Photo credit: Janet Rogers, Strategic Marketing and Communications

Enactus Trip Benefits Art Students and Kansas City

The relationship between the Enactus team at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the City of Changsha, China has produced some positive benefits for Kansas City art students and for the City of Kansas City, Mo.

The recent trip to Changsha by six Enactus students marked the sixth time the Enactus team has visited China and the second visit to Changsha’s universities, administrators and city leaders. As a result of the travels and the ongoing relationship, a Memorandum of Understanding was created, which establishes a partnership between Kansas City and Changsha to determine how to improve trade and create business opportunities in the two cities.

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The Bloch School and Regnier Institute celebrated the Second Annual Henry Bloch Entrepreneurship Week Nov. 16-20. A series of events open to UMKC students and community showcased some of Kansas City’s most prominent business leaders, and how they learned to lead fearlessly.

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Gary White of water.org accepts the Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship. Photo by Janet Rogers, Division of Strategic Marketing and Communications

Celebrating 30 years of dreamers and doers

Kansas City’s world-renowned entrepreneurial community gathered as one Nov. 16 for a gala dinner celebrating the 30th anniversary of the Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, sponsored annually by one of that community’s pillars: The Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The evening’s theme was “Fearless City: Celebrating Those Who Fearlessly Create.” Business and civic leaders mingled with Bloch School faculty, members of the school’s Entrepreneur Hall of Fameand rising young start-up stars at the gala. Three people were recognized as the evening’s honorees: Jaspreet Singh, Student Entrepreneur of the Year; Danny O’Neill, Bean Baron, The Roasterie, Regional Entrepreneur of the Year; and Gary White, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Water.org, Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship.

In keeping with the theme of fearlessness, the event speakers talked about how entrepreneurs overcome obstacles and resistance to achieve success.

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Anne Williamson loves her new job. But she wouldn’t mind tweaking her job title a bit.

Williamson is the new Victor and Caroline Schutte/Missouri Professor of Urban Affairs in the Department of Public Affairs at the Bloch School. There’s nothing wrong with that title, per se; it just doesn’t tell the full story.

She’d like to see the term “metropolitan affairs” replace “urban affairs.”

“It’s not just about the urban core,” she said. Professionals in her field today, she said, are less concerned with artificial lines drawn on maps, and more concerned with questions such as “How do we create healthy, prosperous communities?” and, “How do we work for shared prosperity and a shared high quality of life across a region?”

She feels strongly that she’s in the right place to pursue the answers.

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Bloch School of Management graduates are enjoying exciting and rewarding careers all over the Kansas City region, and all over the world. Bloch alumni at different stages in their careers are in leadership roles in important organizations; are viewed as rising stars with significant leadership potential; or are enjoying a fast start right out of the gate.

This is one of a series of profiles of Bloch alumni who have used their education as a launching pad for early and ongoing success.

For Paul Berardi (M.P.A. ’02), leadership and perseverance are part of his job description. Currently serving as Fire Chief for the City of Kansas City, Mo., Berardi spends each day working to improve the safety of the city’s residents.

Beginning his career as a firefighter in 1986, Berardi hadn’t completed formal education prior to taking the job. Experiential learning is critical as a line firefighter and emergency medical technician, and was integral in the early years of his work with the KCFD.

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