Congratulations to Erin Stucky, our Chief Operations Officer! Erin was named as one of the Kansas City Business Journal’s 2025 Women of Influence honorees! Erin has worked with KVC Health Systems for over 28 years. She joined KVC as a foster care case manager immediately after earning her bachelor’s in social work, and after continual development and experience at every level, has risen to this senior leadership position. Erin’s support and guidance have empowered other team members to develop and do outstanding work. Erin also played a key role in the significant growth of KVC. This is essential to our organization meeting more of the needs of the communities we serve.

As Chief Operations Officer, Erin works in partnership with the executive team to provide vision and leadership to successfully implement the strategic plan throughout KVC Health Systems.

Bold Move that Paid Off

The 25 KCBJ Women of Influence honorees have the courage to see their visions through, even if that means stepping outside their comfort zone. This year’s honorees shared a moment where they did something bold and how it paid off. When Erin started her career, child welfare was undergoing great change. Kansas had just privatized its foster care system by using nonprofits like KVC to deliver case management services, and she questioned if she would be able to take on all the challenges ahead. Erin was motivated by care for the youth and families she served. She was determined to help create systems that improved outcomes for children and families, even when that meant going against the status quo.

Erin and her KVC colleagues know that children grow best in families and need the personalized attention that comes with living in family homes, not group homes. During her days as a

case manager, Erin worked to place more Kansas children with families in their communities. At the time, a significant percentage of children in foster care were in group facilities rather than in foster homes, which is called congregate care.

She learned from the ground up as both KVC and the state continually raised the bar in service outcomes and delivery. As a leader, this ethos of urgency and innovation still guides Erin. KVC has helped the state of Kansas recruit and train thousands of relatives and foster families. This leads to the vast majority of children in KVC’s care living in the context of a close-knit family. Suzanna Stagemeyer, at KCBJ, shares, “When KVC leaders see something that needs to happen but can’t quite figure out how, they ‘just do it.'”

“There is a level of impatience. We need to move things in a child’s time. Time for a child passes really differently.”- Erin Stucky

Read more about Erin and the other honorees. You can also find Erin on LinkedIn.