Cabinet Members & Staff
Cabinet Members
Five Voting Members Appointed by the Governor
Cabinet Chair, Don Hineman, MBA
Farmer/Rancher, Former Kansas State Representative and House Majority Leader
Dr. LeEtta Felter
Business owner and local school board member
Terri Rice
Senior Marketing Manager, Cox Business
Dr. Tara Wallace
Licensed clinician and trauma therapist, adjunct professor and executive director of Lighthouse TCO Foundation
DiAnne Owen Graham
President, Graham Advisors, LLC
Don Hineman is a western Kansas farmer/rancher who works in partnership with his son Andy. He has served on numerous livestock boards and remains active in both livestock and grain industry organizations. A twelve-year veteran of the Kansas House of Representatives, he served a two-year term as House Majority Leader. His commitment to his local community has included serving on Dighton City Council, Lane County Commission, and Lane County Community Foundation.
Don holds a bachelor’s degree in business from the University of Kansas and master’s degrees in business administration and natural resource management from the University of Michigan. His passion for early childhood education and intervention was ignited by his wife Betsy’s forty-year career in early childhood. Don and Betsy reside in Dighton and have two grown children and five grandchildren.
Dr. LeEtta Felter is a dedicated public servant, child advocate, writer, artist, photographer, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and businesswoman from Olathe, Kansas. She has served on the Kansas Children’s Cabinet under 3 different governors. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, a Master of Business Administration, and a Doctor of Education in Administration and Leadership. LeEtta is the Vice President of AAG Investments, and serves as a Councilwoman for the City of Olathe. LeEtta served for 12 years on the Olathe Public Schools Board of Education (2011-2023). She’s the mom of four, and happily married to her husband of 35 years.
Terri Rice is Senior Marketing Manager for Cox Business and holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management, Master of Business Administration and is a Doctor of Business Administration Candidate—May 2025. She serves on various committees and boards, and is heavily involved in nonprofit work, giving back to the community whenever possible. Terri and her husband live in Wichita, Kansas and are empty nesters, with three adult children.
Dr. Tara D. Wallace is a licensed clinical social worker and child trauma therapist in private practice. She volunteers on numerous community boards whose missions support the wellbeing of children and families in Kansas. Tara is also the founder of a nonprofit, Lighthouse Therapeutic Community Outreach Foundation, which promotes (W)Holistic Wellness in low-income and low-access communities. As an adjunct professor, best-selling author, and public speaker, Tara promotes awareness of issues related to child welfare and foster care, generational trauma, parental mental health, and social justice. Tara lives in Topeka, KS with her husband, son, and their four dogs.
DiAnne Owen Graham is president of Graham Advisors, LLC, a nationally recognized consulting firm that specializes in political and issue advocacy fundraising for diverse clientele. She also serves as co-founder and partner at Strategic Advisors, LLC, a comprehensive public affairs firm. She served as a political appointee in President George W. Bush’s Administration and held various roles with the U.S. Department of State. DiAnne graduated from The University of Mississippi and lives in Wichita, Kansas, with her husband, Chris, and their sons, Owen and Parker, who are students in Andover Public Schools. She was selected as one of the Wichita Business Journal’s 40 Under 40 Awardees in 2017.
Four Voting Members appointed by Legislative Leadership
Renee Erickson
Senator and Senate President appointee
Kristey Williams
Representative and Speaker of the House
appointee
Monica Murnan
House Minority Leader appointee
John Wilson
Senate Minority Leader appointee
Senator Renee Erickson represents District 30 in the Kansas Senate. Her career experience includes working as a teacher, a data and assessment coordinator, a middle school principal, a financial planner, and the director of the USD 259 instructional technology center. She holds undergraduate degrees in both business and education with a master’s degree in public school administration from Baker University, and a master’s degree in family life education and consultation from Kansas State University.
Representative Kristey Williams has served in the Kansas House since 2015. Her professional experiences include teaching secondary science, serving as mayor of Augusta, spearheading and fundraising for three major community projects, and serving as the House K-12 Education Budget Chair. She holds a bachelor’s degree in biology and a master’s in curriculum and instruction from the University of Kansas.
