ANGELA COTTRELL
Dr. Angela Cottrell is the Director of Research and Institute Programs for the
Missouri Institute for Defense & Energy (MIDE) and Adjunct Instructor in the UMKC School of
Education. Angela has over 20 years of experience in educational leadership and policy
initiatives and has been engaged in Kansas City and national non-profits for over 10 years.
Additionally, Angela has successfully created collaborative programs and initiatives to
assist underserved populations in Kansas City, including the UMKC Kangaroo Food Pantry, and
has been successfully funded by the Aurora Foundation and Heart of America Patriot
Foundation to advance veterans initiatives on the UMKC campus. Angela is the proud daughter
of a US Navy veteran and serves as Program Director.
JUAN CABRERA-GARCIA
Dr. Juan Cabrera-Garcia, Assistant Research Professor at UMKC, and State
Vegetable Specialist at University of Missouri Extension, is a plant scientist and expert in
hydroponics and horticulture. Juan has executed on several research and extension projects
related to hydroponic production and has taught hydroponic crop production to commercial
growers, Hispanic beginning farmers, high school students, and college students.
JESSICA GREEN
Jessica “JD” Green serves as the Agriculture Foreman for the project, including
the day-to-day operations and scheduling of the farm. JD has a background in earth and
environmental sciences and also served as a member of the US Air Force.
JEFF HORNSBY
Dr. Jeffrey Hornsby, Henry W. Bloch Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship and
Director of the Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation has authored or
co-authored 148 refereed journal articles and has coauthored five books focused on providing
educational and immersive training for businesses, startups, and nonprofit corporations.
Under the leadership of Jeff, UMKC has implemented the “Vets to Ventures” entrepreneurship
training program which provides participants the business and financial acumen to manage
future ventures. Dr. Hornsby has an extensive network of businesses, organizations, and
veteran entrepreneurs that will partner with “Vets to Ventures” to provide military veteran
beginning farmers ongoing mentorship during the program.
JJ LEE
Dr. Jejung “JJ” Lee, Professor in Earth and Environmental Sciences, has spent his career
researching and developing support systems for underserved populations both domestically and
internationally. Dr. Lee has led water resource projects from northern sub-Saharan Africa to
the local level working within the greater Kansas City area developing real-time water
quality information via smart technology. Dr. Lee has received over $1M in grants from the
National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) as well as the National Science
Foundation (NSF). Dr. Lee is currently working in collaboration with local urban farmers and
non-profit organizations in Kansas City to support populations through green infrastructure,
water quality, food desert remediation, and urban agriculture initiatives using Internet of
Things (IoT)-based sensors, micro-transportation, and virtual information systems.
KARIN CHANG
For the past twenty years, Dr. Karin Chang has managed numerous local, state, and national
evaluations, including 10 federally-funded evaluations in the areas of K-16 education and
workforce development. Currently, Karin is partnered with the Council for Adult and
Experiential Learning to conduct an evaluation of adult learning practices in the Kansas
City area. Karin serves as the external evaluator and supervises undergraduate research
assistant, Lane Starks.
VETERANS COMMUNITY PROJECT
CHRIS ADMIRE
Chris Admire is the Executive Director of the Veterans Community Project – Kansas City. Chris
is the proud son of a Us Navy veteran and brother of a US Marine Corps veteran. Chris took
the oath to “serve those who served us” in 2018 when he joined Veterans Community Project
(VCP). Chris has over 15 years of experience in the commercial equipment industry and has
been an active member of VCP since its inception, first as a volunteer and then he decided
to join the staff as Director of Operations in 2018. In June of 2020 he was named VCP’s
Executive Director of the Kansas City location. Chris has a relentless passion to connect
with and serve at-risk veterans.
VANESSA VAN GOETHEM-PIELA
Vanessa is the Chief Development Officer at VCP. As part of the VCP senior leadership team,
Vanessa assists with programmatic sustainability of the program post period of performance
and will be actively seeking customers and/or additional investors to expand the pilot
program in Kansas City and at other future VCP locations.
MICHELE ORPIN
Michele is the Director of Development at VCP and comes from an extensive military family.
Michele is fully committed to make sure no veteran is left behind and has extensive
background in business development and strategies. Michele has steered her to the passion of
helping veterans at VCP, bringing a portfolio of expertise from for-profit and non- profit
companies.
