Maria Meyers is passing the blueprint to KC’s ecosystem; it doesn’t come with a magic wand

Collaboration thrives in Kansas City because it’s a place where the treetops and the grassroots are willing to connect, said Maria Meyers — acknowledging a simple reality as she plans her departure as a core ecosystem builder: ground-level work remains to close longstanding gaps still limiting the small, nimble region from reaching its full potential.

Maria Meyers smiles on stage after being awarded the 2019 Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship at the UMKC Entrepreneur of the Year Awards; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

“Entrepreneurship is a contact sport and no one group has all of the answers or the connections needed to support every entrepreneur,” said Meyers, retiring vice chancellor for commercialization and entrepreneurship at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and longtime leader of the UMKC Innovation Center.

“So often, people who come from outside of the region comment on how collaborative we are and how often people will provide introductions to others,” the KCSourcelink founder added. “We need to continue to leverage that strength.”

Meyers’ announced her retirement plans in March, staying on through UMKC’s search for a successor. She’s set to be the keynote speaker May 7 at the Enactus end of year celebration at the Kauffman Foundation Conference Center.

Considered one of the early founders of the modern Kansas City entrepreneurial ecosystem, Meyers’ work influenced the trajectory of ecosystem development nationwide, setting a pattern for other communities in the United States and globally to build better environments for entrepreneurship, UMKC said in a release.

One of her earliest successes, KCSourcelink, created a resource network that helps entrepreneurs find the right resources at the right time, serving entrepreneurs in the Kansas City region — and ultimately growing into a network of Sourcelink affiliates beyond Kansas and Missouri that established a road map for other communities to build supportive environments for entrepreneurs.

“What started in Kansas City became a national blueprint,” said Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, CEO and president of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. “Maria’s work helped communities across the country understand that strong entrepreneurial ecosystems don’t happen by accident. They are intentionally built.”

ICYMI: Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage

Building together

Reflecting on shared successes also requires looking ahead, said Meyers, spending little time resting on her laurels in favor of dreaming big for the region.

“Over time, the entrepreneurial ecosystem has expanded, moving from a collection of small support organizations to leveraging those assets to both lift communities and drive new clusters like Digital Health KC, Critical Materials Crossroads, the KC BioHub and others,” she said. “The world is taking notice of this evolution and it is driving new funding into the region. Each effort, whether clusters, or work being done in communities is driven by a champion. We need to continue to support our champions.”

Kansas City is still short on financing for early-stage entrepreneurs, Meyers lamented, and has work to do to make sure everyone who wants to pursue entrepreneurship can find the education and help that they need to move forward.

“We need to continue to determine ways that the community, corporations, entrepreneurs and education and research institutions can work together to leverage all the resources available to create success,” she continued. “Opening everyone’s social networks to support our entrepreneurs is important. Collaborating across organizations and encouraging those who have been through the entrepreneurship journey, successful or not, to give back to those that come after them through time, talent and investment will drive things forward.”

Maria Meyers, executive director for UMKC’s Innovation Center, speaks alongside Dan Smith, co–founder of The Porter House KC, during a 2025 panel on Kansas City entrepreneurship at UMKC; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

Shared mentorship

No stranger to taking her own advice, Meyers built a reputation as a connector. She developed relationships with long-term regional gain — and personal and professional growth — in mind, said Dan Smith, co-founder of The Porter House KC.

Meyers took on a mentor-collaborator role with Smith, offering critical assistance in the early days of his organization, itself a connection point between underrepresented small business owners and access to community-driven entrepreneurial support, education, and resources.

Dan Smith, Maria Meyers and Charon Thompson, from left, talk with an attendee at the Porter House KC’s 2021 open house at 18th and Vine; photo courtesy of the Porter House KC

About seven years ago, Smith noted, Meyers introduced him to officials from JP Morgan in a chance interaction when he just happened to be at KC SourceLink’s offices getting marketing materials for that year’s GEWKC event. The connection led to a multi-year relationship with the bank and its foundation, as well as marking the start of an extended friendship between Smith and Meyers.

“Maria means so much to the community and specifically the entrepreneurship ecosystem. She’s taking a ton of knowledge, history, and passion with her, leaving a huge void,” Smith said. “I am honored to have been able to work alongside her on many projects, to be mentored by her, and to just be able to call her a friend.”

“Without her openness, collaboration, and support, I’m not sure we would’ve gotten as far as we have as an organization,” he added.

Meyers believes she learned more from Smith than he did from her, she said.

“We have a lot of shared mentorship in the ecosystem, where one person mentors another and then the second person turns around and does the same for the first,” Meyers said. “In an environment that is constantly changing and evolving, learning from each other is just part of the fabric of crafting something bigger and better.”

