Julia Irene Kauffman

Julia Irene Kauffman is Chairman & Chief Executive Officer of the Muriel McBrien Kauffman Foundation. The Foundation's mission and vision focus on support of the performing and visual arts in the Greater Kansas City area. In 1995, Ms. Kauffman was designated Chairman of the Board of the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and spearheaded the effort to build the Center in downtown Kansas City. The widely acclaimed Kauffman Center was completed in September 2011. The project brings renewed growth and vitality to the metropolitan performing arts scene with a focus on arts education and wide ranging cultural enrichment. Ms. Kauffman's civic and philanthropic activities include the Kansas City Symphony Foundation Board of Directors, the Lyric Opera of Kansas City Board of Directors, and Chairmanship of the Kansas City Ballet Board of Directors. She previously served on the Board of Trustees of the Nelson- Atkins Museum of Art and as a Trustee of the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. Her diverse community and personal interests include serving on the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club Board of Directors since 1997 and as a member of the Executive Board of the Heart of America Council/Boy Scouts of America. Julia also serves as a member of the Board of Directors of the Soldiers', Sailors, Airmen's & Marines' Club in New York City and is a member of the Visiting Committee to The Costume Institute at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.