Kauffman tabs DST’s McDonnell as CEO, names Kreamer board chair

Tom McDonnell, a man who for months has been at the center of considerable speculation about the next president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has been tabbed to take the reins of the Kansas City, Mo.-based organization, which has an asset base of close to $2 billion and focuses on entrepreneurship and…

Tom McDonnell, a man who for months has been at the center of considerable speculation about the next president and CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, has been tabbed to take the reins of the Kansas City, Mo.-based organization, which has an asset base of close to $2 billion and focuses on entrepreneurship and education.

The Kauffman Foundation’s board of trustees announced the decision today. The leadership change will take effect Jan. 1. 

McDonnell (above, far left) was elected chairman of the foundation’s board of trustees in 2006 and has served on the board since 2003.

He announced in September that he would retire at year’s end from his role as CEO of DST Systems, a Kansas City-based company that provides information processing and software services and products for the financial, communications and health care sectors. A Kansas City native, McDonnell started at DST in 1969, serving as the company’s president from 1973 to 2009. His résumé also includes stints on the boards of Kansas City-based tech companies Cerner and Garmin, among others.

Janice Kreamer (above, near left) was elected chairman of the Kauffman Foundation’s board to fill the vacancy created by McDonnell’s move. Kreamer has served as a Kauffman trustee since 2006 and is the former CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation.

The moves were set in motion in January, when Carl Schramm, who served for 10 years as the foundation’s CEO, announced his resignation. Kauffman Foundation trustee Benno Schmidt has served as the organization’s interim president and CEO since then.

Established in the mid-1960s, the Kauffman Foundation is the nation’s largest foundation focused on entrepreneurship. Per the wishes of its benefactor, the late Ewing Marion Kauffman, the foundation focuses on two areas: advancing entrepreneurship and improving the education of children. In Kansas City, the foundation has been involved in a variety of recent entrepreneurial events, such as 1Million Cups, Startup@Kauffman Demo Day, Startup Weekend Kansas City, One Week KC and Global Entrepreneurship Week.

Stay tuned to Silicon Prairie News, as we will have more on this story as it becomes available.

 

Note: The Kauffman Foundation supports Silicon Prairie News through a sponsorship of SPN’s website and events.

Credits: Photos of McDonnell and Kreamer from kauffman.org.

This story is part of the AIM Archive

This story is part of the AIM Institute Archive on Silicon Prairie News. AIM gifted SPN to the Nebraska Journalism Trust in January 2023. Learn more about SPN’s origin »

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