Burns & McDonnell Executive Shelly Brown Joins KC Tech Council’s Board of Directors

KC Tech Council (KCTC) is pleased to announce the appointment of Shelly Brown to the KCTC Board of Directors. She currently holds the position of Vice President, Information Technology at Burns & McDonnell.

“I am truly honored and excited to play a role in the KC Tech Council’s vital mission of fostering innovation and driving success within our local business community,” Brown said. “This opportunity allows me to channel my industry expertise into strategic guidance that will help propel the region’s technology ecosystem forward, and I couldn’t be more eager to contribute.”

At Burns & McDonnell, Brown leads the IT organization for a company of more than 12,000 professionals. With over a decade in this role, she has spearheaded numerous high-impact initiatives, including developing a unified information platform, enhancing enterprise network performance and security, introducing technology cost transparency through the ‘Bill of IT,’ and delivering the company’s AI platform.

Brown brings to the KCTC board more than 28 years of experience spanning various industries, including nonprofit, aerospace, telecom, software engineering and professional services.

“We are thrilled to welcome Shelly to the board, and her proven leadership in the technology sector makes her an extremely valuable addition to our intentionally diverse leadership,” KC Tech Council CEO Kara Lowe said. “Shelly’s insights will be instrumental as we continue to champion Kansas City as a hub and destination for talented technology professionals and forward-thinking businesses.”

Beyond professional accomplishments, Brown also serves on the Kansas City CIO Advisory Board and supports Code.org®, a nonprofit organization that aims to expand access to computer science education for students nationwide. She holds a master’s degree in business administration from Rockhurst University and a bachelor’s degree in public administration from Washburn University, in addition to certification as an Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Expert and Certified Change Management Professional (CCMP) while holding a Master Certificate in Project Management from George Washington University.

Brown’s addition to the KCTC Board of Directors comes after the recent announcement of Bill Graff (Clarivate) as the new chairperson, Nickolette Cole (H&R Block) and George Brooks (Crema) as vice chairs, and Neal Schwartz (WellSky) as secretary and nominations chair. The rest of the board members are Michael Graber (RSM US LLP), Andrea Jones (Diode Ventures), Josh Maxfield (Garmin), Gregory Kratofil (Polsinelli), Michael Hannan (LightEdge Solutions), Scott Morris (NAIC) and Greg Elliott (Zerto).