Through leadership talks and workshops, Ron assists leaders across the country to accelerate their impact and well-being in career, family and community.
Ron Kitchens is what happens when economic development meets espresso and doesn’t sleep until the community thrives. With more than 30 years of leading transformational growth across Texas, Missouri, and Michigan, Ron currently serves as President and CEO of Forward Wichita Falls, where he’s not just moving the needle, he’s redesigning the whole dashboard.
Ron doesn’t just champion innovation, he builds it from scratch. A serial entrepreneur, he’s founded eight companies, co-founded Consultant Connect, and created North America’s Top 50 Economic Developers, the annual recognition program that shines a spotlight on the nation’s most dynamic change-makers (and gives Ron a great excuse to brag the greatest people in the world, economic developers).
As the founding General Partner of the nation’s largest community venture fund, Ron has helped turn bold ideas into measurable outcomes. Over the past two decades, the organizations he’s led have averaged 19% annual growth, been named by Inc., the Wall Street Journal, and Outside Magazine as one of the best places to work in America and earned a spot on Fast Company’s Fast 50, the only economic development group ever to do so.
A passionate believer in education and civic leadership, Ron is a Trustee Emeritus of Western Michigan University and serves on the Midwestern State University Dillard College of Business Advisory Board. He’s spent his career helping cities punch above their weight by aligning business, civic, and military leaders to create lasting prosperity.
Ron is also a bestselling author whose books, Uniquely You and Community Capitalism, inspire leaders to think big, act boldly, and love their communities fiercely.
Whether he’s in a boardroom, on a stage, or walking a blighted corridor imagining what could be, Ron brings contagious energy, bold vision, and just the right amount of mischief to remind us all: the future belongs to those bold enough to build it and caffeinated enough to keep going.
