Tracy Henke

Summary:

Tracy Henke has had an illustrious career marked by strategic leadership, operational excellence, and public service. She held senior federal government roles during a pivotal period in our national security and spent years in the U.S. Senate shaping and driving policy for Missouri and the nation.  She led and expanded the reach of a large non-profit nationally and spent time providing strategic advice to companies throughout the country. While residing in the Washington DC metro most of her career, her love for Missouri remained steadfast. As the COO/Deputy Executive Director for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis (AMICSTL), Tracy brings her passion and wealth of experience back home to foster collaboration, drive innovation, create opportunities, and contribute to economic development in the St. Louis metro area and the state.

Biography:

Tracy Henke has carved an illustrious career marked by dedicated service, strategic leadership, and an unwavering commitment to public service. Her journey began in the public policy arena working for Senator Jack Danforth and then Senator Kit Bond. Her keen understanding of policy intricacies and legislative processes quickly distinguished her, leading to her appointment by President George W. Bush as Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General of the Office of Justice Programs at the U.S. Department of Justice. Tracy’s work ethic and success resulted in the President subsequently appointing her, a non-lawyer, to be Deputy Associate Attorney General for the USDOJ and Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Office of Justice Programs.

President George W. Bush further recognized Tracy's talents and nominated her as Assistant Secretary for the Office of Domestic Preparedness at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, a critical role during a pivotal period in national security. Following her impactful tenure at the USDOJ and DHS, Tracy transitioned into the private sector, joining the Ashcroft Group as a Principal Advisor. Her expertise continued to evolve as she took on the role of Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Americans for Prosperity, a prominent organization focused on advocating for economic freedom and prosperity. She grew the organization and its impact nationally.

Tracy's dedication to public service drew her back to government where she became the Legislative Director for U.S. Senator Roy Blunt and then Policy Director for the U.S. Senate Republican Policy Committee. She played a pivotal role in shaping legislative agendas and priorities and her influence resonated throughout Blunt's Senate tenure, contributing to policy outcomes for Missouri and the nation.

Combining her passions for policy, the arts, and having an impact, Tracy joined The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C., as Vice President of Government Relations and Protocol, showcasing her versatility in navigating personalities, issues, and landscapes. Eager to return to her roots in Missouri, Tracy was invited to serve as the Chief Policy Officer & President, ChamberSTL for Greater St. Louis, Inc., demonstrating her commitment to regional economic development and policy advocacy. 

Currently, Tracy Henke serves as the Chief Operating Officer and Deputy Executive Director for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center St. Louis (AMICSTL). In this role, she brings her wealth of experience to drive innovation, foster collaboration, and contributes to the advancement of the manufacturing sector and economic growth in the state of Missouri.

Throughout her dynamic career, Tracy Henke's unwavering dedication to public service, coupled with her strategic leadership, has left an indelible mark on the realms of government, advocacy, and economic development. Her multifaceted expertise continues to shape policy, inspire collaboration, and drive progress in diverse arenas

LESLIE GILL

Leslie Gill is Chief Executive Officer and President of Rung for Women, driving Rung’s mission to inspire all women to climb the economic opportunity ladder of success. A dedicated servant leader for over 25 years, Gill has made a community impact throughout her career with multiple non-profit and community-building organizations. That includes a variety of municipal roles during eight years with Mayor Anthony A. Williams’ administration in Washington, D.C., as well as executive leadership roles for Girl Scouts of America in the St. Louis and Atlanta chapters, and past service as Chief Executive Officer at Annie Malone. 

Recognized for her leadership and work empowering women, Leslie was awarded the Titan 100 Award recognizing top CEOs and executives in 2024 and named among the St. Louis Business Journal’s Most Influential Businesswomen in 2022. A native of St. Louis, she is actively involved with the Park Central Development, Jack & Jill St. Louis Chapter, and Hixson Middle PTO

JOHN HIXSON

Hixson served as the Vice President of Advanced Manufacturing for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. He provided executive leadership in defense business and defense worker retention and transition.

SANJAM KHURANA

Sanjam Khurana is vice president and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Boeing Defense, Space & Security’s Air Dominance division. The air dominance division includes the F/A-18, F-15, T-7, MQ-25 and MQ-28 programs as well as the Phantom Works organization, including its Virtual Warfare Centers and classified programs. With more than 10,000 employees, Air Dominance is headquartered in St. Louis with significant additional sites around the world. In this role, she also has financial responsibility for all St. Louis-region sites.

Previously, Khurana served as CFO for Boeing Global Services’ Government Services business. In this role, she led large teams across multiple global sites focused on financial and operational outcomes.

