MARK HUNTER

Even back at Shawnee Mission Northwest High, Mark Hunter was known as
“a person who hits it on all cylinders.” They had him figured out early. Hunter began as a technology developer for Service Management Group, and 14 years later, he’s its chief client officer. SMG has grown to one of the nation’s top 50 research firms, with 65 employees and 120 clients, including the likes of Hallmark Cards, Chick-fil-A, and Dunkin Donuts. He’s says he’s “proudest of the team we’ve built and the long-term partnerships we’ve forged with our clients.” He’s committed to organizations outside his own, sitting on the board and working on strategic development for The Children’s Place, and he is president of the Harvard-Radcliffe Club of Kansas City, where he’s organized over 130 interviews a year for college applicants in the region. He’s also involved in various marketing organizations. He had a big year in 2010—first and most important, he married Molly Westering, an attorney at Baty, Holm, Numrich and Otto. A distant second, he says wisely, was when he completed his first Ironman in Florida (in less than 11 hours) and aims to finish 10 marathons by his 40th birthday. With two years to go, he could easily achieve that goal. And 2011 looks to be another banner year—their baby girl is due in June.

LANA KNEDLIK

Lawyers need education, but Lana Knedlik has likely exceeded the requirement. She earned a degree in chemical engineering, then law, then biology, and finished up with another in pharmaceutical sciences four years ago while starring in an active practice as an intellectual property attorney at Stinson Morrison Hecker. Elected to partnership in 2003, her 2010 awards include an Outstanding Service Award by the Kansas Bar Association, Up and Coming Lawyer by Missouri Lawyers Weekly, and one of the Top 40 LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) Lawyers by the National LGBT Bar Association, an affiliate of the American Bar Association. Personal achievements that matter the most to her are those that revolve around her contributions to the LGBT community. She developed a passion for community activism that includes founding and continuing to serve as president of KC LEGAL, comprising lawyers seeking to educate about legal issues facing LGBT individuals. Knedlik also serves as LGBT Task Force Co-Chair for the ACLU of Kansas and Western Missouri, and on the board of Four Freedoms Democratic Club. She is fortunate she says, because she approaches life, both professionally and personally, with the motto: “Work hard at what you love.”

MARCO ILARDI

Sometimes, and we know not why, it’s difficult to lure east or west-coasters to the Midwest. Fortunately, that was not at all the case for Adknowledge, Inc. during its recruitment of Marco Ilardi to the online advertising technology company. Last November, Ilardi joined the $300 million company, which has 330 employees in seven offices internationally, as chief revenue officer. It’s a bit of a trip home—Ilardi grew up in St. Louis, graduated from Truman State in Kirksville, and after several years away, he wanted to raise his family nearer to his and his wife’s families. He began his online advertising career in 2000, helping to build one of the largest networks online. In 2003, his company launched Myspace.com which became one of the top sites on the web in three short years. They sold the company to News Corp. for $670 million. By 2008, he had built and managed performance advertising teams across FOX Interactive Media’s portfolio and by 2010, he had launched the top five online advertising networks, with more than 150 million unique visitors monthly. It’s clear that he is, as he says, “very passionate about the evolution of this industry since day one.” He’s also quick to point to his colleagues when asked about his success as “a result of many people supporting me.”

CHRIS ISAACSON

Here’s a switch: An honoree who works for a firm based in Kansas City and has additional offices in New York and London. Chris Isaacson is chief operating officer and senior vice president of BATS Global Markets, an electronic communication network designed to handle high-speed, high-volume, algorithmic equities trading. Isaacson, a founding employee, began at BATS as one of the core software developers, then developed its Trade Desk/Operations function. Only 32, he is responsible for all BATS technology and operations. He says it’s his responsibility to maximize his talents “in honor of the One who gave them to me and to lead the BATS team with wisdom, integrity, and resolve.” Isaacson earned a degree in computer science and business from Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he was an all-American in track and field, and an MBA from the University of Nebraska. He says that athletics was a wonderful training ground for leadership and teamwork, skills that have been critical to his career success, and he still enjoys competing in the KC Corporate Challenge. Growing up on a farm, he learned about hard work, entrepreneurship, and leadership—values he tries to instill every day in his three daughters, Claire, Ava, and Grace.