Fellows Bios
Fellows
"Suzie" Nahach (she/her) is a current graduate student in Public Policy at the University of Missouri-Columbia and will earn her M.P.A. in May 2020. Originally from Jefferson City, MO, Suzie graduated from Truman State University in May 2017 with a B.A. in Public Communication and English. After graduating from college, she moved to Baton Rouge, LA in July 2017 to be an Americorps Member with City Year Baton Rouge. She served as a second grade corps member at Baton Rouge Bridge Academy (now IDEA Bridge Academy) for the 2017-2018 school year. Suzie is interested in all types of policy and nonprofit work and is excited to explore new ideas and policy areas. When she is currently learning about policy and playing with Stata in the depths of the library. Suzie enjoys dancing, reading, making detailed to-do lists, volunteering within her community, and learning new things. She is incredibly excited to work with ULF this summer.
Originally from Southwest Virginia, Ty Sheets has had the pleasure of calling Kansas City home since 2016. He answered the call to national service with AmeriCorps in Kansas City through an educational nonprofit called City Year. Prior to his tenure with City Year, Ty worked as a professional trumpeter in theaters, ballrooms, cruise ships, and venues around the world. Ty is excited and privileged to serve on the staff of City Year Kansas City as an Impact Manager, leading a team of diverse, idealistic young people in service of the students and schools of this great city. He is looking forward to exploring policy research and advancement as a means of increasing his scale of impact with the Urban Leaders Fellowship.
Christy is an Oklahoma City native that resides in Kansas City for medical school. She is excited to participate in the Urban Leaders Fellowship. Currently, Christy is working on a project she calls the Dream Big Initiative which focuses on mentoring students that attend schools surrounding the downtown Kansas City area and increasing their enrollment in higher education. Christy is also an ACT tutor with the Urban League of Kansas City during the school year.
A lifelong Kansas Citian, Richard Thompson is excited to work with the Urban Leaders Fellowship (ULF) on improving education and race equity in the Kansas City area. He has a Master’s in Public Affairs, with an emphasis in Nonprofit Management, from the University of Missouri-Columbia.
Prior to joining ULF, Richard worked for two years as an AmeriCorps Member serving Harvesters Food Bank, where he helped low-income Missourians qualify for food stamps. Richard has also done communications and operations for the Kansas City Teacher Residency, a nonprofit that trains teachers to work in inner-city schools. Richard is also on the board of the Kansas City, MO nonprofit, Friends of Community Media.
Maryalice is currently a second-grade teacher at Genesis Promise Academy in Kansas City. This is her first year living in the midwest, after growing up in New York City and Long Island, New York. Prior to pursuing a career in education, Maryalice fostered an extensive background in television production and journalism. She worked as a segment producer at Hardball on MSNBC, Good Morning America, and CBS This Morning. Maryalice earned a Daytime Emmy Award with the team at Good Morning America. She received her bachelor's degree from Emerson College and a master's degree in Global Affairs from New York University. Maryalice is currently pursuing a master's degree in Elementary Education from the University of Missouri.
Anthony Crapisi is a cancer survivor and KCMO native, receiving a B.A. in Communication Studies in 2014 from UMKC. That same year, he worked with the local mayor's office helping to reform the City's internship program by creating more value and greater opportunity for future interns. In his words, "I want to leave this program better than I found it." He still considers it one of his proudest accomplishments. Today, Anthony works in project management and has wanted to pursue his passions in policy and community work since graduating. He believes in the power and duty to make a difference and considers ULF to be the opportunity he's always hoped for.
Hannah Stephenson graduated with her bachelor’s degree in Voice Performance from the University of Missouri-Kansas City, where she was first introduced to progressive causes. She then served her first AmeriCorps term of service as a math and reading tutor in an elementary school in Fort Leonard Wood, MO; the same school district she attended from throughout her childhood. After receiving her master’s degree in voice from the University of Nebraska at Omaha, she moved to Greeley, CO to pursue a post-master’s specialization. In the northern Colorado arts community (Denver, Fort Collins, Longmont, Boulder, and Greeley) Hannah worked with various arts organizations as an ambassador to community donors. Recently, Hannah pivoted to her current role as a second year AmeriCorps member, serving with Reading Partners, a children’s literacy non-profit in their Denver, CO program, combining her experience in relationship building and her work with youth.
Niki Williams began her social service career as a Case Manager at Hillcrest Platte County. She then became a staff member of the Youth Shelter, interned with the Youth Street Outreach Team, was promoted to Youth MGH Case Manager for pregnant and parenting youth experiencing homelessness and is currently the Youth TLP Case Manager with reStart Inc. in Kansas City MO. Niki is a part of the Cultural Competency Crew at reStart and earned her Masters in Social Work in May of this year from Park University in Parkville Missouri. Niki interned for a year at Children's Mercy Hospital with the Gender Pathway Clinic that serves transgender and gender expansive young people. She has volunteered with numerous programs that serve populations who have experienced sexual violence, programs for LGBT populations, those who live in poverty and people who are experiencing homelessness. She has worked with businesses and community partners to raise money for emergent social justice causes and has developed awareness campaigns to address needs within the community of young people experiencing homelessness.