Khurana joined Boeing in 2018 as CFO of the International Finance Global Operations team and Boeing International where she oversaw the development and execution of international finance strategy. Based in London, Khurana was responsible global defense sales and services P&L in Australia, United Kingdom, India and Saudi Arabia. Additionally, she oversaw international statutory compliance as well as finance and accounting of Boeing facilities across the world while leading a strong team of +400 team members.

Prior to Boeing, Khurana served as CFO for General Electric (GE) Engine Services – Customized Service Agreements and as CFO for GE Engine Services- Materials. In these roles, she worked with a cross-functional team to advance execution, increase performance, extend product lifecycles and improve margins. Khurana joined GE in 2000 and held finance leadership roles of increasing scope including CFO for Commercial Engines (CFM), and roles in Military, Mechanical Systems and GE Capital.

Khurana has a Bachelor of Science degree in accounting and an MBA from Clark University in Mass. In her spare time, she enjoys running, travelling and spending time with family.

JOHN MCDONNELL

John McDonnell is actively involved in establishing a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in St. Louis to enable start-up companies to commercialize life science research breakthroughs. He is founding chairman of the board of BioSTL, a non-profit established in 2011 to encourage capital formation, stimulate entrepreneurial activity, support regional efforts, and promote St. Louis life science developments with local, state, and federal government agencies. Prior to that, he was founding chairman of BioGenerator (now part of BioSTL), which provides direct funding and support to researchers, entrepreneurs, and young companies in the life sciences in this region. He is also on the board of Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center of St. Louis (AMICSTL).

McDonnell retired as Chairman of the Board of McDonnell Douglas Corporation in 1997 after a more than 35-year career at the company. He was elected Chairman and Chief Executive Officer in 1988, a position he held until September 1994. From then until his retirement in 1997 at the time of the merger with Boeing, he was Chairman of the Board. He then served as a member of the Boeing Board of Directors until April 2012.

McDonnell has also served on numerous other civic boards and as chairman of the boards of Washington University in St. Louis, Barnes-Jewish Hospital, The Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis, the Saint Louis Science Center, and the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center.

McDonnell earned bachelor's and master's degrees in aeronautical engineering from Princeton University and a master's in business administration from Washington University in St. Louis.

MARK TEMKIN

For over 46 years, Mark J. Temkin has dedicated his practice to the area of Business Law, with an emphasis on Mergers & Acquisitions, Business Structures and Governance, Real Estate Transactions, Tax and Estate Planning.

Major Accomplishments

• Creator and participating drafter of the Missouri Qualified Spousal Trust RSMo 456.950 enacted into law in May 2011.

• Co;Drafter and Co-Creator of the Missouri Cooperative Associations Act RSMo Section 351.1000- 351.1228.

• Drafter of the Prohibitions on Physician Referrals to Physical Therapists RSMo Section 334.252 and 253.

• Rendering complex tax counseling and general representation in connection with the solicitation and negotiation of agreements with the Rams professional football team to effectuate their move to St. Louis.

• Negotiating and closing the sale, merger and purchases of numerous businesses with values between $3,500,000 and $200,000,000.

Awards

• Super Lawyer 2006, 2008, 2009, 2022, 2023, 2024

• Named one of the Top Five Business Lawyers in St. Louis 2019 by St. Louis Small Business Monthly

• Named by St. Louis Small Business Monthly as Top 5 Best M&A Providers 2023

• Named by St. Louis Small Business Monthly as a 2018, 2019 and 2020 Top M&A Provider

• Selected by Best Lawyers of America(c) 2017-2024 in the areas of Corporate Law, Mergers and Acquisitions, Tax Law and Trusts and Estates

• Member of Lawyers of Distinction

• Martindale and Hubbell AV Preeminent Attorney 2013-2024

• Martindale-Hubbell Top Rated Lawyers in Mergers & Acquisitions

• Named as one of the “Top Attorneys in Missouri and Kansas” as published by Kansas City Magazine.

• Recognized by the American Registry as one of America's Most Honored Lawyers - Top 1% 2016-2023.

• Five Star Best In Client Satisfaction Wealth Managers for 2008 and 2009, an honor bestowed among just 4% of the wealth managers in the St. Louis area

Other

Mark is licensed to practice in the State of Missouri and is a member of the Bar Association of Metropolitan St. Louis and the American Bar Association. Mark is a founding member of the Cardozo Society in St. Louis, and is also the founder and director of a scholarship fund which grants multiple scholarships per year to students of Parkway West High School. He is also a Member of the Executive Committee of the Board of Directors of AMICSTL, the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center of St. Louis, a 501(c)(3) hoping to transform St. Louis into the nation’s leader in advanced manufacturing concepts and developments. He also sits on several advisory boards for clients with net values upward of $150 Million. He also has a strong entrepreneurial background having owned and controlled over 500,000 square feet of office warehouse in addition to owning and controlling condominiums, strip center and triple net projects like Advanced Auto and Lion’s Choice.

