Trailblazer on Troost among honored innovators for UMKC’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards

This year’s signature Bloch School celebration — set for Dec. 3 — heralds the efforts and successes of experts in grassroots community-building, financial planning, DNA science

Earning the top social entrepreneurship award from UMKC is more than just the greatest recognition Father Justin Mathews has ever received, the faith leader-turned-community innovator said; it’s validation that work to heal Kansas City’s racial and economic divide is as critical as wealth creation elsewhere in the metro.

“Acknowledging the importance of social entrepreneurship points us back to the heart of KC itself — neighbors turning struggle into strength and strength into opportunity,” Mathews, CEO of Reconciliation Services and founder of Thelma’s Kitchen (both anchored from headquarters along the Troost corridor), told Startland News.

The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Henry W. Bloch School of Management and Regnier Institute on Thursday announced the school’s 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year honorees: four entrepreneurs who have reshaped society, finance, and science.

In addition to Mathews being named as recipient of the Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship, honorees include:

• Peter Mallouk, president and CEO of Creative Planning, a wealth management firm overseeing more than $309 billion in assets. Mallouk is also a philanthropist focused on financial education and youth opportunity through such organizations as KC CAN! and Pathway Financial Education. (Kansas City Entrepreneur of the Year and Bloch Entrepreneurship Hall of Fame Inductee)
• J. Craig Venter, founder, chair and CEO of J. Craig Venter Institute. A biologist and entrepreneur known for sequencing the first draft human genome and creating the first synthetic cell, Venter founded the J. Craig Venter Institute and has launched multiple biotech ventures with a current focus on advancing women’s health through genomics and artificial intelligence. (Henry W. Bloch International Entrepreneur of the Year)
• Student Entrepreneur of the Year, not yet announced.

Father Justin Mathews

Peter Mallouk

J. Craig Venter

The four are set to be celebrated in-person Dec. 3 at UMKC’s 39th Annual Entrepreneur of the Year awards ceremony at the H&R Block Headquarters. The awards program reflects the university’s enduring commitment to building Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, said Dean Brian Klaas, as well as honoring individual achievements.

“At Bloch, we believe entrepreneurship is a mindset: one that challenges convention and builds something better,” he said. “Our honorees embody that spirit.”

Father Justin Mathews at Thelma’s Kitchen in 2024 within Reconciliation Services; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Mathews, an Orthodox Christian priest who also co-founded the Social Venture Studio with LaunchKC — a four-month accelerator program for social entrepreneurs located in the Crossroads Arts District — has centered his efforts on Troost Avenue, long known as Kansas City’s racial dividing line.

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“In today’s America, finding new ways to scale and sustain social impact at the intersection of community need and market demand isn’t just relevant, it’s essential,” Mathews said.

For more than 30 years, Reconciliation Services has targeted root causes of economic and racial disparities, seeking to chip away at historic discrimination and disinvestment. A starting point: food and community.

Thelma’s Kitchen, the organization’s nonprofit community café and Mathews-led social venture, recently relaunched as part of a massive renovation project at the 31st and Troost site.

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“None of this happens alone,” said Mathews. “I’m grateful for my family, our incredible team at Reconciliation Services, and the many partners and neighbors who are striving to make social and economic reconciliation more possible today than it was yesterday.”

Shining a spotlight on the leader of an organization fortunately exposes more people to the mission, he continued, noting the potential for greater impact as more Kansas Citians realize that the work can’t be completed without them.

“Overcoming poverty and division isn’t a task for charity, it is our common vocation as we are all called to love our neighbor,” Mathews said. “Therefore we must employ every creative means at our disposal to embed mercy and justice into our everyday life and work.”