Health Forward Foundation

McClain Bryant Macklin, JD, MBA, joins Kansas City Tomorrow this year as Co-facilitator. McClain is a proud 2016 graduate of Kansas City Tomorrow. Bryant Macklin currently serves as Chief Policy and Impact Officer at Health Forward Foundation, a regional foundation focused on access to healthcare, the social determinants of health, and health equity with assets of $1 billion. In this role, Bryant Macklin leads the strategic direction and alignment of Health Forward’s Impact work, including the foundations’ funding opportunities, wrap around supports for non-profits, learning and evaluation related to the impact of the foundation’s supports, and policy advocacy on the local, state, and national levels. Bryant Macklin currently serves on several local and national boards including: the American Public Square; the Arvest Bank Advisory Board for Greater Kansas City; Asset Funders Network; and the Notre Dame de Sion School Board of Directors.

Bryant Macklin began her career practicing law at Husch Blackwell LLP, counseling clients from local politicians to Fortune 500 companies on political, legislative, and regulatory matters. She has also been a Kansas City business owner, having previously owned and operated Method – a retail store and event space – and Boho Sway at the Canary – a restaurant and rooftop bar. She and her husband currently own and operate Distrkct – a multimedia coworking and learning space. In the public sector, she served as Director of Policy for Kansas City Mayor Sly James and as Director of Policy and Research for the Greater Kansas City Civic Council, shaping regional policy on economic development, housing, health, transportation, and workforce development. Bryant Macklin held numerous board, elected and appointed positions in the region and nationally, including the George Washington University Law School Board of Trustees, the Network for Public Health Law, Metropolitan Community College Board of Trustees, and Kansas City Parks Board. Her civic leadership runs deep and wide: beyond the nonprofit boards noted above, she has served under mayoral appointment to the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners and as Trustee for Metropolitan Community College Sub-District 2. Her roots in politics run from grassroots organizing to national campaigns — including serving as the Midwest appointee to the Democratic National Committee’s Youth Coordinating Council, serving as the regional lead for Obama for America’s Generation 44 fundraising arm, and the Ready for Hillary Political Action Committee — as well as service on Kansas City’s mayoral transition team, where she helped co-draft the city’s ethics code and chaired the city’s appointments process. Her work has earned recognition including a Kansas City Business Journal Women of Influence, Ingram’s 40 Under 40, Walker’s Legacy Women in Economic Development and Civic Engagement Award, Young Democrat of the Year from the Jackson County, Missouri Democratic Committee, the George Washington University Black Alumni Association Impact Award, KC Business Magazine Rising Star, and Missouri Lawyers Weekly’s Up and Coming Lawyer award.

About McClain Bryant Macklin