Speakers
Giving You the Best View of the Pro-Life Landscape
Read about a few of the more than two dozen speakers you will hear from at the conference. Check back in the coming weeks for announcements about additional celebrated speakers.
Representative Francis Awerkamp
61st Kansas House of Representatives
Representative Awerkamp will share how the Entrepreneurial Operating System (EOS) can benefit your organization.
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Representative Francis Awerkamp has served the people of the 61st Kansas House of Representatives since 2017. He currently chairs the House Committee on Welfare Reform and has many years’ experience in local government. As a champion for life, he has a perfect voting record with Kansans for Life.
Mackenzie Ayers
Deputy Communications Director, Kansans for Life
Mackenzie will be part of a panel discussing impactful social media content.
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Mackenzie Ayers serves as deputy communications director at Kansans for Life, where she supports the communications team with media relations and digital strategy, and works alongside the government relations team to create public-facing content that keeps supporters informed on key legislative efforts in Kansas. She manages the organization’s social media platforms and helps craft messaging that engages supporters and compassionately communicates the value of every human life.
While pursuing her degree in communications, Mackenzie served as digital director for the Dr. Jeff Colyer for Governor campaign and later moved to Nebraska to become communications director for a gubernatorial race during her senior year. After graduating, she went on to serve as deputy communications director and spokeswoman for the Value Them Both amendment campaign, representing the effort in interviews with national and international outlets, including NBC, BuzzFeed, BBC, PBS, and others.
Rich Bott
CEO and Chairman, Bott Radio Network (BRN)
Rich Bott will be one of the speakers at the Champions Luncheon.
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Rich Bott is a third-generation Christian broadcaster, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, Rev. Dr. S.H. Patterson, and his father, Dick Bott, who founded KCCV Kansas City’s Christian Voice in 1962.
Rich graduated with honors from Bob Jones University and holds an MBA from Harvard Business School. His full-time life’s work has been serving the Lord at what would become Bott Radio Network (BRN), which focuses on a carefully developed format of quality Bible teaching and Christian news and Information. Harnessing the power of satellite and digital technology, he has helped expand the reach of the network from three stations in 1981 to over 130 stations today.
Under Rich’s leadership, BRN continues to innovate, reaching worldwide audiences with mobile apps and streaming platforms like iHeart Radio, Roku, Apple TV and more. He has served three terms as chairman of the National Christian Broadcasters and was inducted into its 2025 Hall of Fame.
Anne Carmichael
Senior Fundraising Strategist, Cogency Strategic, a division of Choose Life Marketing
Anne Carmichael will be part of a panel discussion about fundraising.
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Anne Carmichael is the senior fundraising strategist at Cogency Strategic, a division of Choose Life Marketing. She has over 35 years’ experience as a non-profit executive, specializing in major gift development, and has personally raised more than $10 million.
Over the past five years, Anne has helped 13 pro-life organizations raise $19 million. As a lobbyist/community organizer for the Missouri Catholic Conference, she played a lead role in the passage of the partial-birth abortion ban legislation, which included the successful override of the governor’s veto. She was also the first executive director for Missouri Right to Life, where she began her major gift fundraising journey. She has been honored by several organizations, including Zonta International, International Biographical Centre, and Marquis Who’s Who.
Jessica Flanagain
Expert campaign strategist
Jessica will be part of a panel discussion about defeating extreme abortion ballot initiatives.
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Jessica Flanagain has nearly 30 years of campaign and brand experience. She has advised presidential, statewide, congressional, legislative mayoral and initiative campaigns throughout the country, running more than 100 political races. She also served as executive director of the Nebraska Republican Party.
Jessica has led several successful initiatives, managing all aspects of the campaign from the petition gathering process through the general election. She most recently ran Nebraska’s successful Pro-Life Constitutional Amendment initiative. The victory made Nebraska one of the first states in the country to defeat efforts by the pro-abortion lobby and the first state in the country to enshrine Pro-Life protections for women and children into their state constitution. Jessica has a penchant for electing long-shot candidates. Her experience includes 20 years advising Senator Pete Ricketts through his political comeback, helping lead what Washington Post dubbed “one of the biggest reversals in modern political history.” She advised Ricketts through his two terms as governor and helped him earn the most votes in state history during his 2024 campaign for the US Senate.
Jessica has advised the campaigns of Senator Deb Fischer, Congressman Mike Flood, Governor Jim Pillen, and Attorney General Mike Hilgers. She has also advised on Super PAC efforts all over the country, from Virginia to Kansas.
Catherine Gunsalus
State Advocacy Director, Heritage Action for America
Catherine Gunsalus will speak about the threat of ESG to the pro-life cause and ways to protect election integrity.
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Catherine Gunsalus leads Heritage Action’s lobbying efforts in states across the country. She serves as head advocate in this role, managing a growing team of state lobbyists across the nation on critical issues such as election integrity, education reform, and defending the lives of unborn children.
