Kelly‘s passion for the environment was cultivated early in life on her family’s farm in Kentucky. She’s found her life’s work in improving the health of our ecosystems, and fighting climate change in local communities across KS and MO.

Kelly has been with MEC for over 10 years. She was inducted into the Department of Energy’s Clean Cities Hall of Fame in 2017 and was named an Agent of Change for her leadership in transportation sustainability by the KC Clean Cities Advisory Board in 2010. She serves on the Metro KC Air Quality Forum, KC Metro Climate Action Coalition Steering Committee, and many other climate and energy policy groups across KS and MO.

In her free time, she enjoys supporting area farmers markets, barn dancing, and cheering on Sporting KC.

Tami joined Metropolitan Energy Center in August 2017 to support the ethanol and biodiesel projects in Kansas. In January 2018, she became the Program Coordinator for the Central Kansas Clean Cities Coalition, managing event coordination, outreach, customer relationship management, program administration, research writing, and content development.

In addition to her work at MEC, Tami has several years of facility and non-profit management experience where she introduced sustainability measures to organization practices. She has Bachelor‘s degrees in Mathematics-Statistics and Geology and a Master’s in Environmental Science all from Wichita State University.

A life-long Kansan, Tami lives in Wichita with her husband and their three children. She is passionate about promoting the environmental health and local economies of both urban and rural communities across Kansas. In her free time, she volunteers with her son’s Cub Scout pack and her sorority housing board and enjoys DIY projects, spending time outdoors and cheering on the Shockers, Chiefs & Royals.

As development manager, Joy Ellsworth supports the growth and future of MEC as it responds to emerging connections between the energy sector and everyday people.  With an MPA from the UMKC Bloch School of Management and a fundraising certificate from the Midwest Center for Nonprofit Leadership, Joy focused her formal training on nonprofit management, social entrepreneurship and diversified fundraising.  Informally, for over two decades Joy has run her own businesses while consulting for small businesses on capacity improvements and marketing.

She actively volunteers for numerous KC-area environmental nonprofits, and is board president of Clement Waters, a community environmental organization she co-founded with her husband.  When Joy is not working or volunteering to make collective futures brighter, she dotes on two darling children and two fuzzy furbabies

Jeff currently helps develop/administer MEC Contracts; and assists with other administrative and project tasks, as well. He brings extensive air quality, health (public health and clinical research), management, and administration (contracting and purchasing) experience to the table. He has a Master’s in Public Administration and in Government/Business Relations; and BA in Political Science.

He is most interested in finding ways to help businesses and local governments cut costs by going green. In his free time, Jeff likes hiking, traveling, photography, gardening, and reading.