KCCM 2024 Speakers
Dr. Maja Husar Holmes | School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA)
Maja Holmes is the Director of the School of Public Affairs and Administration and Professor of Public Administration. She is dedicated to advancing public service education, engaged scholarship, and fostering inclusivity through research, teaching, and service.
Dr. Marilu Goodyear | Public Management Center
Dr. Goodyear's work focuses on organizational analysis, organizational change, managing information and technology, and public management. Dr. Goodyear is a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration and has served as a consultant to many universities and federal agencies. Formally, she held the position of Associate Vice Chancellor of KU’s Edwards Campus and Vice Provost for Information Services and Chief Information Officer at the University in which she led all campus-wide information technology and library services.
Dr. Heather Getha-Taylor | School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA)
Heather Getha-Taylor is a Professor in the KU School of Public Affairs and Administration. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of Public Personnel Management. Her PhD is from the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University.
Beccy Yocham | City of Lenexa
Beccy Yocham was appointed as Lenexa’s City Manager in May 2019. She has previously served Lenexa for more than 20 years, including as the Director of Community Development and Deputy City Attorney. Prior to joining Lenexa, she served as Assistant General Counsel for the League of Kansas Municipalities.
She received a Bachelor of Business Administration, Marketing degree from Pittsburg State University and a Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Kansas School of Law.
As City Manager, Yocham is responsible for implementing the policies of the Lenexa City Council, submitting a budget to the City Council and directing and coordinating the city’s departments.
Misty Bosch-Hastings | City of Lawrence
Misty is the Director of the Homeless Solutions Division, which is a new Lawrence City department focused on operations and implementation of solutions to end chronic homelessness.
Megan Foreman | Johnson County Government
Megan Foreman began her role as housing coordinator on January 23, 2023. Previously, she was a program manager in the Johnson County Government Department of Health and Environment.
Cole Schneiders | United Way of the Plains
Cole is the Continuum of Care Planning Manager for the Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County.
Jill deVries Joliceur | Douglas County
Jill is the Assistant County Administrator for Douglas County, KS.
Brandon McGuire | City of Lawrence
Brandon McGuire oversees departments of Municipal Services & Operations, Parks & Recreation, Planning & Development Services, Sustainability, and Lawrence Parking & Transit.
He began serving the City of Lawrence as Assistant to the City Manager on May 27, 2014. Previously, he worked as a Budget and Management Analyst for Sedgwick County and a City Management Fellow with the City of Wichita.
Brandon was born in Lawrence and graduated from Lawrence High. He holds a bachelor’s degree in music performance and a Master of Public Administration degree both from Wichita State University.
Ben Merriman | School of Public Affairs and Administration.
Ben Merriman is an Associate Professor in the School of Public Affairs and Administration.
Katherine Carttar | Urban Land Institute
Katherine is the Executive Director of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Kansas City, Missouri.
Leslie Herring | City of Westwood
Leslie is the City Administrator of the City of Westwood.
Bonnie Johnson | School of Public Affairs and Administration
Bonnie J. Johnson, PhD, FAICP is Director and Professor in the University of Kansas’ Urban Planning Program within the School of Public Affairs and Administration. She teaches planning theory, land use, and politics, planning, and administration courses. Research focuses on the profession of city planning and the roles and ethics of being a planner. Contributions to the field include the use of new media for neighborhood organizing, creation of the civic bureaucracy model, groundbreaking research on staff reports, and comparative studies of public service professions and their codes of ethics. Before returning to school for her doctorate, Johnson was a practicing city planner for eight years designing citizen engagement processes for neighborhood, corridor, and city/countywide plans. While at the City of Liberty, Missouri, she was project manager for Liberty’s award-winning Blueprint for Liberty: Land Use Plan. The plan was awarded the American Planning Association’s “Outstanding Planning Award” for the best plan in the country. She is also the elected Professional Development Officer for the Kansas Chapter of the American Planning Association and member of the Planning Accreditation Board representing the Association of Collegiate Schools of Planning. She was inducted into the AICP College of Fellows in 2020.
Spencer Duncan | League of Kansas Municipalities
Spencer has been with the League since 2022. Previously, he owned Capitol Connection, an association management, lobbying and investigation Firm. Spencer is from Topeka. He holds a master’s degree in business administration from Baker University and a B.S. in Journalism and B.A. in English from the University of Kansas. He also currently serves as an elected member of the Topeka City Council and is a licensed Private Detective in Kansas. His wife Barbara is a financial planner and partner with Clayton Wealth Partners in Topeka, and they have a son, Connor.
Spencer's primary responsibilities at the League include:
• Work with the League Membership to develop Legislative Policies and Strategies.
• Monitor state and federal legislative activities, prepare reports, write testimony and advocate for the policy issues important to cities.
• Work with state and federal elected officials and agencies to ensure their policies are in-line with city priorities and goals.
• Build relationships between local elected officials and state and federal elected officials.
Nathan Eberline | League of Kansas Municipalities
Nathan Eberline joined the League of Kansas Municipalities as its tenth Executive Director since 1910. He previously worked at the League from 2007 to 2011 as the Intergovernmental Relations Associate. After the League, Nathan continued serving local officials at the county level with the Kansas Association of Counties. After five years of working with colleges and universities with the Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs (ACBSP), Nathan returned to League in the spring of 2023.
“The League is unique in its ability to serve the communities of Kansas in so many diverse and important ways, and I am honored to be chosen by the Governing Body as its executive director,” said Eberline. “Years ago, when I first worked for the League, I hoped this opportunity would someday arise, and I am excited to once again work on behalf of the League and its members to promote excellence in local government.”
Nathan’s wife, Tara, also has a close connection with cities. She has been a regular speaker at League events and represents a number of cities across Kansas. They have three children, Lydia, Grace, and Andrew, and they have made Shawnee their home since 2007.
Nathan holds a bachelor’s degree in writing and political science from Wartburg College in Waverly, IA, and a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Iowa College of Law in Iowa City. He earned his Certified Public Manager designation in 2010 and has served in leadership roles with the Kansas Bar Association, the Kansas Enrichment Network, and his church in western Shawnee.
Dr. Chris Koliba | School of Public Affairs and Administration
Christopher Koliba is the Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor of Public Administration, Policy & Governance at the University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration (SPAA). He possesses a Ph.D. from the Interdisciplinary Social Science Program an MPA from Syracuse University's Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, and a BS in Finance from the Whitman School of Business at Syracuse University. Prior to joining the SPAA faculty in 2023, he served as Professor in the Community Development and Applied Economics Department at the University of Vermont where he served as the Director or Co-Director of the Master of Public Administration (MPA) Program for many years. In 2020 he established UVM’s first Office of Engagement to serve as the “front door” to the university and incubator of community-university partnerships. Chris has had substantial research administration leadership as well, serving as the Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Social Ecological Gaming and Simulation (SEGS) Lab, Associate Director of Vermont EPSCoR, and a fellow at the Gund Institute for Environment. He was elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Public Administration in the fall of 2023.
Chris enjoys teaching courses pertaining to public policy and public affairs, public administration, organizational theory and behavior, sustainable and resilient communities, systems analysis and strategic management, and the intersection of science and society. He has advised and supported countless students completing their doctoral dissertations, master’s thesis, and undergraduate research thesis.
He is married, father to three children and one grandchild. He likes to paint, hike, paddle, meditate and listen to world music.