Prior to joining Heritage Action, Catherine served as assistant secretary of state for Kansas. During this time, she managed an office of approximately 35 staff, including nine direct reports, and a $14 million-dollar budget, directed federal grant expenditures for enhanced election security in Kansas, and oversaw state election integrity policies. Prior to this appointment, Catherine successfully managed a statewide campaign for the now-elected secretary of state and served as chief of staff to the speaker pro tem in the Kansas Legislature for nearly five years. She is originally from Florida but has called Kansas home for more than a decade.
Alan Holdren
International and domestic journalist / Educator
Alan Holdren will be one of the speakers at the Champions Luncheon.
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Alan Holdren is a former EWTN Vatican Bureau Chief in Rome and continues to file periodic reports from the American heartland for EWTN News programming.
He is currently an English teacher at St. John’s High School in Beloit, Kansas, where he lives with his wife and their four children.
Ron Kelsey
President, Kansas City Pregnancy Clinic
Ron Kelsey will take part in a panel discussing state pregnancy resource center grant funds.
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Ron Kelsey retired in 2016 after 11 years as pro-life consultant for Archbishop Joseph Naumann, Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas. He has been involved in pro-life pregnancy ministry since 2004, including leadership roles in starting and managing five new pregnancy clinic locations. He is currently board president of Kansas City Pregnancy Clinic, a recipient of significant revenue earned from the Kansas A2A program currently known as the Pregnancy Compassion Act.
Chad McDonald
Senior Pastor, Lenexa Baptist Church
Pastor Chad McDonald will open the conference in prayer.
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Originally from Alabama, Chad McDonald is senior pastor at Lenexa Baptist Church in Lenexa, Kansas, where he initially served as campus pastor at The Fellowship at Greenwood.
Chad came to know Christ at 7 following a revival service at Clearview Baptist Church in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma. In high school, he surrendered his life to vocational ministry. He received his bachelor’s degree from Southwest Baptist University and Master of Arts in Theology from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.
One of the greatest passions of Chad’s heart is to study, preach, and proclaim the full council of God’s Word. One of his favorite verses is 2 Timothy 3:16, which says, “All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent, equipped for every good work.”
Archbishop Joseph Naumann
Archbishop of the Catholic Diocese of Kansas City, Kansas
In addition to celebrating the closing Catholic Mass, Archbishop Joseph Naumann will lead the opening prayer at the 2025 Proudly Pro-Life Gala.
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Archbishop Joseph Naumann has been called “a lion of the pro-life movement.” He has consistently challenged pro-abortion Catholic politicians and spearheaded pro-life efforts and ministries in Kansas and throughout the country. He serves as chairman of the U.S. bishops’ conference committee on pro-life activities. As a priest, Archbishop Naumann served from 1984 to 1995 as the archdiocesan pro-life coordinator in the Archdiocese of St. Louis. Under his leadership, the Archdiocese of St. Louis established a Project Rachel ministry and the Lifeline Coalition.
Archbishop Naumann was appointed coadjutor archbishop of the Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas in 2004 and was appointed archbishop in 2005. The motto on his episcopal coat of arms is “Vitae Victoria Erit,” or “Life Will Be Victorious.”
Dr. OJ Oleka
Chief Executive Officer, State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF)
Dr. Oleka will discuss the threat of ESG to the pro-life cause.
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Dr. OJ Oleka is the second chief executive officer of the State Financial Officers Foundation and has been in the fight for conservative principles and within the conservative movement since college. As the child of Nigerian immigrants, his family story is a shining example of the American Dream and how faith, opportunity, and hard work can pull families out of poverty. Because of his family story Dr. Oleka has dedicated his life to public service, preserving America as a beacon of hope and promoting the American ideals of merit, hard work, and freedom over divisiveness and identity politics.
Prior to becoming CEO at SFOF, Dr. Oleka was a senior business development executive at a global business processes company. He is also a former candidate for State Treasurer in Kentucky, where he campaigned on a platform of cutting spending, reducing government, and supporting policies that protect economic freedom. He served as president of the Association of Independent Kentucky Colleges and Universities (AIKCU), a nonprofit focused on educational opportunity. While at AIKCU, he led during the COVID era and successfully pushed back against the government to keep his colleges and universities open. His leadership helped kids stay in school, saved thousands of jobs, and drove millions of dollars into the economy.
Prior to AIKCU, Dr. Oleka served as deputy treasurer for Kentucky State Treasurer and SFOF Member Allison Ball. He protected millions of tax dollars from fraud, defended private property, and helped the office win national recognition for increasing fiscal transparency in the state budget.
Dr. Oleka has a marketing degree from the University of Louisville and an MBA and PhD in Leadership in Higher Education from Bellarmine University.
