2018 ATHENA Young Professional Leadership Award Winner

Adrienne B. Haynes says, “I am grateful for the opportunity to work with youth, whether directly or through supporting clients dedicated to youth development.” This award honors emerging leaders who demonstrate excellence, creativity, and initiative in their business; contribute time and energy to improve the quality of life for others in the community; and serve as a role model for young women both personally and professionally.

She served as Assistant Director at Camp Kupugani, then a girls-only program and the only African-American owned residential camp in the U.S. While there, she helped design a program that impacted hundreds of young women, ages 7 to 15, from across the world. Since then, she’s worked on boards with an emphasis on helping young women, including Awesome Ambitions, Girls to Queens, and the Linwood YMCA. The Black Female Attorneys Network has a giving circle, the Sisters in Law Fund, that gave its first grant to a local nonprofit dedicated to helping young women. As an entrepreneurial attorney, Haynes says her mission “is to aid in the creation of sustainable business and transferable wealth,” working diligently to contribute to making Kansas City “America’s most entrepreneurial city,” one of the KC Chamber’s Big 5 goals. After law school, she helped to design and develop the Blue Hills Contractor Incubator, a nonprofit entrepreneurship program designed to support construction contractors. Today she owns two businesses, SEED Law and SEED Collective. She’s contributed thousands of pro-bono hours through the SEED Law Community Office Hours program and through workshops on business law in English and Spanish.

In 2015, Haynes started the Multicultural Business Coalition to help bridge the gap in the business community and help businesses to connect with a variety of resources. She also founded the Construction Business Institute and formalized the Black Female Attorneys Network of Missouri and Kansas. She also works as one of seven Innovators in Residence through the Kauffman Foundation, helping reduce barriers to entrepreneurship. The Greek goddess Athena was known as the patron of heroic endeavor, as well as the goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, strength, and skill. Very appropriate. Congratulations, Adrienne!