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Kathy Flanders Bachman

Kathy Flanders Bachman has long been on the forefront of organizations seeking to alleviate injustice and suffering.  In 1987, however, Kathy began a new facet of her life when she became a local group member for Amnesty International USA.  Quickly becoming committed to and immersed in the work of that organization, she co-founded the Utica, New York, group in 1988.  Soon after, she completed a training of trainers and proceeded to conduct numerous workshops at the local, state, and national level on human rights issues.

For four years Kathy served as the national co-group coordinator for North Korea, South Korea, Taiwan, and Japan.  During that time she led a delegation to Washington, D.C., to the Japanese embassy to present Amnesty's concerns to the Japanese ambassador.  She also represented Amnesty at a U.S. State Department briefing.  In the summer of 1995, Kathy was asked to lead Amnesty's U.S. research on Indonesia, the Philippines, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, and numerous Pacific islands.  In this role she coordinated the work of four co-group members with Amnesty's London, New York, and Washington, D.C., offices.

Kathy has served as the U.S. representative for Amnesty International events held in Boston, Sweden, and the Netherlands. She has written numerous reports for Amnesty including a response to a three-year strategic plan by the Asia research department, and an Amnesty publication, Human Rights and U.S. Security Assistance: An Amnesty International USA Report on Human Rights Violations in Countries Receiving U.S. Security Aid.

In the summer of 1996, Kathy wrote a report that highlighted human rights abuses in Indonesia.  This report was ultimately sent to more than 175 college and high school groups nationwide.  More recently she was asked to coordinate Oregon's efforts to persuade U.S.  Senator Gordon Smith to be an advocate to the U.N. Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.  For the past two years, Kathy has been a member of the five-person national co-group liaison to the Women's Steering Committee.

In addition to a full-time job, Kathy spends an average of 15-25 hours a week volunteering for Amnesty International.  Despite her heavy time involvement with Amnesty, Kathy managed to complete a master's degree in human rights theory from the State University of New York in 1992.  She used this educational opportunity to design and carry out two major research projects that have furthered understanding about specific Human Rights issues.  Kathy was elected to the Board of Amnesty Internationall in 1998.

Robert Reeds

High Priest Robert Reeds began his career as an hourly worker in a retail business and rose to become one of the most influential persons in the leadership of good causes in the Kansas City metropolitan area.

With a vision derived from his faith and deep commitment to the church and its mission of building the "City beautiful," Bob focused on the most important building blocks of that city: the people themselves.  Always championing the disadvantaged, Bob became active in the labor union movement and moved up rapidly in its ranks until he became the executive secretary of 132 unions for the Greater Kansas City Labor Council.

While representing the common worker, he was equally successful in gaining the respect of leaders in the business, industrial, and religious communities.   Currently serving as manager for city and county affairs for Kansas City Power and Light, Bob has been the catalyst for countless improvement projects throughout the area.   He has cultivated the gift of drawing together strong leaders who are able to gain consensus and mobilize resources and action for important community issues.  His sincere and genuine concern for the human rights of all people has enabled him to build bridges in the Hispanic, Catholic, Jewish, and black communities in the Kansas City metropolitan area.  In 1997, he was instrumental in bringing help and hope to one of the poorest, most crime-ridden neighborhoods in Kansas City.

He is known for initiating new projects wherever needs are identified.  Out of his own family's personal tragedy, Bob introduced Compassionate Friends, a support group for families who have lost a child, to the Kansas City area.   This initial beginning has now grown to encompass eleven Compassionate Friends chapters in the area.  Concerned for the homeless, he was also instrumental in bringing Habitat for Humanity to Independence with the assistance of an action-oriented class at the RLDS Stone Church.

Although a resident of Independence, for the past four years Bob has chaired the Kansas City Mayor's Prayer Breakfast, which includes the mayors and leaders of surrounding communities.  In 1995 he was honored by the Independence Chamber of Commerce as the Chamber's "Citizen of the Year" for his outstanding service and dedication to the community.  He currently serves on or chairs seventeen community service boards.