Board of Directors

Michael Williams, Chairman
Williams Law LLC, Founding Partner

Williams represents employers in investigating, responding to and handling charges of discrimination. Experienced at litigating age, sex, race, disability and retaliation claims before local, state and federal agencies, Williams has served as lead trial attorney in jury trials before federal courts. He volunteers with several local organizations to mentor and educate disadvantaged youth and is an active member of the Diversity Committee for the firm, the Kansas City Bar Association and the National Defense Research Institute. Williams serves as an adjunct professor of Labor Law at the University of Missouri-Columbia School of Law.

Jane Shelley, Vice-Chairman
ACACIA Commercial Real Estate, LLC - Partner

Jane Shelley is a realtor with Waterford Property Company, LLC, a Kansas-City based commercial real estate firm focused exclusively on office building asset management and leasing management. In addition to her role with Higher M-Pact, Shelley is involved with the Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA). She also serves as a facilitator for Child’s Voice and ALPHA.

Janet Byars, Secretary
Friends University, Adjunct Professor

Janet is licensed in MO and KS as a Marriage & Family Therapist.  Janet is a clinical member of American Association of Marriage & Family Therapist, American Association of Christian Counselors, Association of Traumatic Stress Specialist, and EMDRIA.
 
Specializing in helping people and committed to the healing of suffering from the effects of trauma, including: sexual abuse, crime, combat veterans, victims of natural disasters, molestation victims, and accident victims. Janet works with any type of trauma including the bad things that can happen to people, as well the wonderful things that did not happen to people; ie: living with a loving family.   Utilizing Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing (EMDR), one of the most widely investigated treatments for posttraumatic stress disorder; Janet will help you reprocess disturbing thoughts and memories which continue to affect your current life.
 
Janet is committed to helping you experience positive change, improve relationships, the possibilities for your life, have a greater appreciation for life, a greater sense of personal strength and spiritual development.  Allowing your loss to produce valuable gains for you.

Kim S. Perkins, Treasurer
Bridges and Yallaly, CPA's, P.A, CPA

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 also currently balances a part-time position with Personalized Accounting Services, is active in the women’s and children’s ministries and is part of the finance team at Westside Family Church.

James R. Carnes, Member
Willowbrook Partners LLC, CEO

Mr. Carnes spent the first sixteen years of his career in the trading world where he traded futures and options at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, the Sydney Futures Exchange and the Kansas City Board of Trade.  In 2004, he founded Willowbrook Partners which is an internet marketing company focusing on subprime credit as well as debit products.  Willowbrook Partners operates in the United States as well as the United Kingdom.  Mr. Carnes is also Founder and CEO of Blitztrade LLC, a high frequency stock trading company.

Peter A. Dunn, Member
BRR Architecture, Inc., Senior Associate & Director of Business Development

Peter holds a degree in Education from University of Missouri in Columbia. 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, MEd
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 Administrative Director of Higher M-Pact. Along with her experience working in the public schools, she has years of experience working with youth through the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, The Hope Center and Daughters of Destiny.

Tyrone J. Flowers, JD
Higher M-Pact – Founder and 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.

Drew Hiss, Member
Paycor, Director

Hiss is the founder and president of Checkdate Solutions, 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 and is a member of the Pastoral Advisory Team for Westside Family Church. Hiss and his wife of 16 years, Sara, are the proud parents of four children.

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.

Stacy Koellner, Member   
Cerner Corporation, Senior Manager

Koellner, a graduate of Baylor University, is a Senior Manager with Cerner Corporation. An active member of Lenexa Baptist Church, Koellner serves in the children’s ministry in addition to volunteering as a personal financial consultant to homeless mothers at Community LINC. Koellner and her husband Todd have two daughters.

Lane McFarren, Member
Western Extralite Company, Residential Product Manager & Business Development Manager

Lane McFarren is the Business Development Manager/Residential Prod­uct Manager for Western Extralite Company in Kansas City, Mo.  She is also a Certified Lighting Consultant through the American Lighting Association.   Western Extralite is a distributor of quality electrical and data products and Lane works with contractors, build­ers and homeowners selling lighting, residential upgrades and lighting design services.  She is also responsible for new business development at Western.   Lane lives in Prairie Village and is the proud mother of three daughters

Patrick J. McGannon, SIOR
Kessinger/Hunter & Co, President

Stephanie Mendenhall, Member
South & Associates, P.C., Litigation Attorney

Stephanie 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 is proud to have earned degrees from both Kansas State University and the University of Kansas School of Law.  Previously, Stephanie worked for the Missouri Attorney General’s Office and in private practice handling civil rights litigation.  She is licensed to practice law in Missouri, Kansas, and Nebraska.

John W. ("Jay") Simpson, Member
Shook, Hardy & Bacon, LLP, Partner

Simpson, a partner at Shook, Hardy & Bacon law firm, is the chairperson of the firm’s Tax Practice Group.  He has substantial experience in all types of tax planning and tax controversy work. Simpson is past chairman of the Tax Committee of the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association.  He previously served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Kansas City chapter of the Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) Association.

Janet Thompson, Member
The Cottonwood Group, LLC, President

Janet Thompson has over 25 years of experience in employee benefits and specializes in the design and administration of corporate retirement plans.  Janet is an owner and President of The Cottonwood Group, leading the firm’s defined contribution practice.  She also serves as client relationship manager for many of the firm’s defined benefit and defined contribution clients.
 
Janet received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Welfare from the University of Minnesota.  She is a member of the American Society of Pension Professionals and Actuaries and has earned the designation of Certified Pension Consultant.  She sits on the steering committee of the Employee Benefits Institute of Kansas City, previously acting as chair.  She 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.

Mike Yardley, Member
VML, Chief Integration Officer

VML is a full-service digital marketing agency.  Mike's career at VML began in 1995, joining the company to launch, develop and optimize VML's fledgling web development and digital marketing business. At the time, the internet channel was over-promising returns, and, for the most part, under-delivering in the marketplace. The 10 years that followed shaped a new way of thinking at VML, one that emphasized the integration of marketing and technology, and helped VML grow into one of the world's leading digital marketing companies.
 
Today, Mike is responsible for overseeing 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 (a regional supermarket in Pittsburgh) and Fannie Mae.
 
Mike brings an unyielding passion to his clients, guiding their success and growth in the digital channel by blending marketing and technology to deliver innovative, difference-making programs. Mike transfers this same passion and innovation across VML, and through the work of the 60+ people he oversees on a daily basis. His knowledge of the digital space and ability to provide actionable plans that fully utilize integrated marketing have helped lead the way in providing clients with forward-thinking solutions. Under Mike's leadership, teams have won a number of advertising, digital marketing and industry awards.
 
Prior to joining VML, Mike held several marketing and business development leadership positions in the software and technology marketplace.
 
In his spare time, Mike enjoys spending time with his family, serving in the community and reading a good book.