Great Jobs KC Selects KC Civic Council Leader, Aaron North, as CEO

Posted September 14, 2026

Great Jobs KC, a workforce development nonprofit, announced Aaron North has been selected as the organization’s next chief executive officer.

The organization’s Board of Directors named Aaron North the next CEO, succeeding Earl Martin Phalen, who will depart after four and a half years of leading Great Jobs KC, according to a release.

North begins his tenure as CEO on December 8. He brings more than a decade of experience from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he served as Vice President and was chair of the Kauffman Scholars board of directors. North currently serves as Executive Vice President of Strategy and Economic Growth at the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, a position he has held since August.

“Great Jobs KC invests in people by helping them gain the education, skills, and support they need to create real options and build better lives for themselves and their families,” North said in the release. “That mission, the results this organization is achieving, and its direct connection to Ewing Kauffman’s legacy and the Kauffman Foundation make this opportunity deeply meaningful to me.”

Phalen first joined the organization in 2022. Phalen is also the founder of three other organizations focused on aiding students and workforce development: Skilled US, Phalen Leadership Academies, and Summer Advantage USA.

Great Jobs KC accomplished goals under Phalen’s leadership:

• Raised more than $125 million to fund scholarships and workforce training.
• Nearly doubled its scholarship program, from 525 scholarships awarded to 928 awarded last year, and helped secure more than 3,000 additional university-sponsored scholarships.
• Achieved a 72% college graduation rate among scholars, which is 24% higher than similar students.
• Launched the Great Jobs KC skills training program, a tuition-free pathway to high-demand careers that has helped more than 3,000 graduates secure better-paying jobs, with graduates seeing average annual wage increases of $29,000 with full benefits.

“When the Board found out that Earl was ready to return to his previous entrepreneurial endeavors, we briefly considered conducting a nationwide search for his successor,” Jan Kreamer, Great Jobs KC Founding Board Member. “However, when we listed out the qualities we thought necessary for the next CEO, we realized that talent was right here in Kansas City. Aaron understands, as Mr. Kauffman taught us, that access to education is the surest way to break the cycle of poverty.”