Nikki Newton
Newton, 33, is the Senior Vice President and Director of Defined Benefits Marketing for Waddell & Reed Financial. He has partici-pated in the rapid growth of Waddell & Reed’s Asset Management Company. The company’s small cap product started in late 1997 with $50 million in assets. It closed with $3.2 billion in assets, making it the eighth largest institutional small cap product in the country. After closing that product, the company started a large cap growth product that has grown to be among the 30 largest in the country with $5 billion in assets. Newton has served as the treasurer of the Benjamin Bannaker Charter Academy, and served on the boards of the Land Clearance and Redevelopment Authority and the Ryan W. Seles Foundation to educate parents on the issues of safety for children in schools. He currently serves on the Board of the Kansas City Jazz Museum. He and his wife, Kimberly, live in Leawood.
Jon North
While all the honorees in the 40 Under Forty program involve themselves in charitable work—by definition one of the require- ments for selection—North, 37, spends his working hours in the fire of the not-for-profit world. As the CEO of Heart to Heart International, North has led the organization from infancy into its role as an internationally known humanitarian agency on sound financial footing. Heart to Heart reflects North’s passion to provide the basic needs of food, shelter and healthcare to the underprivileged worldwide. He does not limit his leadership to his own organization. He is a member of the Olathe Noon Rotary, which serves local needs and has taken the lead to support a health initiative in Panama to provide thousands of people with healthcare. He also chairs the Evangelism and Outreach Committee of his church. He and his wife, Faith, have four children: Drake (10), Lexie (8), Hayden (6) and Audrey (3).
Jeff Oddo
Oddo, 38, believes that the janitorial profession can produce leaders, and as President of City Wide Maintenance for the past nine years, he has tried to build an organization that builds up self-esteem in an industry that generally lacks it. Apparently it is working, because City Wide has a 90-plus percent retention rate and revenues have increased from $3 million to $20 million in less than five years. “The biggest reason for our exceptional growth is that we have evolved from being ‘just’ a cleaning company to a ‘sales and management’ company,” Oddo says. He understands all aspects of the business, as he grew up working for the company. He has served in capacities ranging from janitor and truck driver to President. Oddo is a member of TEC (The Executive Committee), the Union Station/Science City Volunteer Council, and the boards of directors for the Building Owners and Managers Association, and the Building Services Contractors Association. He and his wife Karen, have three daughters: Savannah (8), Alyssa (6) and Olivia (3).
Jason Parman
As the youngest Regional Director in the history of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management (OPM), Parman, now 33, has seen more than his share of red tape, but he is all about exacting change. He is the federal government’s HR director for Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska, comprising more than 100,000 “feds,” including 30,000 in the Kansas City area. He focuses on the “critical people issues” federal employees and the general public have with government jobs, such as the length of time it takes to land a federal job and how military veterans are treated when returning from overseas. He developed a program to show federal agencies “how to make great hires in as little as one day.” He believes the success of government lies in the ability to hire great people quickly. The Lawrence resident serves on the Board of Directors for the Big Brothers/Big Sisters of Douglas County, among others. His most important “human resources” are his wife, Lynn, and their daughter, Riley (16 months).
