Board of Directors
The KUO Board of Directors brings together leaders in education, finance, business, ministry, and community service. But they do more than sit around a board table. They volunteer with our kids, raise funds, open doors, provide oversight, and help shape the future of the UP™ Program. The Board even includes a former UP™ kid who came through the program and now helps lead the organization that once helped lead him.
Lead Pastor at Bridgeway Church
Joel brings a pastor’s heart and steady community presence. As long-time board president, he shifted KUO from handouts to earned opportunities; he and his wife are raising three children.
Rev. Joel Larison - President
Assistant Director of Special Programs, Kokomo Schools
Kelly Barker served as co-chair of the ReachUP™ capital campaign, helping raise $1.4 million toward KUO's permanent home. She has worked alongside Kareen Dunn since he joined the program many years ago, and she and her husband have two college-age sons, one playing football at Indiana University and the other at Taylor University.
Ms. Kelly Barker - Vice President
Smith Financial
Aaron Smith brings a financial professional's discipline to the KUO board as treasurer, and served as co-chair of the ReachUP™ capital campaign that raised $1.4 million toward the building at 813 S. Union Street. He and his wife Britinee have three elementary-age children.
Mr. Aaron Smith- Treasurer
Professor of Nursing Indiana University Kokomo
Tammy serves as board secretary and olunteers in the “What UP Dough” kitchen teaching kids to make noodles and cookies, organized the successful Dueling Pianos fundraiser, and she and her husband Rod have three adult children and five grandchildren.
Dr. Tammy Ledbetter-Secretary
Lead Pastor Shiloh United Methodist Church
Pastor Joe volunteers in MiniUP™, leads a small group on Huddle nights, and set the UP™ Creed to music, recording a rap version the kids now learn by heart while they wait for Huddle to start. Lead pastor at Shiloh United Methodist Church, he and his wife Sharon have two adult children, and he rarely turns down a game of ping pong.
Rev. Joseph Johnson -Board Member
Developmental Preschool Teacher Kokomo Schools
Lydia Standish has volunteered with MiniUP™ since the program began eight years ago, working with the youngest children, the mini minis.
She has served on the board for several years, and she and her husband Craig have two adult daughters.
Ms. Lydia Standish -Board Member
UP™ Alumnus, Student
Terrion Wilson walked into the UP™ Program at eleven and came all the way through it. Now twenty-one, he studies accounting at Ivy Tech, serves as children's pastor assistant at Shiloh United Methodist Church, works at a local restaurant, and is the first UP™ alumnus to serve on the KUO Board of Directors.
Mr. Terrion Wilson - Board Member