He has written and lectured on real estate transactions and the taxation thereof, as well as wills and trusts, including chapters on "Trusts" and "Wills" for Legal Checklists, published by Callaghan and Company from 1978 through 1985. He also co-authored :Changing the Playing Field” published by ProView eBooks in 2012.

MICHAEL VON GEBEL

Michael J. von Gebel, President of Vandeventer Community Development Corporation, brings over 20 years of experience in the real estate investment trust (REIT) sector, complemented by a degree in Business Management. His leadership has been instrumental in driving community development initiatives and fostering partnerships that enhance local economic growth. Since 2021, Michael has worked with Forest ReLeaf of Missouri, Metro/Bi-State, Missouri Dept. of Conservation, City of St. Louis, and MoDot, to bring the right resources and improvements to the Vandeventer Neighborhood.

He is dedicated to environmental projects aimed at combatting pollution and addressing the impacts of the city’s heat dome. His commitment to sustainability and community health reflects his belief in the importance of environmental stewardship. Michael is passionate about leveraging his expertise to support the mission of AMICSTL, focusing on sustainable development and community engagement for a brighter future.

HARVEY WALLACE

Harvey Wallace is a certified public accountant and a founder of Brown Smith Wallace, LLP., a Top 100 public accounting firm.

Under his leadership, Brown Smith Wallace had become the 77th largest certified public accounting firm in the United States at the time of its merger with Armanino, LLP in 2021. He was recognized as a 2015 MP Elite by Accounting Today for his role as Managing Partner of Brown Smith Wallace.

He is currently a client development advisor with Private Fiduciary Solutions (PFS). PFS was founded by Bert Schweizer to serve as a professional trustee and to serve as an alternative to a corporate trust company by providing a more personal, skilled, unbiased and conflict-free experience for high-net-worth families.

Professionally, his areas of expertise include business, financial and income tax planning, business planning, and valuation and litigation support services. He is recognized as an expert in valuation and litigation matters and has testified in Missouri courts on numerous occasions.

Wallace graduated with honors from Washington University (St. Louis) with a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, with a major in accounting.

His charitable activities include serving as the board chairman of both the Jewish Federation of St. Louis and the Magic House. He has served on many additional boards including the United Way, Wyman Center, the Foundation for Barnes Jewish Hospital, and the St. Louis Men’s Group Against Cancer.

He received the 2016 MO CPA Outstanding Public Service Award in recognition for his significant contribution to his community through service to charitable and civic organizations.

He is married to Madeleine Elkins, has sons Bradley (married to Elizabeth), and David (married to Melissa), and has four grandchildren (Emma, Katie, Miriam and Aaron).

KORY MATHEWS

Kory Mathews is a recently retired senior global aerospace and defense executive who is respected for leading transformations that deliver sustainable growth, operational excellence, and financial stability through unprecedented change. For nearly 40 years at The Boeing Company, he was a go-to problem solver for a variety of complex programs and businesses at the functional, divisional, and enterprise level. His detailed customer knowledge and ability to forge trusted relationships with industry and government was key to accelerating innovation and profitability.

Kory culminated his career at Boeing co-leading back-to-back crisis responses to COVID-19 and the grounding of all 737-MAX aircraft. Over a three-year span, he program managed Boeing’s response to these crisis directly supporting the Executive Committee and Board and providing the transparency, collaboration, and discipline needed to navigate these historic challenges. Moving into his final role as Vice President of Enterprise Services, he established a new shared services organization that cut spending by 25% within 18 months and transformed efficiency and customer service amid a corporate liquidity challenge.

Earlier in his career, Kory rose through a series of senior leadership roles that drove innovation and growth within Boeing’s missile and weapons, autonomous systems, and aircraft programs. As Vice President of Missile and Weapons Systems, Kory increased revenue more than 20% by developing new capabilities and securing multibillion-dollar contracts to restart two aging missile programs. He previously stood up a brand-new division focused on transformational autonomous defense capabilities by land, sea, and air. With P&L responsibility for $900 million, he created an M&A strategy centered around acquiring key technology and opened a collaborative research lab devoted to the next generation of autonomous vehicles. Prior to that, Kory led several of Boeing’s classified Phantom Works programs, ultimately leading to $25B in contract wins and transformed the F-18 Program’s strategy to position it for a profitable and extended production.

