Northwest Foundation welcomes 7 new members

Jenny Arthur Burkhead, who resides in Kansas City, Missouri, has worked in real estate in the metropolitan area for more than 40 years and currently is a salesperson and broker with Jenny Burkhead Group and Keller Williams.

She earned a bachelor’s degree in marketing and office administration at Northwest in 1977.

She is active in the National Association of Realtors, Home Builders Association of Greater Kansas City, Northland Regional Chamber of Commerce, Staley Farms Golf Club and Pleasant Valley Church. In addition to serving as past president and advisor of Alpha Sigma Alpha at Northwest and the Kansas City Alumnae Chapter, she is a past board member and volunteer of the YMCA Challenger program for children with special needs.

Jim Davis is a Maryville resident and has served as chief financial officer and executive vice president at Nodaway Valley Bank since 2000.

Hailing from King City, Missouri, he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting in 1998 and a Master of Business Administration degree in 2000, both at Northwest.

He is active with the local Lions Club and Countryside Christian Church. In addition to supporting Northwest organizations such as Friends of International Students and the Christian Campus House, he is a past president of the Greater Maryville Chamber of Commerce and was a member of the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Nodaway County Board of Directors.

Kevin Fullerton resides in Mission, Kansas, and is the owner and creative director of Springboard Creative, a branding and graphic design studio he founded in 2006. Before that, he worked at a variety of Kansas City advertising agencies as an art director and creative director. He also was an adjunct professor at the Kansas City Art Institute.

He is a native of Lincoln, Nebraska, and earned a bachelor’s degree in journalism and graphic communications at Northwest in 1988.

He is a member of the Mass Communication Professional Advisory Committee at Northwest and chairman of the Northeast Johnson County Chamber of Commerce. He also has served in leadership positions within the American Advertising Federation at the local, district, regional and national levels.

Gina Gruhn is a resident of Morristown, New Jersey, and most recently was employed with Optum as senior vice president and market president for strategic partnerships. As a healthcare executive with experience in new business sales, client management, organizational design and transformation, she has held roles previously with Coface, Express Scripts and Medco.

A native of Osceola, Iowa, she earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Northwest in 1993. She also has a Master of Business Administration degree from Baker University in 1999.

She is active in the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary Parish and has served on the Boys and Girls Club of Newark as an executive member, board secretary and market development chair.

Dr. Nancy Headrick resides in Kansas City, Missouri, and is retired from a career in education spanning more than 30 years. She served as director of the Teaching to Lead teacher preparation program with the Southern Regional Education Board in addition to leadership roles with the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education and  Family, Career and Community Leaders of America.

A native of St. Joseph, Missouri, she earned a bachelor’s degree in home economics education from Northwest in 1978. She also has master’s and doctorate degrees in career and technical education from the University of Missouri-Columbia.

She has served as a member of the Northland Career Center Advisory Committee. She also volunteers and contributes her time and sewing talents to organizations including The Sewing Labs and Little Dresses For Africa.

Dr. Kerry Miller Roe, a resident of Kansas City, Missouri, is employed with Scholastic Inc. as a professional learning manager for the Midwest region. She also has 20 years of experience as an elementary school principal, retiring from the Park Hill School District in 2020.

A native of Albany, Missouri, she earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in education from Northwest in 1991 and 1995. She also has an education specialist degree in educational administration from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a doctorate in educational leadership from Baker University.

She has worked as an adjunct professor at Park University and with student teachers at the University of Kansas. She has served on the Board of Directors for Level Up Kids and Miles of Smiles, which provides free dental care and eyewear for children in Clay and Platte counties.

Darin Stephens resides in Independence, Missouri, and is the president and owner of Red Brothers Outdoors, which specializes in hunting accessories and optics and optoelectronics product development. Previously, he worked for Bushnell Outdoor Products as a senior product manager and was a project intern for the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center.

As a native of Clearfield, Iowa, he earned a bachelor’s degree in physics from Northwest in 1995.

He also serves as a volunteer teacher at Fellowship Church in Greenwood, Missouri.