“I never really saw myself as a mentor,” she continued. “I think I felt more like I was selfishly siphoning knowledge from everyone else.”

Forging accomplishments

Initially trained as an astrophysicist, Meyers’ career has included accomplishments in science, community service and economic development.

Maria Meyers speaks during a KCSourcelink Forging the Future session in 2025; photo courtesy of UMKC Innovation Center

Prior to her time at the university — where her work supported more than 6,000 clients per year through the UMKC Innovation Center — she served as chief operating officer at Nature Technology Corporation and helped open and manage Science City at Union Station as its vice president and chief operating officer.

Her greatest accomplishments were in growing people, companies, and systems,  Meyers said.

“The best times were when the community came together to support each other to build systems like KCSourceLink that created a visible network of resources,” she noted, “or the work that we collectively did to grow the amount of capital available to support entrepreneurs and when we all worked so tirelessly and together to help people get through the hard parts, like COVID.”

“Watching effective programs led by emerging leaders pop up across the community to build a sustainable, collaborative ecosystem makes me happy,” Meyers continued. “I think one of the ways that we contributed was by helping to define the challenges of the entrepreneurs and offer data to determine ways to make change. That work is continuing through the Forging the Future project.”

Forging the Future is KCSourceLink’s multi-year effort to strengthen Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem by aligning people, organizations, and resources around shared priorities.

Grounded in extensive ecosystem input, the initiative identifies seven key imperatives critical to entrepreneur success and regional economic vitality.

Click here to learn more about Forging the Future.

Waving a magic wand

Darcy Howe, founding managing director for KCRise Fund, met Meyers about a decade ago, serving together on the KC Rising Innovation and Entrepreneurship workgroup.

She quickly became an admirer of Meyers’ innovation, unmatched fundraising abilities, and data-driven approach, Howe said.

Darcy Howe, KCRise Fund, and Maria Meyers, KCSourceLink, pose together during a SourceLink event at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation; photo courtesy of the UMKC Innovation Center

“Like no other leader in KC at the time and since, Maria knew how to engage the business community, grant-making community and civic leadership to see a vision that the KC region could and should be a national leader in nurturing new businesses as a key strategy for economic growth,” Howe said. “Her ability to monitor every aspect of economic growth, and reporting it kept funding and constituent communities engaged all these years.”

“I consider Maria the godmother of our entrepreneurial ecosystem and a dear friend,” she continued. “She encouraged me to build KCRise Fund when I had no idea what I was doing. Her faith in me and my ideas to contribute to our region was the catalyst I needed to be brave. I suspect many in our community could share those same words.”

Meyers finds humor in the “godmother” label, acknowledging the impact of her career in Kansas City while emphasizing shared credit for everything it’s helped to build.

“If you think of godmothers that wave a wand and magic happens, then maybe I waved a wand,” she said. “But there were and still are so many people that make the magic happen.”

Countless individuals and organizations did their part when called upon, Meyers said.

“Corporate leaders like Terry Dunn and Peter DiSilva, who helped with engaging others into the ecosystem; chancellors at UMKC, especially Leo Morton and Chancellor Agrawal; leaders at Kauffman and other foundations that saw the promise; all the many people who spend every day helping entrepreneurs through our entrepreneur support organizations,” she said, noting too many contributors to the whole to list outright.

“So many people make this ecosystem work happen: investors and bankers; leaders and teams of people from chambers and cities that provide both entrepreneur and policy support; those like Startland News that tell the story; our past and current teams at the UMKC Innovation Center who put their hearts into this work every day in Kansas City and have spread this work across the county; literally thousands of others should take a moment to congratulate themselves on what has been accomplished, take a deep breath and get ready for the future.”

Maria Meyers, founder of SourceLink, is announced as winner of the 2025 Ecosystem Champion Award at the Global Entrepreneurship Conference in Indianapolis; photo by Sean Molin

Leaving the innovation engine running

While her retirement announcement didn’t come as a surprise to members of the community, it’s still a bittersweet moment for those who’ve experienced her profound impact first-hand, said Dennis Ridenour, president and CEO of BioNexus KC.

“She challenged all of us to think bigger and galvanized us around the vision of KC as America’s most entrepreneurial city,” he said. “Her impact will be felt by entrepreneurs and the community for many years to come.”

Stepping away from that future is a challenge, Meyers noted, but she’s glad to have been part of creating opportunities for those who will continue her mission after she leaves the university and her ecosystem builder role.

“When I saw clearly that those who I had hired were really passionate and, honestly, much better than me at getting the job done, I knew it was safe to go,” Meyers said. “There is also great momentum at UMKC to bring together research, commercialization and entrepreneurship programs to develop a strong innovation engine for the region. This gives me a good feeling that a strong future will grow from the foundation that we built.”