder & President

Flowers is the founder and president of Higher M-Pact. He graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and a minor in psychology, and went on to attend the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law, where he received his Juris Doctorate. While attending law school, he received the CALI Excellence for the Future Award. Formerly known as SERVANT programs, Higher M-Pact was founded in 1993, incorporated in 1998 and formally launched full-time in 2003. Flowers lives with his wife Renee in Kansas City, Mo.

Dave Gras / Member

The Navigators — Kansas City Metro Director

Gras has worked with The Navigators, an international multicultural Christian organization, for 37 years. Since 1990, he has directed a Navigator Business and Professional Ministry in Kansas City. He provides one-on-one mentoring when he leads conferences and programs to help business people integrate faith and business. Gras and his wife Susan have four adult children and two grandchildren.

Drew A. Hiss / Member

Paycor — Director

Hiss is the founder and president of Paycor, a Kansas City-based provider of outsourced payroll processing services, human resource technology systems and automated time and attendance solutions. Hiss serves as a board member for the Servant Christian Community Foundation. Hiss and his wife, Sara, are the proud parents of four children.

Stephanie L. Mendenhall / Member

South & Associates, P.C. — Litigation Attorney

Mendenhall is an Attorney with South & Associates, P.C., specializing in bankruptcy and foreclosure litigation. She currently serves as a Co-Chair for the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association’s Bar Leadership Academy and is actively involved in the Missouri, Kansas, and Johnson County Bar Associations. She also volunteers with several domestic violence shelters in the Kansas City area. Stephanie is originally from Hutchinson, Kansas and proudly earned degrees from both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas School of Law. She is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

Janet Thompson / Member

The Cottonwood Group, LLC — President

Thompson is an owner and President of The Cottonwood Group. She leads the firm’s defined contribution practice and specializes in the design and administration of corporate retirement plans. She also serves as client relationship manager for many of the firm’s defined benefit and defined contribution clients. Janet earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Welfare from the University of Minnesota. She also founded and chaired the Diversity in Leadership committee for Palmer & Cay and is a board member of Awesome Ambitions, a not-for-profit organization mentoring young women in the Kansas City Missouri School District. Janet is married to Ed Thompson and has three children, Brandon, Stephanie and Sydney. She and her family have been active in the Shawnee community and schools for the past 30 years.

Lane S. McFarren / Member

Premier Lighting and Controls / Lenexa, KS — Sales Representative

Lane McFarren is a Certified Lighting Consultant and a lighting specification sales rep for Premier Lighting and Controls in Lenexa, KS. She has three daughters and a granddaughter who are the pride and joy of her life. She is a Kansas State Wildcat through and through and enjoys spending time with friends and family in her free time. Higher M-Pact holds a special place in her life and she could not be happier to be part of such a wonderful organization.

Mike Yardley / Member

VML — Chief Integration Officer

Yardley is the Chief Integration Officer at VML, a full-service digital marketing agency. He oversees VML's 30-person media and digital content distribution discipline, as well as the eCRM discipline, which is responsible for email marketing. Mike also provides strategic and account leadership for some of VML's largest global client partnerships including Colgate-Palmolive, YRC Worldwide, Giant Eagle and Fannie Mae. In his spare time, Yardley enjoys spending time with his family, serving in the community and reading a good book.

Board of Directors