Featured Speakers

The conference’s featured speakers are Barclay Martin, music director/composer for the film Zamboanga: Poverty/War/Music; Elizabeth Alex, lead anchor at KSHB-TV; and Jolie Justus, Missouri State Senator, 10th District. Below are bios for our featured speakers.

Barclay Martin, Musician and Philanthropist

Kansas City-based singer/songwriter Barclay Martin has had a successful recording career since 2000. Martin’s current project, the Barclay Martin Ensemble, produced a music video and released its first album, Dawn, in 2008, with a second album scheduled to be released in 2010.

Martin has also invested his talent and passion in support of the Christian Foundation for Children and Aging. He participated in a trip to CFCA’s projects in Cuernavaca, Mexico, in November 2006. From 2007-2009, Martin traveled to the Phillipines several times to work with Filipino musicians and children. There, he served as musical director for a one-day cultural festival of music and dance entitled “The Gift.” He arranged for musicians and teachers from across the Phillipines to introduce Filipino youth from the CFCA projects to the traditional songs and instruments of their culture. Martin’s journey is the framework for the film Zamboanga: Poverty/War/Music, which will be released in the fall of 2010.

Elizabeth Alex, KSHB-TV

Elizabeth Alex is a native of the Kansas City area, growing up in Overland Park and graduating from Shawnee Mission West. Alex attended the University of Arkansas and worked in Fayetteville and Fort Smith, Arkansas; the Quad Cities and West Palm Beach, Florida before settling back in her hometown.

Alex has earned many journalism awards during the course of her career. They include awards for all around reporting, feature, investigative and four regional Emmys. Alex spends much of her time involved with humanitarian causes around the world. She is on the board of directors for Medical Missions Foundation-a group that delivers free medical care to developing countries. Smile Again USA-an organization that helps provide reconstructive surgery to Pakistani women attacked with battery acid, and she personally sponsors and advocates for the health of a little girl from The Gaza Strip with serious medical needs.

Jolie Justus, Missouri State Senator, 10th District

Jolie Justus was elected to the Missouri State Senate in 2006. Since entering the Senate, she has been a leading advocate for children, reproductive rights and crime victims. Senator Justus holds a Bachelor of Science in Communications from Southwest Missouri State University and a juris doctorate, with distinction, from the University of Missouri – Kansas City.