Kara Anderson has been cooking professionally for eight years. She grew up in a rural community where her family raised livestock and always had a large garden. Family time was mostly spent cooking meals together using things grown in their own backyard. Called by her childhood experience and her passion for cooking, she decided to quit her desk job and enroll in culinary school in 2010. Kara’s first job cooking in a professional kitchen was at The Carriage Club in Kansas City. She worked there for 2 years, moving up from Pantry Cook to Banquet Chef quickly. Upon graduation from the culinary program at The Art Institutes International-Kansas City, Kara opted to hone her craft in Portland, Oregon. Working as a line cook, then Sous Chef in kitchens in Portland, she was able to expand her culinary repertoire preparing dishes from the bounty of fresh produce and seafood available in the Pacific Northwest. In 2015, family brought Kara back to Kansas City where, (after a brief stint with Alex Pope at Cleaver & Cork), she became the Sous Chef at The Rieger. After taking the position of Head Chef at The Sundry last fall, she’s becoming more invested in our community. While living in the South Hyde Park neighborhood Kara has become more passionate about local food and the community she is serving. Through this passion for KC she learned of the Urban Leaders Fellowship and was inspired to take a summer out of the kitchen to improve the community she and her young son live in.
Esther Beard, currently living in St. Louis, MO area where she works as a community organizer, teaching low-income parents of color how to organize for community and systems change. She attended high school in Kansas City, MO. went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology and a Master’s in Education.
While living in car-centric Los Angeles, David Hassen discovered the joy of using a bike for transportation. He ditched his car and got firsthand experience at what it's like to be a cyclist and pedestrian in a city built for cars. When David moved back to his hometown, Kansas City, in 2016, he brought his passion for active transportation to a city known for its sprawl. David currently works at BikeWalkKC, a nonprofit advocacy organization, and leads several education programs including Bike Club, where high school students get a free bike and learn how to navigate the city on two wheels. David's goal is to make Kansas City a safer, more accessible place to live and travel through, no matter your method of transportation.
Elected Official
Senator Lauren Arthur was elected to represent the constituents of the 17th Senatorial District in the Missouri Senate during a special election on June 5, 2018.
Prior to her time in the Missouri Senate, Arthur served four years in the Missouri House of Representatives where she served as the ranking minority member on the Health and Mental Health Policy Committee, while also serving on the Administration and Accounts and General Laws Committees. During her tenure, Arthur also served on the Interim Committee on Stabilizing Missouri’s Health Insurance Markets as well as the Legislative Task Force on Dyslexia.
Senator Arthur grew up in the Northland. After graduating from North Kansas City High School’s Baccalaureate program, Sen. Arthur received a scholarship to Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts.
During her time at Smith, Sen. Arthur interned at the Smithsonian’s American History Museum and the Scottish Parliament. She graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in History.
Sen. Arthur returned home to Kansas City to join Teach for America. She worked as a middle school teacher. She taught English and Language Arts at Urban Community Leadership Academy, a charter school in the urban core. During that time, Sen. Arthur earned her Masters in Education from the University of Missouri – St. Louis. She also worked as a Project Manager at VML, a global advertising agency headquartered in Kansas City. She now serves as the Regional Director for Urban Leaders Fellowship, a program designed for early to mid-career professionals who are looking to accelerate their leadership abilities through a seven-week fellowship with a focus on policy and practice.
Senator Arthur currently lives in Kansas City, MO. She enjoys spending time with her husband Russell and their dog Odie.
Staff
Regional Director
Charis “Char” Moss is a Michigan native and attended Michigan State University in East Lansing, MI. During her time at MSU, Charis studied politics and apartheid in South Africa as well as contemporary cultures and politics in Greece. Upon graduating, she relocated to Chicago, Illinois and served as a 2014 City Year Chicago Corps Member in the South Shore community at O’Keeffe Elementary School. Her main roles as a Corps Member were ELA tutor and Resource Coordinator. Shortly after serving with City Year, she joined Teach for America as a 2016 Corps Member serving in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. During her service with Teach for America, Charis earned a Master’s in Educational Leadership from the University of Central Oklahoma. She currently teaches 8th Grade Math to English Learners and serves on TFA OKC Alumni Advisory Board.
Char is a 2017 alumna of the Urban Leaders Fellowship, KCMO. She can be reached at char@urbanleadersfellowship.org.
Co-Executive Director
Katherine hails from Medellín, Colombia and moved to Florida with her family when she was eight years old. She taught as an elementary school bilingual teacher in San Antonio Public Schools as a Teach For America corps member. Prior to joining the Urban Leaders team, Katherine was a legal intern with Florida Legal Services providing legal aid to clients with cases concerning issues affecting people in institutions – prisons, jails, juvenile detention centers, mental health treatment facilities and immigration detention centers. She attended the University of Florida on a Florida Bright Futures Scholarship, where she graduated cum laude with a focus in Spanish Literature, Family, Youth and Community Sciences, and International Relations.
Katherine is a 2015 alumna of the Urban Leaders Fellowship. She can be reached at katherine@urbanleadersfellowship.org.
Co- Executive Director
Kristopher Frye is excited to serve ULF as the Co-Executive Director. His career in public service began as a classroom teacher in St. Louis, MO, after which he moved to Honduras to teach at a local bilingual school. Following his time in the classroom, Kris attended law school to explore the intersection between policy and practice. Kris has worked as a policy advisor to school board members of the Indianapolis Public Schools, in the Office of the Indiana Governor, and the law firm Church, Church, Hittle & Antrim. In his most recent role, Kris served as the Chief of Staff at Teach For America-Indianapolis, supporting the regional staff as well as over 500 alumni and corps members in the city. He is a graduate of St. Ambrose University, with a degree in Journalism and Public Relations, the University of Missouri-St. Louis, with a Masters in Education, and the Indiana University Robert H. McKinney School of Law. Kris recently moved to Colorado with his wife, Carole, and daughter Nora.
Kris is a 2014 alumnus of the Urban Leaders Fellowship. He can be reached at kristopher@urbanleadersfellowship.org.