Monica Murnan is a licensed teacher and administrator who founded the Family Resource Center in Pittsburg, Kansas. She currently serves as director of community supports at Greenbush and has served on many nonprofit boards. She also served two terms in the Kansas Legislature representing House District 3 and four years on the Pittsburg City Commission with one year as Mayor. Monica and her husband, Rob, have three daughters and two grandchildren.
John Wilson is the president and CEO of Kansas Action for Children (KAC), a nonpartisan advocacy organization working to make Kansas a place where every child has the opportunity to grow up healthy and thrive. Prior to joining KAC, John served five years in the Kansas House of Representatives. John spent eleven years with the Alliance for a Healthier Generation—a partnership between the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation. During that time he coordinated strategic partnerships with corporations and celebrities, codeveloped a national strategy for increasing physical activity and healthy eating in out-of-school time sites, and developed their youth engagement strategy. John also serves on the board of the Partnership for America’s Children. He is a 2006 graduate of the University of Kansas, where he studied visual communication.
Ex-Officio Members
Janet Stanek
Secretary, Kansas Department of Health & Environment (Derik Flerlage & Amy Dean Campmire, Designees)
Blake Flanders, Ph.D.
President & CEO, Kansas Board of Regents (Brandi Wells, Designee)
Melissa Standridge, J.D.
Kansas Supreme Court Justice (Dena Russell-Marino, Designee)
Laura Howard, J.D.
Secretary, Department for Children and Families (Tanya Keys, Designee)
Randy Watson, Ed.D.
Commissioner of Education (Amanda Petersen, Designee)
Matthew Billinger
Juvenile Justice Oversight Committee Coordinator, Kansas Department of Corrections
Cabinet Staff
Melissa Rooker
Executive Director
Dyogga Adegbore
Program Consultant II
Megan Brohaugh
Administrative Specialist
Christie Wyckoff
Early Childhood Coordinator
Dyogga Adegbore joined the Kansas Children’s Cabinet in 2004 and has worked in state government 38 years. Dyogga handles Accounts Payables, prepares federal financial reports, board minutes, sets up contracts and grants, and makes travel arrangements. She worked with the CEOs of the Kansas Board of Regents, Kansas State Fire Marshal, and Kansas State Bank Commissioner offices. Dyogga is a graduate of Washburn University of Topeka and Platt College. She is married with one son who is in graduate school.
Melissa Rooker was named Executive Director of the Kansas Children’s Cabinet and Trust Fund in February of 2019. Before joining the Cabinet, Melissa served three terms in the Kansas House of Representatives, representing House District 25 between 2012 and 2018. Her work in the legislature focused on children’s issues and public education. Melissa recognized that high quality early childhood interventions led to student success and made funding those programs her priority. She played a lead role in drafting a new school finance formula for K-12 public education that includes an expansion of the preschool at-risk program and full funding for all-day kindergarten.
Prior to running for office, Melissa spent 15 years as a development executive at Clint Eastwood’s Malpaso Productions. She retired in 2001 to raise her kids. Over the years, Melissa served in a variety of leadership positions with local, regional and state PTA in Kansas, and as a legislator served on the Johnson County Education Research Triangle Authority Board, Shawnee Indian Mission Advisory Board and the Kansas Forestry Service Advisory Council.
In 1986, Melissa graduated from the University of Kansas with a BFA in Art History. She and her husband Tom make their home in Fairway. They have two adult children, and one grandson.
Megan Brohaugh joined the Kansas Children’s Cabinet in January 2022. Prior to joining the Cabinet, Megan worked with the Kansas Attorney General’s office for six years working with concealed carry licensing, private detective licensing, and bail enforcement licensing. Megan has worked with the state government for over eight years. She attended Washburn University to study business law. When she isn’t running to a practice or tournament, she enjoys spending time outside with her two boys.
Christie Wyckoff joined the Kansas Children’s Cabinet in May 2023. She graduated from Kansas State University in 2008 with a bachelor’s in management and marketing. Through college, and 10 years after, Christie worked in the custom apparel industry. Just prior to coming to the Cabinet, she worked in School Finance at the Kansas State Department of Education for almost five years. Her family, friends, and their little ones are Christie’s motivation for her professional and community work.