Jan Marcason was born and raised in Kansas City. She received an MBA from the University of Missouri-Kansas City in 1999, completed the Denali Initiative for Social Entrepreneurism Fellowship in 2002 and has a degree in Education from Kansas University. Jan and her husband, Dick Purucker, are actively involved in their Southmoreland neighborhood. She has three grown children and one granddaughter.
Prior to her election to the KCMO City Council in 2007, Jan served as the executive director of Mid America Assistance Coalition for 16 years. At MAAC she managed an annual budget of more than a million dollars and helped direct millions more to local social service organizations service low-income and homeless families.
Previously, Jan's public service extended to Washington, D.C., where she worked for former Vice President Walter Mondale, among others. As a leader of the Junior League, Jan helped start the Jazzoo fundraiser that has brought millions of dollars to help the Kansas City Zoo. Jan is a member of Citizens Association, Committee for County Progress, and is past president of the Greater Kansas City Women's Political Caucus.
During her first term on the City Council, Jan oversaw the creation and submission of the City's sewage overflow control plan, which was approved by the Environmental Protection Agency and is now a model for the entire nation. This is the largest infrastructure project in our history, $2.5 billion over the next 25 years. It will be an important environmental, neighborhood revitalization, and economic development benefit for our community. As Vice Chair of the Finance Committee, Jan helped the council reach consensus on stragtegic priorities in order to develop a structurally sound budget during very difficult economic times.
Jan worked with neighborhood leaders and the industry to stop the concentration of pay day loans in certain areas of the community. Protecting our neighborhoods is a high priority of her service.
