By KARI BLURTON
Hays Post

As Kelley Parker begins her first day Monday as the person who will head efforts to take the message of Hays-based Jana’s Campaign to end relationship violence nationwide, she says she is excited to help take the organization to the “next level.”

In an recent announcement, Jana’ Campaign co-founders Curt and Christie Brungardt announced Parker, former vice-president of Jana’s Campaign board of directors, accepted a staff position as senior program specialist at a new office based in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Curt and Christie Brungardt, both instructors in Leadership Studies at Fort Hays State University, founded Jana’s Campaign in 2009 after their 25-year-old daughter, Jana Mackey, was killed in an incident of domestic violence in 2008 in Lawrence.

Mackey, a Hays High School graduate and law school student at the University of Kansas, was an advocate for victims of domestic violence — and a longtime friend of Parker’s.

Parker has both a bachelor’s and master’s in Leadership Studies from FHSU and has been a part of Jana’s Campaign since its inception.

When the Brungardts approached her about the position, Parker was working as major gifts and planning manager with the Cheyenne Mountain Zoo in Colorado Springs.

Although she said she loved her job, giving it up to join Jana’s Campaign at “an operational level” was not a hard decision.

This work lives squarely in my heart, and I am excited to make a difference.
Kelley Parker

“There was no way I could say no. I loved (Jana) a lot and her death was a call to arms in terms that this is something that has to change,”  Parker said. “This work lives squarely in my heart, and I am excited to make a difference.”

As the Brungardts have been speaking around the country, Parker said “more and more people” have been getting interested in the message of prevention and awareness. Her new position will include “building capacity, getting infrastructure in place and making sure our organization is ready to take to the next level.”

Parker said the growth of Jana’s Campaign is not only due of the work of the Brungardts and Jana’s Campaign’s staff and volunteers, but to the community of Hays, as well.

“I feel like Hays and Kansas in general have been so good to Jana’s Campaign. We started as a teeny tiny little group of passionate people, and we have been able to grow in such a way that it is just inspiring, and it because of the local folks that have supported us,” she said.

More information on Jana’s Campaign can be found on their website HERE or visit the Jana’s Campaign Facebook page HERE.