Tech champion tapped to lead Patterson Family Foundation; How Maria Flynn plans to ‘make opportunity happen’ for rural communities

A startup leader, exited executive, and tech advocate who emerged from Cerner to become one of the most prominent voices for investing in Kansas City will now champion the region in a new way: as president and CEO of an influential nonprofit that bears her former boss’ name.

Maria Flynn was announced Tuesday as the new leader of the Patterson Family Foundation, a $1.5 billion-asset organization focused on helping rural communities thrive. She most recently founded the consulting firm Ambiologix and helped launch the Digital Health KC initiative.

Maria Flynn, now the president and CEO of the Patterson Family Foundation, speaks on behalf of Digital Health KC during Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City in 2023; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Her full-time role with the Patterson Family Foundation is expected to allow her continued involvement on the advisory board for Digital Health KC and ongoing support for entrepreneurs.

“It’s easy to champion our area because of all of the great people,” Flynn told Startland News. “I am excited to shift my attention to those in rural communities who are often overlooked. We will shine a spotlight on all the people and stories that need to be seen.”

The Patterson Family Foundation — a leading grantmaker in the region that began its search for a new leader in early August after the departure of Flynn’s predecessor — was founded in 2007 by Neal Patterson, the late Cerner CEO and co-founder, and his wife, Jeanne. Its mission: to reinvest in rural communities and cultivate values of education and hard work for current and future generations.

Click here to learn more about the Patterson Family Foundation.

“I grew up as a fifth-generation Kansas wheat farmer and have a deep appreciation for rural communities and the people who live there,” said Flynn, who earlier this year authored the entrepreneur guide book “Make Opportunity Happen.” “I got to work with Neal Patterson at Cerner and took away many life lessons from Neal and Jeanne. My experience as an engineer and entrepreneur helped me assess complex problems and find a path forward to address them.”

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“When the opportunity to join the Patterson Family Foundation came up, all the parts of my background came together to tell me this is the mission of ‘working together to help rural communities thrive’ is what I need to be a part of,” she continued.

Flynn’s time as a community builder with Digital Health KC — a network of more than 100 companies united to solve health care’s biggest challenges — allowed her to hone her ability to bring people along, she emphasized, noting that establishing partnerships is a through-line of her career — a journey that took her from Cerner to Orbis Biosciences’ and a stint leading Techstars Kansas City.

Maria Flynn during a 2023 launch event for Digital Health KC; photo by Channa Steinmetz, Startland News

Her humility and servant leadership was saluted in August during the 2024 Digital Health KC Annual Event when Dick Flanigan, president of Digital Health KC, heralded Flynn’s vision in creating the regional initiative to rally support — and funding — around innovators at the intersection of healthcare and technology.

“In truth, she is the founder. She’s the one who had the idea,” Flanigan told a crowd gathered for the Lumi Awards presentation. “She’s the one who reached out to me. She’s the one who believed we could pull this off. She’s the one who knew this community would come together to support digital health and all the entrepreneurs and these growth stage companies.”

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The Patterson Family Foundation lauded Flynn’s work with Digital Health KC as an example of her thoughtful knowledge of both community connectivity and transformative best practices.

“Her ability to innovate in complex environments will guide the Foundation as we continue to focus on impact-driven, collaborative strategies for rural challenges,” the Foundation said in its announcement.

“Maria brings robust leadership and executive success across the health technology, entrepreneurial, and nonprofit sectors,” the announcement detailed. “She also has a deep understanding of the values held by rural communities gleaned from her Kansas farm upbringing. As an entrepreneur, engineer, and steadfast visionary, Maria reflects our organization’s core values and rigorous commitment to thriving rural communities.”

The Foundation is led by the adult children of the Patterson Family — Clay Patterson, Lindsey Patterson Smith, Cortney Patterson Barton, and Will Patterson — who serve as its board of directors.

Flynn’s role serves as a bridge between the board and the Foundation’s team — all in a bid to execute the founders’ vision for impact, she said.

“Building on Neal Patterson’s advice to solve hard problems and Jeanne Patterson’s guidance to fill a gap in philanthropy led the Patterson Family Foundation to our rural mission,” Flynn said. “Twenty percent of Americans live in rural America, but only six percent of philanthropy reaches them. We found that the needs of rural communities are noticeably underserved by philanthropy.”

Click here to learn more about the Patterson Family Foundation’s strategic communities.

“Healthy rural communities are important to our country, and the importance goes well beyond food production,” she continued. “We are focused on strengthening the local systems that empower rural communities to fully thrive in 115 counties across rural Kansas and western Missouri.”