Who We Are
Our work with nonprofit boards and private foundations over the years inspired a deep understanding that giving is powerful and has the potential to make the world a better place.
Tracy L. McFerrin
Founder & Principal
Tracy is a trusted advisor, non-profit board leader, writer and former grantmaker. As a senior officer of a private family foundation, she co-founded two education funder collaboratives, one of which led to the creation of a $50 million education intermediary establishing a ten-year strategy to improve public schools. Tracy worked closely with a community development intermediary to recalibrate its focus from the built environment and organizational capacity building to a place-based, comprehensive strategy to revitalize urban core neighborhoods. Additionally, she led the foundation to make seed grants to new organizations aimed at helping parents identify quality schools and introducing new school models based on parent and neighborhood demand. She has been a board leader for several of nonprofit organizations, including serving as board chair for the Ewing Marion Kauffman School, KCPT Channel 19, the University of Kansas Research Institute and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, and serves on the selection panel for Missouri, Kansas and Iowa for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. She has been an invited panelist, speaker and thought leader on various issues in philanthropy for over a decade and was invited by the Obama administration to consult on public/private partnerships in early education in 2014. Tracy is co-author of an article on relational philanthropy, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review Winter 2024. She is a graduate of Howard University (B.S., summa cum laude, Psychology) and Harvard Law School.
Maurice Alvin Watson
Founder & Principal
Maurice has more than thirty years of experience working in law, social and public policy and board governance as a lawyer, advisor and board member and is a recognized community leader. He has been a partner and chairman of an AmLaw100 law firm, Husch Blackwell, representing public and private schools, colleges and universities, education advocacy groups, and education associations at the state and national levels. He has served on numerous boards of nonprofit organizations in the areas of education and youth development, health care, higher education, arts and culture and public policy and government. Maurice is deeply familiar with the issues and challenges facing the health and arts sectors in Kansas City, having served on the boards of several treasured institutions. He was board chair for Children’s Mercy Hospital and an advisory board member for the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. He also served as a board member for both the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kansas City Ballet. On a national level, Maurice was invited to serve on the boards for the National Association of Independent Schools, the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and the Ford Theatre. Maurice is currently a trustee for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and a medical research institute. He is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B., cum laude, Social Studies) and Harvard Law School. Maurice resides in Kansas City, MO.
Tracy L. McFerrin
Founder & Principal
Tracy is a trusted advisor, non-profit board leader, writer and former grantmaker. As a senior officer of a private family foundation, she co-founded two education funder collaboratives, one of which led to the creation of a $50 million education intermediary establishing a ten-year strategy to improve public schools. Tracy worked closely with a community development intermediary to recalibrate its focus from the built environment and organizational capacity building to a place-based, comprehensive strategy to revitalize urban core neighborhoods. Additionally, she led the foundation to make seed grants to new organizations aimed at helping parents identify quality schools and introducing new school models based on parent and neighborhood demand. She has been a board leader for several of nonprofit organizations, including serving as board chair for the Ewing Marion Kauffman School, KCPT Channel 19, the University of Kansas Research Institute and Big Brothers Big Sisters of Greater Kansas City, and serves on the selection panel for Missouri, Kansas and Iowa for the Harry S. Truman Scholarship Foundation. She has been an invited panelist, speaker and thought leader on various issues in philanthropy for over a decade and was invited by the Obama administration to consult on public/private partnerships in early education in 2014. Tracy is co-author of an article on relational philanthropy, published in the Stanford Social Innovation Review Winter 2024. She is a graduate of Howard University (B.S., summa cum laude, Psychology) and Harvard Law School.
Maurice Alvin Watson
Founder & Principal
Maurice has more than thirty years of experience working in law, social and public policy and board governance as a lawyer, advisor and board member and is a recognized community leader. He has been a partner and chairman of an AmLaw100 law firm, Husch Blackwell, representing public and private schools, colleges and universities, education advocacy groups, and education associations at the state and national levels. He has served on numerous boards of nonprofit organizations in the areas of education and youth development, health care, higher education, arts and culture and public policy and government. Maurice is deeply familiar with the issues and challenges facing the health and arts sectors in Kansas City, having served on the boards of several treasured institutions. He was board chair for Children’s Mercy Hospital and an advisory board member for the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City. He also served as a board member for both the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Kansas City Ballet. On a national level, Maurice was invited to serve on the boards for the National Association of Independent Schools, the National Association of Children’s Hospitals and the Ford Theatre. Maurice is currently a trustee for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and a medical research institute. He is a graduate of Harvard College (A.B., cum laude, Social Studies) and Harvard Law School. Maurice resides in Kansas City, MO.