Kory’s business leadership capability is rooted in a strong engineering and program management background, which ultimately led to his role as Chief Engineer of all Boeing military aircraft, leading a team of 14,000 engineers around the world. He initially joined McDonnell Douglas as an engineer prior to its merger with Boeing. He then rotated through multiple assignments as part of an executive development program where he formed a passion for strategy, team building, and leadership.

Kory has been a not-for-profit board director and community leader for academic, healthcare, and faith-based organizations. For more than a decade, he participated in a Boeing executive focal program with Washington University in St. Louis, providing support on mentoring and scholarships as well as engineering and MBA programming. Most recently, he is serving as CEO of a not-for-profit Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center focused on diverse workforce development, advanced manufacturing R&D, and production line / process prototyping across eight manufacturing sectors. Kory earned an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis and a bachelor’s degree in Electrical Engineering from Missouri University of Science and Technology.

JAKE HUMMEL

Jake Hummel is the President of Missouri AFL-CIO, representing hundreds of thousands of union members and their families across Missouri. Prior to the presidency he served as Secretary Treasurer. A former member of the Missouri Senate he served in the House of Representatives for 8 years, representing St. Louis City (District 81). In 2012 Jake was elected by his colleagues to lead the Democratic Caucus as the House Minority Leader. He continued on as Minority leader until the end of his fourth and final term in 2016. He currently serves as the Committeeman for the 11th Ward in St. Louis City. IN 2020 he was appointed by Gov. Mike Parson to the state Legislative Pay Plan Commission. Jake also serves as the President of the Missouri Works Initiative, the statewide workforce development arm of the AFL-CIO.

He is a fourth-generatin union member and a 25-year member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers. In 2000, Jake helped organize the St. Louis City Labor Club.

Jake was born in St. Louis and is a 1994 graduate of St. Mary’s Catholic High School. he currently resides in the Holly Hills neighborhood in St. Louis City with his wife Sarah and three children.

DENNIS MUILENBURG

Dennis Muilenburg is Co-Founder of New Vista Capital and serves as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Muilenburg has more than 35 years of experience in the aerospace and defense sector, with extensive leadership, global business, and engineering responsibilities. He also serves as Chairman of the Board for the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation Center – St Louis.

Most recently, Muilenburg was President and Chief Executive Officer from 2015 to 2019 and Chairman of the board of directors from 2016 to 2019 at The Boeing Company (NYSE: BA). Starting at the company as an engineering intern in 1985, Muilenburg’s multi-decade career spanned every dimension of Boeing’s global customer base across commercial airplanes, defense & space, and services, as well as the company’s extensive engineering, operations, supply chain, acquisitions, investment portfolio, and stakeholder sets.

Muilenburg also served as a member of the Caterpillar Inc. (NYSE: CAT) board of directors from 2011 to 2020, chairman of the Aerospace Industries Association board of governors, an executive committee member of the Business Roundtable; as a member of the National Space Council’s User Advisory Group, the U.S.-China Business Council, the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation board of directors, the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science & Technology) board of directors; and as a trustee of Washington University, the National World War II Museum, and Northwestern University. Muilenburg also currently serves as a board member and senior advisor for a broad portfolio of private advanced-technology companies.

A native of Iowa, Muilenburg earned a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering and an honorary doctor of science degree from Iowa State University, as well as a master’s degree in aeronautics and astronautics from the University of Washington. He is a fellow of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Royal Aeronautical Society, a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the inaugural Innovator in Residence at Iowa State University, and a distinguished fellow at the Saint Louis University Research Institute. He also serves as chairman of the board for Biblical Business Training, as a member of The CEO Forum board of directors, and a member of the African Vision of Hope board of directors.

Kevin Cahill

Kevin S. Cahill serves as Vice President, Strategic Initiatives for the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.  Cahill spearheads the Partnership’s effort to create and sustain comprehensive regional economic development strategies, through initiatives such as the first ever combined St. Louis City and County Economic Development Strategy 2017-2022, and Advanced Manufacturing Initiatives.

Prior to joining the Partnership, he was a member of the Edward Jones Investment Banking department and Insurance teams.  On a special assignment, Cahill served as Chief Operating Officer of the St. Louis Inner City Competitive Alliance, charged with re-invigorating the urban core of St. Louis.  The Alliance was crafted in partnership with Harvard Business School professor Michael Porter’s Initiative for a Competitive Inner City, the Danforth Foundation, and St. Louis’ Civic Progress.  

Cahill also served as a Special Assistant to the Mayor of St. Louis, and has served on the board of commissioners for the Bi-State Development Agency and the St. Louis Regional Sports Complex Authority.

Cahill earned his undergraduate degree from Tufts University in Medford, MA and an MBA from Washington University in St. Louis, Olin School of Business.