IN-PERSON | Lessons in Leadership with Julie Klima and Special Guest, Kisha Bausby

Lessons in Leadership is for leaders eager to grow. Join fellow CXers for a conversation with a woman leader in the community, so you can grow in knowledge, learn from others, and identify ways to stretch yourself.

Each session our Lessons in Leadership facilitator, Julie Klima, Managing Director at Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership at UMKC, will interview a guest woman in leadership who will share their experience and philosophies. December's special guest is Kisha Bausby, Senior Regional Diversity and Inclusion Manager at JE Dunn Construction Company.

Whether you are a manager or project leader, new entrant to the workforce with company leadership on the horizon, an entrepreneur leading in a variety of ways, or an executive, you are welcome to join Lessons in Leadership. Real discussion leads to evolving mindsets and behaviors, and CX's environment is comfortable for open discussion and sharing.

Kisha Bausby has been a key player on JE Dunn’s team since 1994 in the areas of diversity and inclusion, mentoring/development, small business contracting, project requirements, and satisfying the company’s national compliance reporting obligations. Her work with diverse construction trade-partners provides them access and allows them to be competitive, independent, and successful. Most notably, Kisha was instrumental in the development and implementation of JE Dunn’s award-winning Minority Contractor Development Program (MCD). Since 2005, hundreds of minority and women business owners have been trained and prepared to compete for construction contracts. To date, these businesses have acquired more than $250 million in JE Dunn contracts. She is also responsible for pioneering Professional Women of Color KC, a consortium of professional women who exist to inspire, ignite, and celebrate women of color breaking glass ceilings.

In addition, Kisha is known for leading JE Dunn’s trailblazing and highly-recognized participation in high school internship programs in the Greater Kansas City and Denver Metropolitan Areas. The programs include the Cristo Rey High School (Kansas City, MO) and Arrupe Jesuit High School (Denver, CO) Corporate Work Study Programs; City of Kansas City’s HIRE KC Youth; and I:GROW (Interns: Gaining Relevant Opportunities While Working), a JE Dunn signature program in partnership with the KCPS and KCKPS Districts. Through these programs, many students are mentored, trained, provided substantive internships, prepared for college, and professional career positions after graduation. Construction Workforce Industry compliments (CWID) was birthed from the desire to elimintae barriers and educate the urban core about career opportunities in construction. Kisha is responsible for bringing Union skilled trade organizations, grassroot workforce organizations, various contractors, and resource groups together under one roof with the goal of recruiting minorities, women, Veterans, and individuals with disabilities during an annual expo resulting in countless connections.  Kisha's accomplishments have resulted in multiple corporate and individual community recognitions.

Kisha’s passion for making a positive difference in the lives of others extends into her personal life. She served on the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion advisory board for 5 years, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce and the I Am King Foundation, Wyandotte County Contract Fairness Board, KIPP KC Real World Learning advisory board, and is a member of the Hot Stilettos shoe club which supports Newhouse, a safe house for battered women and children. Below is a sampling of current/past professional affiliations: Hispanic Chamber of Commerce of GKC; Builders’ Association; American Contract Compliance Association; Minority Contractors Association; Hispanic Contractors Association; Heartland Black Chamber of Commerce; National Minority Supplier Development Council; Veteran and Military Business Owners Association; Oregon Association of Minority Entrepreneurs; National Association of Minority Contractors; Professional Business Development Group; Associated Minority Contractors of America; Arizona Hispanic Chamber of Commerce; Women’s Business Enterprise National Council, and the Colorado Black Chamber of Commerce (Black Construction Group); Mid-American Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce, and Disability IN:KC. Most recently Kisha started the Professional Women of Color-KC (PWOC), a party with a purpose. The organization’s purpose is to be a business resource and social outlet specifically for black women, but open to all women and allies.
 
Kisha holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Park University. She, her husband, and 2 sons reside in Lee’s Summit, MO.