Skip to main content

Outstanding Kansas Citian Award

The Native Sons created the "Outstanding Native Kansas Citian of the Year" award in 1973. Later, this was shortened to the "Outstanding Kansas Citian" award that endures still today.

Information on the 2023 OKC Gala will be announced in the spring of 2023.

>

Learn more about this award and view a list of
past Outstanding Kansas Citian Awardees at 
https://nsdkc.org/outstanding_kansas_citian.


You're Invited
to the
50th Annual Gala honoring the Outstanding Kansas Citian!

Mark McHenry and John Sherman


2022 Outstanding Kansas Citian Gala

November 8, 2022

The Carriage Club
5301 State Line Road, Kansas City, MO  64112

Reception and Silent Auction 6:00 p.m.  |  Dinner 7 p.m.  |  Program 8 p.m.

Black Tie Optional

Tickets and Sponsorships   (Reservation Deadline:  1 November 2022)

Mark McHenry

Mark McHenry retired December 31, 2018, from the Kansas City, Missouri, Parks and Recreation Department. He was appointed as the department director in 2003, becoming the seventh director in the 126-year history of the department.

Mr. McHenry holds a Parks Management Degree from Texas Tech University and a Master of Public Administration degree from UMKC. He completed studies in the Graduate Program for Senior Executives, at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University and the Executive Development Program, at Indiana University.

Mr. McHenry is a Certified Parks and Recreation Professional and a nationally recognized leader with more than 40 years of service in the parks and recreation industry. Mr. McHenry was inducted into the American Academy for Park and Recreation Administration in 2004. He served on the Board of Directors and is a past president of the Academy. He has been a National Recreation and Parks Association member since 1984 and served on the Public Policy Committee. A member of the Missouri Parks and Recreation Association since 1984, Mr. McHenry served as its president in 2009 and was chair of the Legislative Committee for many years. He is a past president of the Southwest Parks and Recreation Training Institute and the American Society of Public Administration, Kansas City Chapter. 

Mr. McHenry’s professional recognition has included awards from the American Society of Public Administration, the L.P. Cookingham Award, the Crisis Management Award, the Southwest Parks and Recreation Training Institute Diamond and Sapphire Awards, and the Distinguished Fellow Award from the Missouri Parks and Recreation Association.

Mr. McHenry has received the Rich Noll Excellence in Governance Award, the Jay Dillingham Lifetime Achievement Award, the Clay County EDC Look North Award, and the Arts KC Regional Arts Council Advocate Award. He is an Honorary Lifetime Member of the Kansas City Rose Society.

In 2019, Missouri Governor Parsons appointed Mr. McHenry to a six-year term as Commissioner for the Missouri Department of Conservation, where he currently serves as its chair.

John J. Sherman

John Sherman is Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club leading an ownership group that acquired the team on November 25, 2019. He previously served as Vice Chairman of the Cleveland Guardians Baseball Club. He is active in the business of Major League Baseball serving as chair of the PDL Executive Board and is a member of the Ownership Committee and Labor Policy Committee. He is also a member of the Executive Council.

Mr. Sherman is an entrepreneur, civic leader, and philanthropist who is extensively involved in communities throughout the Kansas City region.

His first startup, LPG Services, grew rapidly and merged with Dynegy (NYSE:DYN) in 1996. That same year, he founded Inergy, L.P. which became a public company in 2001. Mr. Sherman was the Chairman and CEO of Inergy, L.P. and Inergy Midstream, L.P. and led the company through a period of tremendous growth, creating a total enterprise value of nearly $5 billion prior to merging with Crestwood Holdings in 2013. Mr. Sherman currently serves on the board of the merged company—Crestwood Equity Partners (NYSE:CEQP).

Mr. Sherman is a past chair of the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City and the Truman Presidential Library Institute. He is a trustee and current chair of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and a trustee of the National World War I Museum and Memorial. John and his wife, Marny, are founders of the Sherman Family Foundation which focuses on supporting education in the Kansas City region. He also serves on the Technology Acceleration Partners, LLC (TechAccel) Board of Directors.

Mr. Sherman has been recognized with numerous honors for his business, civic, and philanthropic leadership in Kansas City. He was a recipient of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year award, and he was named Entrepreneur of the Year by UMKC’s Bloch School of Business and the Council for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. In 2012, he received the Hope Award from the National MS Society for his philanthropic work in the Kansas City community.

In 2013, Mr. Sherman was awarded an honorary doctorate by the UMKC School of Education for his work in urban education. In 2014, he was inducted into the inaugural class of the Bloch School of Business Entrepreneurs Hall of Fame with a group that included Ewing Kauffman, the original owner of the Kansas City Royals who brought major league baseball back to Kansas City, and Lamar Hunt, founder of the American Football League (AFL) and owner of the Kansas City Chiefs. In 2017, Mr. Sherman was the recipient of the Henry W. Bloch Human Relations Award from the Jewish Community Relations Bureau/American Jewish Committee. Mr. Sherman was named the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s 2021 Kansas Citian of the year.