Project Wichita Leadership
Project Wichita leadership is composed of three groups with unique, but equally important, roles: Co-chairs, Advancement Team, and Vision Team.
PROJECT WICHITA CO-CHAIRS
When Project Wichita launched in early 2018, there was a fundamental commitment that this process be for the community and by the community. To reinforce that, four community leaders who care deeply about the future of our region agreed to serve as Co-chairs and bring Project Wichita to life. Their directional leadership involved formation of the Vision Team, oversight of the diverse community engagement, and working with the Vision Team and community leaders to form the Action Plans and Community Reports in response to community input.
Aaron Bastian
President of Fidelity Bank
Aaron joined Oklahoma Fidelity Bank as Vice President, Commercial Loan Officer in 2007, becoming the fourth-generation Bastian to work in the family business. In July 2012, Aaron was named Executive Vice President and appointed to serve as an advisory director on the Fidelity Bank Board. The Oklahoma division achieved improved results under his leadership, including record profitability in the Oklahoma City market. In 2015, Aaron assumed the role of President of Fidelity Bank.
Outside of Fidelity, Aaron serves as a Wichita Rotarian, treasurer of the e2e Accelerator and member of the Wichita Rotary Charitable Fund, Greater Wichita Partnership, Leadership Wichita and Visit Wichita boards.
Debbie Gann
Vice President, Corporate Communications & Administration of Spirit AeroSystems, Inc.
Debbie Gann became Vice President, Corporate Communications & Administration for Spirit AeroSystems in April 2007. In this role, she has global responsibility for a wide range of functions including Communications and Public Relations, Government Relations, Community Relations, Board Relations, Security and Fire, Food Services and Photo and Graphic Services.
She currently serves on board of the Sedgwick County Zoo and the executive committee of the Greater Wichita Partnership. Gann is a past chair of the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and has also served on the boards of Wichita Festivals, Inter Faith Ministries and Music Theatre of Wichita.
Scott Schwindaman
President & CEO of Lubrication Engineers, Inc.
Scott Schwindaman has been president and CEO at Lubrication Engineers since 2007, having started as a laboratory technician in 1981 while he was still in college. Today, he oversees a company that has more than 100 employees in the U.S. and a large network of independent consultants and distributors who sell LE products and services worldwide.
He currently serves on the board of Independent Lubricant Manufacturers Association (ILMA), serving as treasurer; and is a member of Society of Automative Engineers (SAE) and Society of Tribologists and Lubrication Engineers (STLE). In 2017, Schwindaman served as chairman of the Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce.
Juston White
Executive Director of KVC Hospitals Wichita
In April 2019, White was named the Executive Director of KVC Hospitals' new Wichita location. Prior to that, he served as the Executive Director of the Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas, where his ability to engage investors and supporters led to enhanced after-school and summer-based programming, stronger corporate partnerships and increased the Club’s capacity to serve a growing number of youth in need.
White serves as a board member for the Child Advocacy Center of Sedgwick County, participates with the Custody to Transition Citizen Review Panel for the Kansas Department for Children and Families and is a member of Wichita Urban Professionals.
Project Wichita advancement Team
After the launch of the Community Report in January 2019, the Co-chairs formed the Project Wichita Advancement Team to lead the coalition forward, ensure the community’s progress on the Action Plan initiatives, and continue to maintain diverse and regional leadership engagement in the community vision. These community leaders represent diverse professional backgrounds and embody the guiding principles of Project Wichita, and through that embodiment help to mobilize the community and organizations toward the strategic initiatives described in the report.
Aaron Bastian
President, Fidelity Bank
Jeff Fluhr
President, Greater Wichita Partnership
Ronn McMahon
CEO and President, Greater Wichita YMCA
Shelly Prichard
President & CEO, Wichita Community Foundation
Susie Santo
President and CEO, Visit Wichita
Juston White
Executive Director, KVC Hospitals Wichita
Project Wichita Vision Team
In 2018, over 90 local organizations and businesses stepped forward and committed to support the Project Wichita process by electing a representative to work on a coalition called the Vision Team.
The Vision Team is made up of representatives from small and large businesses, non-profit organizations, civic and regional organizations, and community groups. Scholarships were made available through the generosity of many businesses allowing for a dynamic range of voices represented within the Vision Team.
The Project Wichita Vision Team had three primary objectives: fund/support the process of community engagement, protect the integrity of the process and ensure all voices are represented, and commit volunteer time to develop an actionable plan to achieve the vision. While the formal work of the Vision Team has been completed on schedule, many of the organizations below are bringing critical leadership to the Project Wichita process by serving on Task Forces and leading organizational engagement of the strategic initiatives identified in the action plans.
The Vision Team includes representatives from:
A.G. Hospitality Services
Allmetal Recycling
Allen Gibbs & Houlik, L.C.
Apples & Arrows
Arts Council
BG Products
BKD LLP
Bombardier
Bothner & Bradley
Boys & Girls Clubs of South Central Kansas
Butler Community College
Cargill
Catholic Charities, Diocese of Wichita
Chamber Music at the Barn
City of El Dorado
City of Newton
City of Wichita
Commerce Bank
Conco Construction
Cornejo & Sons
Cox Communications
Cox Machine
Create Campaign, Inc.
Eby Construction
Emprise Bank
Envision
Equity Bank
Exploration Place
Fidelity Bank
Foulston Siefkin LLP
Friends University
Gardner Design
Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland
GLMV Architecture
Greater Wichita Ministerial League
Greater Wichita Partnership
Greater Wichita YMCA
Hall’s Culligan Water/PrairieFire Coffee Roasters
High Touch Technologies
Hope Community Church
Hutton
IMA Financial Group, Inc.
INTRUST Bank
Kansas Health Foundation
KMUW
Koch Industries, Inc.
KU School of Medicine–Wichita
Laham Development
Lange Real Estate
Leadership Wichita
Lubrication Engineers
Martin Pringle Attorneys at Law
McConnell Air Force Base
Meritrust Credit Union
Murfin, Inc.
Music Theatre Wichita
NAACP
Newman University
Office of Hispanic Ministry (Diocese of Wichita)
P.B. Hoidale
Professional Engineering Consultants
RCB Bank
Realtors of South Central Kansas
Regional Economic Area Partnership (REAP) of South Central Kansas
Rocking M Media
Sedgwick County
Sedgwick County Zoo
Senseney Music, Inc.
SJCF Architecture
Spirit AeroSystems Inc.
Star Lumber
Textron Aviation
Thrive Restaurant Group
Trinity Academy
UCI
United Way of the Plains
USD 259 Wichita Public Schools
USD 266 Maize Public Schools
USD 385 Andover Public Schools
Via Christi Health, Inc.
Visit Wichita
Wesley Medical Center
Westar Energy
Wichita Business Journal
Wichita Community Foundation
Wichita Educational Foundation
Wichita Eagle
Wichita Festivals
Wichita Hispanic Chamber of Commerce
Wichita Regional Chamber of Commerce
Wichita State University
Wichita Symphony Orchestra
Workforce Alliance of South Central Kansas, Inc.
WSU Tech