Speakers

Lori Curtis Luther is Overland Park’s City Manager.

She was appointed by the Overland Park City Council on Monday, June 6, 2022. She is the sixth city manager of Overland Park.

 

Prior to working in Overland Park, Luther served as the city manager for the City of Beloit, Wisconsin.

Her city administration work has focused on budgeting and financial management, modern organizational leadership, strategic planning and economic development to support neighborhood revitalization and redevelopment.

Prior to serving as Beloit’s city manager, Luther was the county administrator for Peoria County, Illinois, city administrator for Waukesha, Wisconsin and city administrator for Reedsburg, Wisconsin.

Luther served as Overland Park’s assistant city manager from 2001 to 2005. She was involved in the transition of the private Overland Park Fire Department, Inc., to a public service department of the City; creation of the City’s emergency operations center; state and federal legislative agendas; development of the Capital Improvements Program and City budgets; and the transfer of ownership of the former Tomahawk Ridge Elementary School building from the Blue Valley School District to the City, paving the way for the facility to become Tomahawk Ridge Community Center.

Prior to serving as Overland Park’s assistant city manager, Luther served in the Johnson County Government, the City of Harrisonville, Missouri, and City of Kansas City. She holds a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Kansas, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Baker University, and is a graduate of Olathe North High School.

Luther is married to her husband, Chris, a high school science teacher, and they have four children and two dogs.

Bridgette Jobe, Kansas Tourism Director

 

Bridgette Jobe officially began her role as the Director of Kansas Tourism in July 2019.  Before moving into her role at the State of Kansas, Bridgette served as the Executive Director with the Kansas City Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau. It was in her twenty-one years at the KCK CVB, Bridgette found her love for Tourism Management and for travel in Kansas. 

While at the Kansas City Kansas Convention & Visitors Bureau, Bridgette was actively involved in many state and regional tourism organizations.  She is a past president of the Travel Industry Association of Kansas.  She served as chairman of the Governor’s Council on Travel and Tourism.   In 2019, Bridgette was presented the Hospitality Leadership Award by the Kansas City Area Hotel and Lodging Association. 

As the Director of Kansas Tourism, Bridgette leads a dedicated staff of tourism professionals whose mission is to inspire travel to and throughout Kansas. 

Bridgette resides in Kansas City KS where she raised her three sons and is a very proud grandma of eight grandchildren who all call Kansas home. 

I'm originally from Liberal, Kansas. I attended the University of Kansas and KU School of Law and was a trial attorney for 15 years. Since 2014, I've worked in the non-profit and education sectors. Sports have played a very meaningful role in my life, first as a student-athlete and now as a sports official and administrator. I've been a baseball umpire for 30 years and currently officiate three high school varsity sports (football, basketball, baseball). I started as the umpire supervisor at 3&2 Baseball of Johnson County in March of 2023. In that capacity, I supervise a staff of about 370 umpires who work about 11,000 games every year on our 27 fields.