October Monthly Luncheon 2025

Description

Our WIBA luncheon is a great time to network with other like-minded business leaders, enjoy a buffet lunch and hear from local speakers. 

This month we will hear from Ed O'Malley, President & CEO, Kansas Health Foundation

The Health and Business Combination: How leadership leads to healthier workplaces and more successful businesses. 

Ed O’Malley is a civic entrepreneur, author, and institution builder with a deep Kansas heart and a national vision for leadership and health. He currently serves as President and CEO of the Kansas Health Foundation, which is tackling bold goals—like raising Kansas’ standing in America’s Health Rankings—and launching initiatives that connect health with civic life and economic opportunity.

Before joining the Kansas Health Foundation, Ed was the founding president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center, which he grew into a globally recognized hub for leadership development. During his tenure, he helped tens of thousands of Kansans—from all walks of life—embrace the idea that leadership is an activity, not a position, and that anyone can lead.

He’s the author of five books on leadership, including Leading Health: How You and 30,000 Kansans Help Communities Thrive, set for release in September 2025.

Ed’s early career was in politics where he served in the Kansas House of Representatives and as an aide to Kansas Governor Bill Graves. His policy acumen, paired with a storyteller’s heart, help shape how Kansans think about collaboration and the common good.

Ed loves exploring his family roots. As a proud Irish American, he is working on a creative writing project inspired by his great-grandfather’s emigration from Ireland. (Although Ed hasn’t had the guts to share the draft yet!) He’s also deepening a family legacy through volunteering with Unbound, an organization founded by his grandmother and great-uncles.

Once a marathoner and ultra-marathoner, Ed now opts for lots of hot yoga and vigorous walking. His knees and back thank him.

Whether writing, leading, coaching, or quietly reshaping systems, he tries to bring a mix of strategic clarity, civic love, and soulful hustle to everything he touches.