DeAngela Burns-Wallace has been named CEO and president of the Kansas City, Missouri-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. She succeeded interim president Susan Chambers on Aug. 7.
A native of Kansas City, Burns-Wallace began her career in the foreign affairs sector as a diplomat for the U.S. State Department. She then moved into higher education, working for a variety of institutions until she was named Kansas’ secretary of administration and chief information technology officer in Governor Laura Kelly’s administration. She was the first African American to hold either office in the state’s history. She later returned to the education sector, most recently as a faculty member at the University of Southern California.
Burns-Wallace holds a bachelor’s degree in international relations and African American studies from Stanford University, a Master in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a doctorate in education from the University of Pennsylvania.
“Dr. Burns-Wallace has the experience and leadership capabilities to further Ewing Kauffman’s legacy, catalyzing ideas and supporting solutions designed to improve education, boost entrepreneurship, and help our communities and individuals thrive,” said Esther George, chair of the Kauffman Foundation Board of Trustees and the search committee in a press release. “The board of the Foundation recognizes that the individual who leads this organization must understand and embrace Mr. Kauffman’s vision for the Foundation. The Foundation has evolved and will continue to evolve under Dr. Burns-Wallace’s leadership, to meet the needs of our community as we fund key initiatives and work with many partner organizations in Kansas City and beyond.”
