David Westbrook
Defying the Odds Award
Unhindered the by juvenile glaucoma that took his sight at age 17, David Westbrook (B.A. ’71) has proven that vision has nothing to do with one’s ability to see. Westbrook founded Corporate Communications Group, one of the nation’s leading communications and public relations firms. In 2008, Westbrook took his talent and dedication to longtime client Children’s Mercy Hospital.
“I think I got my passion from my experience at UMKC as chair of the Kennedy Symposium,” Westbrook says. “I was privileged to be with some truly remarkable thought leaders of the day. Being with those thought leaders and trying to make an impact on issues like the environment, civil rights and the war in Vietnam were experiences that prepared for a life of dealing with change and managing it on my own behalf as a blind man and also on behalf of clients.”
What three words describe your leadership style? Patient. Persistent. Compassionate.
What historical figure do you most identify with? There are four who inspire me: Socrates because he inspired a new way of thinking without ever writing anything down. Plato because he invented western civilization when he wrote The Republic. Aristotle because he brought the modern day library to life. And Thomas Jefferson because he invented a nation when he wrote the Declaration of Independence.
What do you consider your greatest achievement? I consider it an achievement to have kept the fire for progress burning throughout my life. It’s tempered by an understanding that sustainable progress doesn’t happen in dramatic ways, but instead in sometimes almost indiscernible defining moments that cause a slight adjustment in the trajectory that makes a big difference when you arrive at that destination.