2008 Most Influential Women Honoree: Jennifer Kennally

“I grew up in this community, and I feel blessed to call Springfield my hometown and to be able to come back here and do the work I love, ” says Kennally, who took the organization’s reins in May.

A career spent in nonprofit work was not Kennally’s original plan. After graduating from Parkview High School, she wanted to study art at Texas Christian University in Forth Worth, Texas, a decision her father would only allow if she also got a teaching certificate. “I think he realized I wasn’t going to make it in the art world,” she says.

After earnig a Bachelor of Fine Arts, at TCU, education was still on her professional radar when Kennally started working in retail management at JCPenney, where she got involved with her first United Way fundraising campaign, contributing $1.65 each pay period.

Kennally returned to Springfield, but she took some time off work after having a baby.

A connection she’d made as a volunteer with the American Cancer Society led to a four-year job as its executive director in Springfield.

In 1990, Kennally began as the campaign director for Heart of America United Way in Kansas City, a job that led to myriad responsibilities within the organization, including executive director of the Olathe Region United Way and United Way of Johnson County.

When Kennally had the chance to return again to the Ozarks after 17 years, she had been helping to consolidate several United Way offices in the Kansas City area.

“It really created a new United Way,” she says. “I had been working on that for a long time, and it concluded right about the time when I had the chance to get closer to Springfield.”

Kennally spent a year as president and CEO for St. John’s Mercy Regional Foundation before moving to United Way of the Ozarks, which has 11 staff members, 23 partner agencies and 75 programs and initiatives.

“I had always dreamed about coming back to Springfield and working for United Way,” she says, noting that she’s motivated by the people she meets and the opportunity to spread United Way’s mission to increase understanding of human needs and mobilize resources to meet them.

One example of how this is accomplished is the annual Day of Caring, observed for the 16th time on Aug. 14.

On that day, more than 1,700 volunteers gave roughly 12,000 hours of their time, representing about $214,000 in donated labor, to help 23 local agencies on 143 projects.

“United Way’s mission is very simple," she says. "I think that’s why I enjoy it so much, because it’s something most people can understand and want to get involved in.”

Name an influential woman, living or dead, you’d like to meet. Why?

Meryl Streep. She is so incredibly talented and has researched and portrayed some amazing women. At the same time, she’s a working mom, seems pretty normal, and she laughs a lot.

As a young girl, what were your career aspirations?

An artist or a professional tennis player.

What advice do you have for young women just getting started professionally?

I would tell young women that they really can have it all – but that they shouldn’t count on getting “it all” when they want it or expect it.

What celebrity have others compared you to, or do you identify with?

I’ve been compared to actress Ellen Barkin – not sure why.

Tell us about your family.

I was blessed with wonderful parents, Dick and Jo Chrisman, (who) gave me a great childhood. I have a twin sister Jan, who runs Habitat for Humanity here in Springfield, and a younger sister, Annie, a corporate dynamo in Atlanta. I’m very proud of both my sisters. And I have been blessed with two beautiful daughters, Lauren and Kate. They both live in Kansas City (and) we have a lot of fun together, usually shopping.

Web Exclusive: Why was one of Jennifer’s early career dreams unusual for her?

Answer: She says people might be surprised that she thought about being a professional tennis player, given that she really doesn’t like to run. [[In-content Ad]]