Five high-profile KC startup, business leaders slated for Junior Achievement hall of fame
April 23, 2020 | Startland News Staff
A program that connects Kansas City business leaders with classrooms is giving high honors to a handful of startup veterans whose efforts to build global companies has already impacted a new generation of entrepreneurs.
Bruce Ianni and Davyeon Ross, co-founders of ShotTracker; Christine Kemper, founding chair of Kansas City Girls Preparatory Academy, and Sandy Kemper, founder, chairman, and CEO of C2FO (both are founders of YEPKC, an organization focused on nurturing entrepreneurship in high school students); and Peter Mallouk, president of Creative Planning, have been selected for 2020 induction into the Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City Business Hall of Fame.
ShotTracker and C2FO both were featured on multiple lists of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch.
“Our 2020 laureates inspire Kansas City’s students by showing them how an innovative spirit combined with hard work can leave a lasting impact on the community,” said Kathy Rhodes, chairman of the Junior Achievement board and lead managing director at CBIZ. “I am proud to honor these business leaders for their role in making Kansas City a hub of creativity, entrepreneurship, and a fantastic place to work and live.”
Editor’s note: C2FO and the Kemper Family Foundation are financial supporters of STARTLAND, the parent organization of Startland News. Christine Kemper sits on the board of STARTLAND. Davyeon Ross is a former board member for the Kansas City Startup Foundation, now STARTLAND. This report was produced independently by Startland News.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary in 2020, the annual Junior Achievement hall of fame event has previously recognized such entrepreneurs as Ewing Marion Kauffman, Dave Cummings, Barnett and Shirley Helzberg, Gary Fish, and Henry Bloch.
A luncheon celebration of the 2020 honorees is planned for Nov. 6 at The Gallery Event Space in Kansas City.
Click here for more in-depth bios of the honorees.
Junior Achievement of Greater Kansas City aims to bring business back to the classroom by connecting students to mentors and programs that promote financial literacy, inspire entrepreneurship, and prepare students (K-12) for success in a 21st century workplace.
Featured Business

2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Climate change innovation, leadership must be built at the local level, Buttigieg tells SXSW
Editor’s note: The following story is part of Startland News’ coverage of the SXSW conference in Austin. Click here to read more stories from the 2022 trip. AUSTIN — The keys to solving climate change could already be in the ignition, Pete Buttigieg said, empowering a crowd of innovation leaders to sit in the passenger…
Sit Foundry takes a stand for ‘lost art’ of upholstery amid fast furniture’s climate threat
Alex Krause Matlack is bringing what she teaches in the classroom to Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as she pursues Sit Foundry — an all-inclusive reupholstery design studio. “In the first week of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, I tell my students to go out into the world and take notice of the problems they face.…
De-risking a dangerous job: How a window washing startup is raising the bar (and hose) with drones
It’s a nightmare to clean the windows of multi-story buildings, said Andrew Brain. “It’s incredibly unsafe for folks to be hanging on the side of buildings — and it’s incredibly expensive for them to be there. Insurance liability has gone up 300 to 400 percent. … I was thinking that there’s got to be a…
Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says
Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?” It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…

