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Ryan van winkle Ryan VanWinkle has the resume—and the responsibility—of someone many years his senior. The 35-year-old VanWinkle is the senior vice president and chief financial officer for Ferrellgas, a Fortune 800 company. Since VanWinkle began his career there in 1999, he has supervised up to 13 different departments. Currently, he is responsible for more than $3 billion in transactions. VanWinkle has also been the secretary for the board of directors for eight years. He has played major roles in several large acquisitions at Ferrellgas, including the Blue Rhino Corporation acquisition in 2004, which totaled more than $400 million. VanWinkle, who has a degree in accounting from UMKC, has roots in Kansas City business—before Ferrellgas, he worked for KPMG and for Sprint—but this father of two believes in building a strong community as well as a strong industry. As an instructor at Choon Lee’s Academy for the American Korean Tae Kwon Do Association, he strives to set an example for his students. “It is my responsibility to teach the tenets of Tae Kwon Do and to exemplify those tenets in and out of class,” VanWinkle says. |
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beth ward Beth Ward knows about loyalty. The 38-year-old industrial engineer began her career at Hallmark 12 years ago and has steadily climbed within the company. “What’s important to me is to positively impact others by enabling their growth while achieving results,” says Ward, Hallmark’s director of logistics services. As the general manager at Hallmark’s Liberty distribution center, Ward oversees more than 1,000 employees. During her tenure, Ward, who has a B.S. in Industrial and Manufacturing Systems Engineering and an M.S. in Engineering Management, has brought measurable improvement to the plant’s serviceability metrics and saved the company millions of dollars. Ward’s long career at Hallmark demonstrates her employer loyalty, and her civic involvements demonstrate her community loyalty. “My most significant achievements include helping guide United Way’s Young Leaders Society to achieve an annual impact of $1 million in donations,” Ward says. Ward is a member of The Central Exchange (in 2008 the organization named her a Woman to Watch). She is a member of the Supply Chain Management Advisory Council, a trustee for the MMB Sisters’ retirement and a member of Guardian Angels Catholic Church. |
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michael williams In 2002 Michael Williams became one of the youngest lawyers in Lathrop & Gage’s history to serve as first chair at a federal trial. “This trial was significant to me because I was able to help my client map new policies to resolve and prevent future problems,” says 37-year-old Williams, whose focus is in labor and employment. Serving as first chair is just one example of how Williams’s leadership manifests itself. Williams served as the first African American on the Kansas Bar Assoc-iation Board of Governors. He is the local committee chair for MU’s Chancellor’s Diversity Initiative and has held leadership positions in the Kansas City Metropolitan Bar Association, including chairing the Heartland Diversity Job Fair Initiative and serving on the Young Lawyers board of directors. But Williams’ efforts for diversity do not end at work. “One of my greatest achievements is helping young people transcend their environment and develop into productive and positive members of their school, community and family,” says Williams, who is married with one daughter. For his involvement, KCMBA named him Young Lawyer of the Year in 2007 and gave him the 2009 Congenial Counselor Award. |
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