Dr. David Prentice
Internationally recognized expert on stem cell research
Dr. Prentice will be part of a panel with the Science Alliance for Life.
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Dr. Prentice is an internationally recognized expert on stem cell research, cell biology and bioethics. He has received numerous awards, including the Walter C. Randall Award in Biomedical Ethics from the American Physiological Society, given for promoting the honor and integrity of biomedical science through example and mentoring in the classroom and laboratory, and he was honored with selection for the 31st A. Kurt Weiss Lectureship on Biomedical Ethics, Oklahoma University Health Science Center.
Dr. Prentice has provided scientific lectures, policy briefings and legislative testimonies in 40 states and 21 countries, including before the U.S. House and Senate and numerous state legislatures, the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. President’s Council on Bioethics, European Parliament, British Parliament, Canadian Parliament, Australian Parliament, German Bundestag, French Senate, Swedish Parliament, the United Nations, and the Vatican. In 2020, he was appointed by the Secretary of HHS to the federal Human Fetal Tissue Ethics Advisory Board.
Dr. Prentice has published numerous peer-reviewed scientific and bioethics articles, including a review of stem cell science and adult stem cell treatments. He has reviewed for various professional publications and been interviewed in virtually all major media outlets. He has also published many public commentaries and op-eds, and travels nationally and internationally to give invited lectures and advise professionals, policymakers and the public regarding stem cell research, fetal tissue research, gene editing, cloning, embryology, cell, molecular and developmental biology, cell culture and vaccines, biochemistry, biotechnology, bioethics, and science policy.
Alex Schadenberg
Executive Director, Euthanasia Prevention Coalition
Alex Schadenberg will be part of a panel discussion about assisted suicide.
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Alex Schadenberg has served as the executive director of the Euthanasia Prevention Coalition (EPC) since 1999 and became the executive director of EPC-USA in 2022. Alex co-produced the Euthanasia Deception documentary and has authored thousands of articles as well as published his book Exposing Vulnerable People to Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide. He has spoken throughout North America and has also participated in speaking tours in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Hungary, and Scotland.
John Sowinski
Founding partner of Consensus / expert campaign strategist
John will be part of a panel discussion about defeating extreme abortion ballot initiatives.
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John Sowinski is a founding partner of Consensus. He is a veteran of numerous statewide political, issue and corporate campaigns and has more than 20 years’ experience in public policy, media relations, message development, and paid media management.
John has consulted for many successful statewide issues and corporate campaigns and served as general consultant to the successful Mel Martinez for Senate campaign in 2004.
John is regarded as the premier expert on statewide referendum campaigns in Florida, having accomplished an unmatched record in statewide ballot initiatives. He has led nine successful statewide campaigns in Florida, more than any other consultant. His notable victories include the 1992 “Eight is Enough” term limits campaign; the 1994 “Net Ban” campaign; the 1994 “No Casinos” campaign; the 1996 campaign against a proposed tax of Florida sugar; the 2000 campaign in support of high speed rail; the 2002 Smoke Free Workplace initiative; the 2006 Youth Tobacco Education initiative, and the 2010 “Vote No on 4” campaign, which defeated the so-called “Hometown Democracy” Amendment in an unlikely landslide.
John was student body president at the University of Central Florida, where he earned a B.S. in Public Administration.
Carol Tobias
President, National Right to Life Committee (NRLC)
As president of NRLC, Carol Tobias will greet and address attendees throughout the conference.
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A native of North Dakota, Carol Tobias has served on the NRLC board of directors since 1987. From 1983 to 1991, she was executive director of North Dakota Right to Life, and in 1991 was hired as National Right to Life’s political director, a position she held until 2005.
During her tenure as political director, pro-life majorities were elected to both the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. In 2000 and 2004, she oversaw the efforts of National Right to Life’s political action committee on behalf of George W. Bush. In 2014, she testified before the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary in opposition to the so-called “Women’s Health Protection Act.”
Tobias has been seen on most major national news networks and several internationally. She is regularly quoted by various news outlets around the nation and across the world.
Danielle Underwood
Director of Communications, Kansans for Life
Danielle will be part of a panel discussing impactful social media content.
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Danielle Underwood is the director of communications for Kansans for Life, a role she has held since 2021 following more than a decade in media relations at a Missouri public university research institute. As the organization’s lead spokesperson, Danielle represents KFL across radio, television, and print media, and heads a dynamic team of professional women dedicated to advancing the pro-life message in the public square.
Danielle is the host and producer of On the Right Side of History with Kansans for Life, a podcast that brings to light the powerful, unfiltered stories behind the pro-life movement—past and present. Driven by the belief that every individual has a vital role in defending the most vulnerable among us, Danielle is passionate about amplifying voices for the preborn, those who are aging, people with disabilities, and others in need of strong, outspoken advocates.