Monday Movie Night
Panelists
Michael Price
Filmmaker
At the start of 2014, Michael Price established English Landing Films shortly after he moved to Kansas City.
Prior to this, Michael was based in the UK, where he worked as a producer for BBC TV Current Affairs, mostly for its investigative TV Panorama program.
Since settling in Kansas City, Michael has made films for private clients and Kansas City Public Television. His two recent investigative films Evicted and Water Rates And Rivers, won Mid-America EMMYs in the Public Affairs Special category. His hour-long film Our Divided City won the national 2017 NETA award in the Documentary category.
In addition to filmmaking, Michael teaches journalism full time at Johnson County Community College in Kansas.
He studied law at Regent’s Park College, Oxford University and then radio for a Master's Degree at Goldsmiths, University of London.
December: Health & Healing
Sponsored by
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Andrew Potter
"Build it to give it away.” Community is the heart of Andrew's mission whether it is serving three tours in Afghanistan with the 75th Ranger Regiment, building RoKC Climbing Gyms, or co-founding a software company and a non-profit.
Conceptualized in 2013 during his second tour in Afghanistan, RoKC began as a dream to make climbing available to everyone. In 2016 they opened the doors to the North Kansas City location. In 2018 RoKC opened its second facility, RoKC Underground and the third location, RoKC Olathe, opened in the spring of 2020.
Andrew also helped create Exploring Roots, a non-profit that serves under-resourced urban youth through eco-therapy. Research shows that a connection with nature is vital to our mental and physical health, and Andrew feels a moral and ethical responsibility to play a role in addressing both environmental and social injustices that exist in our community.
Most importantly, Andrew is a loving husband and father to two children.
Marion Spence Pierson, M.D. FAAP
Dr. Pierson has, over the past two decades served as Chair for multiple Pediatric Departments and has been the Past President of the Medical Staff of St. Luke’s East Hospital in Lee’s Summit, MO where she lives and is currently a partner at Village Pediatrics, LLC. in Prairie Village, Kansas.
In 2019, Dr. Pierson was inspired by two environmental activists at Detroit Hives, Inc.( Timothy Jackson and Nicole Lindsey) to form MO Hives KC, a new Missouri-based nonprofit . This Kansas City native and her Co-Founder,Brian Reeves bring apicultural and environmental awareness to residents via vacant lot transformations, to create healthy and sustainable urban apiaries or honey bee farms. Each apiary serves not only to bring native wildflower beauty and STEM education to underserved and often marginalized communities, the newly installed apiaries also invite a racially and ethnically diverse group of voices to the conversations around honeybee and pollinator conservation.
Roosevelt D. Lyons
Roosevelt D. Lyons serves as the Deputy Director of Operations for Kansas City Parks and Recreation, which oversees communications/development, natural resources and community services divisions. Roosevelt began his career with the city in the Office of the Mayor as a Senior Advisor for Community Engagement. He joined KC Parks in 2014 and served as Superintendent of Parks and Recreation and Manager of Recreation in the community services division. Roosevelt holds a Bachelors of Liberal Arts and a Masters in Public Administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
October: Art & Nature
Nika Renee
Nika Renee is a poet from Kansas City, Kansas. She is author of three self published poetry chapbooks; The Spirit of the Quest Volumes 1, 2 and 3. Nika holds a bachelor's degree in African and African American Studies with a minor in Peace and Conflict Studies from The University of Kansas in Lawrence Kansas. She currently resides in Kansas City, Missouri where she is owner and operator of Soulcentricitea Tea Room. You can subscribe to her Patreon.
Calvin Arsenia
Calvin Arsenia has built a reputation for turning the arts world on its head. While the harp has allowed this Kansas City native to become a man of the world, it's his unique ability at creating a stimulating setting at his live shows that has all eyes fixed on his approach to harp music. Calvin believes the art is in crafting the perfect moment. Between his 2017 release Catastrophe and the upcoming Cantaloupe, Calvin has delivered genre-bending (and gender-bending) shows that tackle a range of subjects.
Carl Stafford
Carl Stafford is the Founder and Lead Concept Specialist of MY REGION WINS! Born and raised on the west side of the 5th district in Kansas City, Missouri, Carl earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Kansas City Art Institute. He then worked in the educational field teaching a college connection class, and K-8 digital & traditional art classes. After he realized critiques and resources are vital to a dreamer's success, he created MY REGION WINS! in 2014.
