Jennifer Szambecki says she's learned to say no when it comes to making commitments but still confesses to being a "compulsive joiner." 

She's been in the Downtown Rotary Club for eight years, serves on the board of Salvation Army, has a seat on the Kansas State Board of Nursing, is a sustaining member and volunteer with KMUW and is active in Pathway Church.  

"We are very involved in our church, as one of six couples in a small group that's been together for four years. We meet weekly, have kids the same age. When we are out having fun and socializing, it's usually with those people," said Szambecki, who is married to Brant Benninga, a social studies teacher at Maize High, and has a 9-year-old stepdaughter, Emily.  

For three years she was director of business development for the Kansas Turnpike Authority, involved in projects that include a mobile account app (she loves technology), an agreement with Oklahoma turnpikes that allows KTAGs to work on those roads, and makeovers of service areas such as Matfield Green (learning plenty about parking and restroom layouts). Recently, she joined the Kansas Office of Information Technology Services, where she's tasked with helping reimagine how the state delivers tools and services to citizens via web and mobile technologies.  

Needless to say, she never has a problem staying busy. Still, she couldn't say no when asked to join 4Wichita, which advocates for and raises funds to support the mission of the KU School of Medicine-Wichita.  

"I am such a passionate advocate for Wichita in general, and one of the unsung heroes of the growth and development of our community is our medical school," said Szambecki, who grew up in Wichita, graduated from East High School and Wichita State University, and recently earned an MBA from Friends University. "I relish the opportunity to be a part of telling our story and getting other people excited about this great asset we have here in Wichita."  

Being a bit of a "nerd" about medicine didn't hurt, either. "I minored in biological anthropology," she said. "I have willed my body to KU Med School when I die, because I believe in the value of medical education."  

So far, one of the board's newest members has drawn on her communications background and contacts among state and national officials to help the 4Wichita effort, serving on its government relations committee and helping raise money for a communications study.  

"Like so many of our challenges in Wichita, it is a communication challenge. If more people knew about the med school, they would be more excited about it," Szambecki said.  

"I'm really looking forward to learning all the things the school is doing and how it impacts the community, so I can better tell the story myself," she said.