Joe Gallant
Casey Hanson
Casey Hanson is the Director of Outreach and Engagement at Kids Win Missouri and plays a leadership role in the organization’s stakeholder engagement initiatives and child health policy. Prior to her current role, Casey was the Policy and Communications Coordinator for the Missouri AfterSchool Network (MASN). She also has years of experience working in government and politics in Missouri as a legislative staffer in the Missouri House and organizer on multiple issue-based and candidate campaigns. Casey’s passion for working on child well-being issues has been fueled by her direct experiences as a program volunteer, staff person, and parent. She currently serves on the boards of the Show Me School Based Health Alliance and Lemay Child and Family Center. Casey is a proud Mizzou alum and currently resides in St. Louis with her husband, two sons and puppy. Interested in contacting Casey? Email her at chanson@kidswinmissouri.org.
Megan Murray
Megan Murray serves as an Advocacy Fellow for Kids Win Missouri. Prior to her current role, Megan grew up in Atlanta, Georgia and moved to Saint Joseph, MO in 2017. After graduating high school in the late 90s Megan went into the field of early childhood education as a preschool teacher and quickly found out that her passion was caring for children and their families. She continued her career in ECE until 2023, with her recent role of Director at a childcare center in St. Joe. Megan has worked with school districts and the United way as well as being heavily involved in her community. Megan joined the Kids Win team in April of 2023 after completing a year as a Provider Leader Fellow with KWM. She found that working on the state level on ECE issues is her sweet spot and looks forward to helping all children in Missouri. Interested in contacting Megan? Please email her at mmurray@kidswinmissouri.org.
Robyn Schelp
Robyn serves as the Director of Policy and Advocacy for Kids Win Missouri. A teacher by trade, Robyn taught in North Carolina, served as a missionary in Guatemala, and then taught in rural Missouri before staying home to care for her three boys. In 2012, she and her husband Allen moved with their family to Columbia so they could access services and support for their young son with disabilities. In 2016, Robyn started a grassroots advocacy effort to improve laws for children with disabilities. Two years later she co-founded Missouri Disability Empowerment (MoDE) where she served as MoDE’s legislative director. Robyn is active in her church and supports local families through the IEP process. Interested in contacting Robyn? Please email her at rschelp@kidswinmissouri.org
Brian Schmidt
Brian is responsible for executing Kids Win Missouri’s strategic plan and overseeing the organization’s development. He started his career in public policy as the Executive Director of the Missouri General Assembly’s Joint Committee on Tax Policy where he assisted legislators in analyzing and crafting tax and economic development policies. After his work with the Missouri legislature, Brian started Missouri Wonk, a public policy analysis consulting firm whose work tackled diverse projects with subjects including tax policy and incentives, healthcare, education, transportation, housing, crime and neighborhood revitalization. Interested in contacting Brian? Please email him at bschmidt@kidswinmissouri.org.
Leslie Smith
Leslie Smith serves as the Advocacy Fellow for Kids Win Missouri in partnership with the Children’s Defense Fund. She will work closely with our ECE Fellowship and core partners in the Greater Kansas City and Mid-Missouri area while taking the lead in our annual Child Advocacy Day. Her experience in higher education and nonprofit leadership has influenced her journey to advocate for families in Kansas City. Since moving to the area in 2014 after receiving her BS in Biological Sciences at the University of Missouri-Columbia, Leslie has gained extensive direct service experience with school leaders and families in the area. She assisted in implementing the college advising program through the Missouri College Advising Corps (MCAC) for the Center School District and engaged families with the college going culture. In 2016, Leslie served as a Postsecondary Advisor at the Kauffman Foundation for Kauffman Scholars Inc.(KSI) by guiding seniors in low-income settings through the postsecondary process and conducting workshops for families. During her time with KSI, she was later hired as a Postsecondary Retention Specialist that focused on direct support for over 100 scholarship recipients and their families at universities across the US. She also had the opportunity of serving on the implementation and selection criteria committee for Kansas City Scholars program. Interested in contacting Leslie? Please email her at lsmith@kidswinmissouri.org.