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September: Climate Change
Bob Berkebile
Any list of accomplished, influential environmentalists and preservationists includes Bob Berkebile. Highly regarded by fellow professionals, Bob focuses on improving the quality of life in our society with the integrity and spirit of his firm’s work. In 2009, Bob received a Heinz Award from Theresa Heinz and the Heinz Family Foundation for his role in promoting green building design and for his commitment and action towards restoring social, economic and environmental vitality to America’s communities through sustainable architecture and planning. Among his contributions to his industry, Bob is the founding chairman of the American Institute of Architects’ National Committee on the Environment (AIA / COTE) and was also instrumental in the formation of the US Green Building Council and its LEED rating system.
Tom Jacobs
Tom Jacobs is the director of environmental programs for the Mid-America Regional Council, a position he has held since 2001. In this role he has advocated for conserving and restoring the Blue River, and other natural resources around the Kansas City region. Recent MARC efforts include the development of Regional Green Infrastructure Framework in 2019, and current efforts to integrate nature-based solutions into regional climate action plans. In each instance, green infrastructure is understood to achieve sustainable environmental outcomes, while also meaningfully addressing public health and social equity at the same time.
Kelly Blandford
Kelly Blandford joined The Nature Conservancy in August 2016 as Associate Director of Philanthropy in Kansas. She has recently taken a lead role in the Conservancy’s climate work in Kansas, specifically focusing on state policy and restoration and protection efforts in the Blue River Watershed in Kansas City. Kelly serves on the Climate Action KC Advisory Committee and Heartland Conservation Alliance’s Conservation Workgroup. Before joining the Conservancy, she worked as an environmental scientist and project manager for a consulting firm, supporting federal contracts for water policy in Washington D.C. Kelly also worked in the wastewater and storm water treatment industry in a research and regulatory capacity for six years. She received her Bachelor of Science degree in Ecology and Evolutionary Biology from the University of Kansas, and her Masters Degree in Environmental Economics and Policy from Duke University. She has a special interest in water resources and urban conservation.
August: Restoration
Sponsored by
Shannon Tyree
Shannon Tyree is President and Restoration Ecologist with Habitat Architects. He is a former Marine, serving six years with tours in both the Gulf War and Somalia. He is a graduate of Central Missouri State University with a degree in Biology and emphasis on field natural history and earth sciences. Shannon has more than 24 years’ experience completing habitat restoration projects on a variety of landscapes in the Midwest. He has specialized training in wetland delineations, plant identification, prescribed fire and resource inventories/monitoring. Shannon began Habitat Architects in 1997 to fuel his passion for restoring natural communities.
Connie Chapman
Connie Chapman is a land owner in southern Johnson County. She and her husband, Michael, have been working to restore their property to what it had been prior to 1900. The land includes a spring-fed riparian area and prairie sections. Connie and Mike are working with the Kansas Land Trust to conserve 30 acres of this land as a conservation easement.
Connie’s passion for preserving valuable ecological areas led her to work with Jill Erickson, Scott Schulte and Ginny Moore to envision Heartland Conservation Alliance. She is a K-State Extension Master Naturalist and is currently the coordinator of the Pollinator Prairie in Olathe.
Heidi Mehl
Heidi leads the Healthy Streams for Kansas Initiative where she works to recover the state’s streams and improve water quality, as well as directing burgeoning soil health and regenerative agriculture projects in Kansas. She has a strong interdisciplinary background spanning the fields of fluvial geomorphology, hydrology, biogeochemistry, and human-environment interactions.
Heidi received her Ph.D from Kansas State University with a dissertation title “A cultural ecology of riparian systems on the Prairie Band Potawatomi Nation: understanding stream incision, riparian function, and Indigenous Knowledge to increase best management plan adoption.”
July: Recreation
Sponsored by
Zac Loehr
Zac Loehr is an avid mountain biker and has been the Urban Trail Co Volunteer Trail Manager at Blue River Parkway for 5 years. He's been involved in trail building and maintenance for over 10 years in the Kansas City area. Zac is a Grandview, Missouri resident and lives about a mile from BRP so you'll see him on the trails often either riding, hiking, or doing trail maintenance. He has explored almost every inch of land between Kenneth Road and Highway 71 along the Blue River Corridor to scout new areas for trails and enjoy the urban forest.
Kelly Daniels
Kelly Daniels is the founder and owner of The Kelly Gallery Gardens and is the executive director of the Blue River Nature Sanctuary, a nonprofit organization that facilitates experience-based connections to nature for people of all ages from around the world. She is passionate about preserving the beauty and skills of Indigenous people and worked as an instructor at Coyote Trails School of Nature, a Wilderness School in Oregon. Kelly founded and runs Blue River Forest School in Kansas teaching about native plants, animals, and awareness skills and photography to children and adults.
Peter Powell
Peter spends his time fishing in the Kansas City area rivers and creeks. He fishes for common car, grass carp, gar and many other species. Peter has worked at K&K Fly Fishers teaching the art of fly fishing. He loves investing in future fly fishers and supporting the conservation of the waterways.
