Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage
June 20, 2025 | Startland News Staff
A decades-long effort to grow inclusive entrepreneurial communities by strengthening access to critical resources began as a grassroots movement in Kansas City, said Maria Meyers, whose work recently earned her global recognition — and a rare honor in recent years for an American recipient.
Meyers, the founder of SourceLink — a first-of-its-kind platform boasting more than 5,000 resource partners and that has facilitated nearly 800,000 referrals to entrepreneur support resources dating back to 2003 — was awarded the Ecosystem Champion Award at the Global Entrepreneurship Conference June 3 in Indianapolis. Meyers was one of five global finalists for the honor.
She first founded KCSourceLink, which connects entrepreneurs to resources and builds collaborations to fill gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Kansas City region. The KCSourceLink model expanded nationally through SourceLink, which replicates that model in cities across the country.
“I am deeply honored to receive this award, and I credit all of the people in our strong entrepreneurial ecosystem in Kansas City for making the SourceLink model possible nationwide,” Meyers said. “Kansas City is a hotbed for entrepreneurial innovation, and it’s because of the tenacity and spirit of our region that SourceLink is a success today.”
Maria Meyers, founder of SourceLink, is announced as winner of the Ecosystem Champion Award at the Global Entrepreneurship Conference in Indianapolis; photo by Sean Molin
She was nominated for the Ecosystem Champion award “for her role as a trailblazer and author in America’s entrepreneurship ecosystem-building movement.”
The award honors “an individual with outstanding commitment and achievement to drive their local ecosystem’s positive, long-term and inclusive growth through programs and education to advance innovation and support startups.”
Meyers founded SourceLink in 2003 so communities nationwide could fill gaps in their entrepreneurial ecosystem, track entrepreneurial progress, serve as thought leaders in their communities and better aid entrepreneurs to fuel more business starts and business growth. Based in Kansas City, Missouri, SourceLink has fueled more than 200 organizations and completed entrepreneurship development projects in 40 states and territories.
Maria Meyers, executive director for UMKC’s Innovation Center, speaks alongside Dan Smith, co–founder of The Porter House KC, during a panel on Kansas City entrepreneurship at UMKC; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
Maria Meyers, UMKC Innovation Center, speaks during ESO Day in November 2023 at The Offices at Park 39 amid Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Meyers also serves as the vice chancellor of commercialization and entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, and executive director of the UMKC Innovation Center. She credits the entrepreneurial ecosystem for the success of the many entrepreneurial endeavors she oversees.
“It’s the incredible entrepreneurial spirit of Kansas City that made SourceLink what it is today,” Meyers said. “Our doers, dreamers, and builders laid the groundwork that allowed us to expand and support thriving, inclusive entrepreneurship communities nationwide. Entrepreneurship is the heartbeat of every community, and when we equip innovators with the right resources, we create opportunity and prosperity for all.”
ICYMI: KC ecosystem leaders urge: Give your network to an entrepreneur
She has more than two decades of experience in creating successful companies in the high technology, biotechnology, manufacturing and museum industries. She’s lived the struggles of launching a startup, turning it into a small business and sustaining its growth.
Meyers also speaks frequently about entrepreneurship and economic development for leading entrepreneurial organizations, including the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a founding partner of SourceLink, the International Economic Development Council, the Federal Reserve Bank and regional economic development organizations.
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Cafe Cà Phê returns to the West Bottoms with second location for KC’s popular Vietnamese coffee shop
A Cafe Cà Phê satellite location inside 12th Street Post in the West Bottoms is the perfect step for continuing the mission of Kansas City’s only Vietnamese coffee shop, shared founder Jackie Nguyen. Just shy of the one year anniversary of its Columbus Park space, Cafe Cà Phê celebrated the grand opening of its new…
She wanted to bring her favorite foodie magazine to KC; her mother’s sudden death put this publisher’s plans on the back burner
Lauren Cook’s passion for Edible Communities magazine drove her appetite to revive it in Kansas City, she shared, but an unexpected life change has her hoping to hand the publisher’s apron to someone else. Cook purchased the license to publish the city-specific food magazine — each independently run by publishers in metros across the country…
Digital Sandbox alum earns new round of funding — this time for sports tech; Meet the latest batch of just-funded startups
From making the college admissions process easier for students to summarizing books and podcasts using artificial intelligence, the latest startups to join Digital Sandbox KC are a great example of the creativity of this region’s entrepreneurs, said Jill Meyer. The four newly selected companies are expected to receive up to $20,000 in project funding and…
Her red sauce is dynamite but Ragazza’s owner gives the chef title to her Italian heritage
Family is baked into the core of Laura Norris’ restaurants, she shared, from the Italian recipes served at Ragazza in Westport to the brother-sister duo running the new Enzo Wine Bar and Bistro together in the River Market. She opened Ragazza, which now sits at the corner of 43rd and Main streets, in 2013 and…