(From left) Lisa Ginter, ’87, Kathy Nelson, John Sherman, Clark Hunt and the Rev. Thomas B. Curran, S.J.
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS FOR MAKING THIS EVENT POSSIBLE: PRESENTING SPONSOR CommunityAmerica Credit Union MAGIS SPONSOR Anonymous RECEPTION SPONSOR Tria Health JESUIT SPONSOR Kansas City University KANSAS CITY SPONSORS Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City George J. Shaw Construction Co. and Site Rite Construction Co. Husch Blackwell LLP JE Dunn Construction Lynn & Tom DeBacco
KC Sports Leaders Share Challenges From a Tough Year
T
he year 2020 wasn’t easy for anyone. That’s especially true for sports leagues whose business model revolved around having large crowds.
But as three of Kansas City’s sports leaders told an audience at “Leadership Lessons From the Toughest Competition in 2020” event June 17 in Arrupe Hall auditorium, the year would bend but not break them. Clark Hunt, chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Chiefs; Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission; and John Sherman, owner of the Kansas City Royals, sat down for a panel discussion led by Lisa Ginter, ’87, CEO of CommunityAmerica Credit Union, touching on everything from the pandemic to the reckoning over racial injustice to the everyday pursuit of excellence. Their experiences were in some ways vastly different — Hunt is an experienced sports executive, Sherman a new owner of the Royals in 2020, and Nelson and her organization coordinate a host of events, from the Big 12 Tournament to the Kansas City Marathon. As a result, each were faced with unique challenges, but all three agreed they were positioned to come out stronger on the other side because of strategic decision making and the teams around them who helped guide them. “Billie Jean King said, ‘Champions adjust,’” Nelson said. “And that’s all we did, every day, every hour, we were adjusting and we had to have that championship mentality.”
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SPRING 2021
