Karen Messerli
Mayor, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Panelist, "Kansas City: A City of Women Leaders"

Karen Messerli, who became the first woman mayor of Lee’s Summit, Mo., in 1994, is employed as public affairs manager for St. Luke’s Health System in the Kansas City area.

In her more than 10 years as mayor and five years as a City Council member, Messerli has presided over one of the state’s most high-growth, quality communities.

Messerli was a founding member of the Tri City Mayors Coalition and the Eastern Jackson County Betterment Council, past president of the Missouri Municipal League, and an active supporter of the Eastern Jackson County United Way and Hope House for Battered Women.

In 2000, she asked Hope House to open a shelter in Lee’s Summit to help women and children who were victims of domestic violence in her community, and she agreed to co-chair a successful capital campaign.

She also has served on boards for the Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault, Arthritis Foundation, and the Metropolitan Arts Council.

Messerli was named Woman of the Year for the State of Missouri Business and Professional Women in 1998, and was one of 60 women featured in the 2002 book, “A Power of Her Own.” In 2004 she received the Missouri Parks and Recreation Association Public Official Achievement Award.

Karen Messerli Mayor, Lee’s Summit, Mo.

Panelist, "Kansas City: A City of Women Leaders"

Karen Messerli
Mayor, Lee’s Summit, Mo.