Jim Martin
Angie Strecker
Mike Matson
Sunflower Foundation is pleased to announce the appointments of Jim Martin and Angie Strecker, both of Topeka, and the reappointment of Mike Matson, of Manhattan, to the foundation’s nine-member Board of Trustees. The appointments are effective at the board’s next meeting, June 13.
As the sole member of the Sunflower Foundation Corp., the Kansas Attorney General appoints eight of the organization’s trustees, with the ninth trustee appointed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas.
Kansas Attorney General Kris Kobach appointed Martin, professor and senior lecturer in the Washburn University School of Business and retired senior vice president of Westar Energy, Inc., and reappointed Matson, director of External Affairs for the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce.
BCBSKS President and CEO Matthew All appointed Strecker, who recently retired from BCBSKS after 38 years of service, most recently as the company’s vice president of Provider and Institutional Relations.
“Angie and Jim both bring a wealth of experience in the areas of health care, finance, and community improvement work,” said Brandon Skidmore, president and CEO of Sunflower Foundation. “We are thrilled to have them both joining the Sunflower Board of Trustees.”
Martin will be filling the seat being vacated by Jay Kennedy, CEO of First National Bank of Frankfort. Strecker will be filling the seat being vacated by former BCBSKS President and CEO Andy Corbin. Matson will be serving his third and final term on the board.
Martin, who joined Washburn’s faculty full time in 2004 and has served in the Henrietta and G.W. Snyder Jr. Professorship in Business since 2011, sits on Washburn’s Career Services Advisory Council and chairs the university’s Employee Benefits Committee. A Certified Public Accountant, he also serves as a business curriculum advisor to multiple Topeka-area high schools and is a member of Leadership Topeka and the Kansas City chapter of Financial Executives International.
“My career has been centered around finance and governance, with much of it intertwined with health care and employee benefits,” Martin said. “I look forward to being part of a group of citizens passionate about improving the health of Kansans.”
In her role as vice president of Provider and Institutional Relations, Strecker helped lead BCBSKS’ COVID-19 response and helped develop the company’s value-based programs aimed at improving the quality and safety of health care while controlling cost. She also has served locally on the Shawnee County Advisory Council of the United Way of Kaw Valley and the YWCA Northeast Kansas Leadership Lunch Committee.
“The work being done by the Sunflower Foundation team to support the physical and mental health of Kansans is commendable, and it points to the organization’s vision, leadership and remarkable programs in motion that are fueled by collaboration,” Strecker said. “I am looking forward to joining this work.”
Trustees can serve up to three, three-year terms on the board, which is tasked with governing the foundation’s work and long-range strategic planning. Martin and Strecker become the 33rd and 34th individuals, representing diverse backgrounds and communities in Kansas, to have been appointed to the board since the foundation’s creation in 2000. Along with Matson, they will join the following individuals on the board:
- Liz Sosa (board chair), Garden City, CEO of Epitome Enterprises;
- Teresa Lovelady, Wichita, president and CEO of HealthCore Clinic, Inc.;
- Carrie Lutz, Topeka, CEO of Holton Community Hospital;
- Shawn Naccarato, Pittsburg, chief strategy officer for Pittsburg State University;
- Ben Schears, Goodland, president of Northwest Kansas Technical College;
- Tim Werth, Hays, managing partner of Werth Wealth Management, LLC.