Missouri Women's Business Center

Jill Adams
GO Connection Board President

Jill Adams picture Jill Adams knows the nonprofit world from both the board side and the staff side. She has served in a number of volunteer capacities, including Board President, for the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, and served in the staff position as Director of Affiliate Relations for the National Kidney Foundation.

Her entrepreneurial successes include starting a professional services management company, building the marketing division for Survival Skills Education and Development, and developing specialty food businesses. Currently she is the owner of The Richman Group, providing employee assessment services designed to help organizations hire and keep high performing employees.

Charles Bowen
GO Connection Chuck Bowen picture Board Member

During his tenure as the Sr. Vice President of Cintech Solutions, Inc., Chuck Bowen grew to be the market share leader in the small-to-medium call center market, with sales increasing in excess of 30 percent annually. In addition to sales and marketing, Mr. Bowen was responsible for customer service where annual sales of installation and maintenance increased 28 percent annually. Prior to his years at Cintech, he served as Vice President and General Manager for Sprint Healthcare Systems, Inc., where he led the effort to purchase the assets of Sabre Healthcare. Chuck achieved recognition as the leading telecommunications company in healthcare, with a particular focus on the development of unique products utilizing Sprint’s internet capabilities.

In addition to his duties as Board Chairman of GO Connection, Chuck also serves as Board Chairman of The Carefree Group, whose members provide advice and counsel to both new and established businesses. Mr. Bowen is a Board member and interim CEO for Data Preserve, Inc., a start-up company providing off-site data storage and retrieval, and is the owner of the Data Preserve franchise for the Kansas City metro area.

Thomas Brown

GO Connection Board Member
Tom Brown picture Chair, Development Committee

Besides serving on the GO Connection board, Tom has an extensive history of involvement with nonprofit boards, including overseeing Smiles Change Lives, a foundation that provides dental and orthodontic work for the low-to-moderate income community. In addition to his civic work, Tom is a partner at the law firm of Brown & Nachman, LLC, specializing in corporate, oil and gas, lender liability, mergers and acquisitions and estate planning. Tom received his law degree from the University of Michigan.

Dr. Marylou DeWald

GO Connection Board Treasurer
Chair, Loan Review Committee

Marylou DeWald picture Marylou is an experienced educator, seminar leader, consultant loan officer, author and business owner. She has frequently spoken nationally and internationally to a wide variety of audiences. Marylou is known for her work with troubled firms through her consulting company, Goodman & Bove, as well as her two entrepreneurship texts. Formerly a Senior Loan Specialist with the U.S. SBA in Kansas City, Missouri and a Commercial Loan Officer with Commerce Bank, Marylou is now involved in the world of academia, serving as an Assistant Professor and Division Chair of the business department at Ottawa University. She also teaches the First Step FastTrac curriculum for two local organizations.

Ken DeSieghardt

GO Connection Board Secretary
Chair, Strategic Planning Committee

Steve Johns picture Ken DeSieghardt is the owner of DeSieghardt Strategic Communications, LLC, in Stilwell, Kansas has been in the marketing communications field for 23 years. Prior to founding his company in 2001, he held senior management positions at two of the area’s largest marketing communications firms, and led the communications department at Health Midwest. He specializes in writing, strategy, research and training, and has served clients locally, regionally, nationally and internationally. His clients have included companies in fields such as health care, government, professional services, manufacturing, telecommunications, insurance, and financial services. He also serves on the board of Church Development Corporation, a funding organization affiliated with the Presbyterian Church, and is an avid speaker on international adoption.

Dennis DuPont

GO Connection Board Member

Dennis Dupont Dennis offers a 25 year background in advertising and finance. A public speaker and entertainer, Dennis is armed with the ability to make people laugh, even while encountering difficult circumstances. His philosophy that humor in the workplace can go a long way toward producing serious results, coupled with both an in- and out-of-the-box thought process, has helped Dennis to position many a small business owner in his or her daily scrap with profitability.

Vanessa Finley

G Vanessa Finley picture O Connection Board Member

Vanessa Finley is the Executive Director of the First Step Fund, a Kansas City-based microenterprise development program whose mission is to foster economic self-sufficiency through entrepreneurship. Locally, First Step Fund provides direct entrepreneurship training and support for low- to moderate-income individuals in Greater Kansas City. On the national level, First Step Fund is the distributor of several microenterprise development curricula and provides certification and technical assistance to more than 80 sites across the country. Finley, who has served as Executive Director since 1997, is a graduate of the University of Kansas, receiving two Bachelor Degrees, one in Human Development and one in Criminology. She received her Master of Business Administration from the University of Missouri – Kansas City. She serves on the Boards of the Missouri Association for Social Welfare, Research Hospital Foundation Advisors, and Growth Opportunity Connection. Since 2000, she has also served as the chairperson of the Missouri Asset Development Coalition, which serves as Missouri’s State Microenterprise Association.

Chris Jackson

GO Connection Board Member

Chris Jackson picture After 22 years of experience in operations and management, Chris Jackson entered the entrepreneurial world when she acquired NCES in 2000. NCES is a mail-order and on-line resource of nutrition education products that includes books, tapes, teaching and other learning tools. Through NCES, Chris helps educate dietitians, health-care professionals and teachers about nutrition and good health, all subjects consistent with her own lifestyle.

As an entrepreneur, Chris believes in sharing her knowledge by lending encouragement and support to others in the nutrition industry who want to market their products. She also mentors small business owners through the Kansas Women’s Business Center and serves on the board of both the Kansas and Missouri Women’s Business Centers.

In her relatively short history as a business owner, Chris has been recognized for her personal achievement and the success of her company. In 2004 NCES was selected for the 25 under 25 Small Business Awards and ranked 24^th among the Top 50 Small Diversity Businesses in the State of Kansas in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Chris was also selected for the Athena PowerLink Program in 2003.