Gay Nonprofit Executive Named 2004 Entrepreneur of the Year

Written by Doug Riley

Tuesday, 16 November 2004


Kansas City, MO – The Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration at the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the Council for Entrepreneurship have selected Doug Riley, Executive Director of the Kansas City Anti-Violence Project, as the Student Entrepreneur of the Year for 2004. He is currently a student in the Cookingham Institute for Public Affairs in the Henry W. Bloch School of Business and Public Administration pursuing a masters degree in public administration with an emphasis in nonprofit management and will graduate in December 2004. Additionally, Mark Goldston, founder of United Online (parent company of Netzero and Juno internet services), and Hugh Zimmer, founder of the Zimmer Companies, have been selected as the International and Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year respectively. Fred and Shirley Pryor have been selected to receive the John and Marion Kreamer Award for Entrepreneurship in Volunteer Community Service.

Riley will be honored along with the other honorees at a reception and dinner held at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center on Tuesday, November 16, 2004 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., and he will receive a $2,000 award. Riley was chosen as a winner based on his founding of KCAVP in 2002 and the perseverance to set up a nonprofit to fill a gap in services for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and bias crimes including procurement of funding and collaboration with other agencies.

“I am honored to receive this award, especially considering the other people being recognized for their work,” said Riley. “In this environment of anti-LGBT rhetoric, it’s great that UMKC and the Council for Entrepreneurship would choose me and KCAVP to receive this award.” Jen Kiper, board president of KCAVP said “The board and staff of KCAVP is very proud of Doug and we look forward to continued success in the future.”



The Kansas City Anti-Violence Project (KCAVP) is a Missouri nonprofit corporation committed to providing services, advocacy and education for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender victims of domestic violence, sexual assault, and bias crimes within the five counties that encompass the metropolitan Kansas City area. For more information about KCAVP, visit http://www.kcavp.org/.