James Taylor is a crowd-pleaser. Maybe it's all in the name. This restauranteer with a background in architecture founded the 75th Street Brewery along with La Bodega, Southwest Boulevard's taste of Spain with authentic food, drink, and music. His latest contribution to Kansas City's dining-scape is the trendy outlet Re:Verse & The Red Room, located on the Plaza. Taylor's "Let's Eat Restaurant Group" stems from this self-proclaimed foodie's long history in service, beginning as fourteen-year-old bus boy at the Leawood Country Club. A member of The Kansas City Originals, Taylor collaborates with other independent restaurant owners to whet area pallates for flavors and experiences unique to Kansas City.

Taylor received an architecture degree from Oklahoma University, which he believes has helped with design and structural problem-solving in every restaurant he's built. Taylors' recent bride Jennifer is close by his side in operating their restaurants and joins him in donating time and resources to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

She coordinated the first Kansas Environmental Education Conference in 1999. Through this now annual event, hundreds of environmental educators across Kansas have greatly increased their capacity for partnering, sharing experiences and ideas. Shari Wilson's background in ecological issues includes managing hazardous and solid waste management for SCS Engineers and working as a research analyst for the Kansas Department of Health and Environment. A Master of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology degree from KU serves as her power tool. Wilson's presence in local politics connects her with decision-makers like Dennis Moore, for whom she served on his first campaign's "Kitchen Cabinet." Of course she played a part in her husband Chris Steineger's campaign for state senate as well. Wilson's "current challenge" is chairing a task force to redevelop the Lewis and Clark campsite at Kaw Point into a historic park and river access point. She thinks it will test her managerial and fund-raising skills. And she's up to it.

In all her undertakings, "I believe a strong sense of self is important," she concludes. Travel experiences in Europe and especially Southeast Asia have helped Wilson to keep her work and life in perspective.

Don't let her warm eyes and smile fool you--some might call Kathy Woodward a killer salesperson. In her fourteen year career in the commercial real estate industry, she's sold millions of square feet, filling up the holes in the Kansas City area's prominent business parks. Woodward has spent the last seven years with DDI Commercial, Inc. Over this time she's served as Southcreek Office Park's leasing agent, and was instrumental in growing the development from 200,000 to more than 1,100,000 square feet.

Woodward admits the real challenge is organizing her daily roles as wife, mother of two, business professional and community volunteer. "I learned from my parents how to balance these opportunities and select those which are most important to me," she explains. Her most satisfying civic role was that of co-chairman for the 25th Anniversary Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault (MOCSA) Luncheon. With a record attendance, it put MOCSA on the map for key business and community leaders.

At 38, being nominated to the Governor for appointment to Jackson County's Circuit Court is pretty rare. Dale Youngs has twice received this honor. Dedication to public service led Youngs to set aside a lucrative career in the private sector with personal injury, commercial, and business litigation. In 1996 he joined the Consumer Protection Division of the Missouri Attorney General's Office, prosecuting those who take advantage of Missouri consumers with schemes like home repair fraud and internet crime. Three years later, he became the chief of the Attorney General's office in Kansas City, training the law enforcement on consumer fraud and speaking on the topic throughout the community. Now a recognized resource,

Youngs has joined Blackwell Sanders Peper Martin's Government Compliance, Litigation and Investigations Groups. Youngs is very active in the Operation Breakthrough Family Services Center, where he can be counted on to lend a hand in everything from moving furniture to reading to children at the center. His own two boys guide every decision he makes, as Youngs's devotion to his sons and wife Heidi is complete.