KCYA announces Jennifer Montgomery
as New Executive Director
The Board of Directors is pleased to announce that Jennifer Montgomery has been named Executive Director of Kansas City Young Audiences (KCYA).
Montgomery, a Kansas City native, most recently served as Administrative Director of the Kansas Children’s Service League Foundation. Prior to that, she served for nearly 10 years as Director of Human Trafficking Outreach and Education and as Public Affairs Director for the Kansas Attorney General’s Office.
In 2021, she was selected from a pool of global candidates for a Rotary Peace Fellowship at Makerere University in Kampala, Uganda. The focus of her academic work was resiliency building with women living in poverty through arts-based self-inquiry, differentiation, and storytelling.
Montgomery is a mixed media visual artist and has exhibited both locally and in New York City, with her work included in several commercial and private collections across the United States and Europe. She earned her B.A. in Communication Studies from the University of Kansas, an M.A. in Arts Education from the University of Florida and a Postgraduate Diploma in Peacebuilding and Conflict Transformation from Makerere University in Uganda.
As a result of her international work, she founded a nonprofit organization with three Ugandan professional women called Magenta Girls Initiative (MGI). MGI exists to advance educational and economic opportunities for at-risk women and girls across the globe through arts-based, trauma-informed programming. Montgomery currently serves as president.
“Jennifer’s innovative approach to delivering the mission, broad range of experience as an artist and administrator, vision for the future, and grounded, confident leadership style will be an excellent fit for our organization,” said KCYA Board Chair, Jill Warren.
As executive director, Montgomery will be responsible for creating partnerships and relationships with the community. Her duties include staff and operational management, strategic planning, and development, in addition to executing the overall mission and vision of the organization.
“Arts-based education programs are uniquely positioned to provide young people with skills that enable them to address conflicts while also encouraging them to express themselves creatively, work with positive role models and find their own unique voice,” Montgomery said. “I am delighted to be joining KCYA and share my passion for community-based arts. I look forward to building strategic partnerships that will continue KCYA’s long history of providing quality arts programming for Kansas City area youth.”
Montgomery begins her new position with KCYA on May 1.
