Komen Greater Kansas City Executive Director Lori Maris Named Regional Vice President

(Kansas City, MO.) - Lori Maris, who has served as the only Executive Director of Susan G. Komen for the Cure Greater Kansas City Affiliate, has agreed to assume a new role with the global organization -- Komen Regional Vice President.  She will transition into the new position October 1, 2012.

Susan G. Komen for the Cure is developing a new regional alignment in order to improve support for local affiliate efforts, as well as affiliates’ ability to collaborate with each other.  An important step in this process is the creation of seven new Regional Vice President (RVP) positions, who will reside in the regions they support.  Maris is the first of the seven new RVPs to be selected.  She and her future colleagues will provide senior-level strategic thought-partnership and representation for affiliates at headquarters. 

Maris, who has led the Komen Greater Kansas City Affiliate for the past ten years, will now lead the North Central Region, which includes North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Illinois.  She will continue to reside in Kansas City.

Maris began her Komen journey as a volunteer, serving as the individual t-shirt pick-up chair for the Komen Kansas City Race for the Cure Committee, followed by a two-year stint as Race Chair.  She then turned her passion for Komen into a career, becoming the first Executive Director for Komen Greater Kansas City and serving for more than ten years.  During her leadership, the affiliate increased fundraising from $600,000 to $2 million, built operational infrastructure, increased the annual local grant program from $350,000 to nearly $1 million, launched a state-wide advocacy effort and created model awareness campaigns such as Why Komen?

In announcing her professional transition to assume this new position, Lori noted that: “I have always taken my role as executive director as a personal responsibility to help the women in our community, regardless of where they live or whether they have access to pay for breast health services. Breast cancer statistics have never been just numbers to me, but faces with stories to share and families to love. I will continue to fight with the same passion to end this disease as I have demonstrated over the years. It’s a personal mission I will continue to carry with me as regional vice president of the North Central Region. I am excited for the opportunity to continue to serve alongside my fellow affiliate staff, affiliate and national volunteers and Komen National staff. I believe we will become stronger as we continue to build infrastructure, strengthen relationships with donors and each other, and increase communication of our mission impact with communities across the country and around the world.”

The Komen Greater Kansas City Affiliate Board of Directors has appointed Development & Marketing Director, Carli Good, MSW, as the Interim Executive Director. “We are extremely fortunate that our affiliate and the community we serve have benefited greatly under Lori’s leadership during her ten years at Komen Greater Kansas City and are pleased Carli Good will help us ensure a smooth leadership transition,” said board president Katie Linden. “Our affiliate staff and volunteers will continue to build and increase impact within the Greater Kansas City community. We recognize we are not losing Lori, but rather gaining another ally in the region to continue to fight breast cancer throughout the Midwest.”