Dr. Maria Kunstadter, Founder and CEO
 Buying Influence, Inc. exists because of the passion and vision of its founder, Dr. Maria Kunstadter. Maria is a dentist and entrepreneur in Kansas City, MO, who owns a thriving practice called The Smile Salon. "The more I read about and researched the pay gap, the more incensed I became," Maria remembers. She continues: "The pay equity law has been in place since 1963, and forty years later companies are still not in compliance. Basically companies are settling lawsuits rather than change their business practices. I just want companies to follow the law and provide pay equity to their employees." So, believing in her idea and acting on faith, Maria launched Buying Influence, Inc. in 2005. Clearly, one person CAN make a difference!
Maria says that she surrounded herself with seasoned, knowledgeable individuals to bring the organization out of the ground and make it a reality. "All of the people who have given me input and worked so diligently on this have my gratitude. I know they, too, care deeply about gender and diversity issues."
Background Overview
Dr. Maria Kunstadter is the founder and CEO of Buying Influence Inc. Maria lives and works in Kansas City, Missouri. Dr. Kunstadter holds a B.A. in Fine Arts from Drury College and a D.D.S. from the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
She has been an Associate Professor at the University of Missouri and the University of Health Sciences. Dr. Kunstadter co-established the Dental Outreach Program with the University of Missouri-Kansas City to take area dentists and dental students to South and Central America to provide dental care to orphans and impoverished people. Dr. Kunstadter holds several patents on dental devices.
Dr. Kunstadter is an award winning children's author, her first book, Working Women from A-Z, is a book she was compelled to write to increase a young child's view of female role models. Maria and her husband and dental partner, Mike Sigler, D.D. S. have four children; two daughters and two sons.
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Linda Eakes, President
Key to the success of the organization is Linda Eakes, Executive Director of Buying Influence, Inc. "Taking the conceptual view, the very idea that power is in the hands of people is a very old, very democratic concept. The idea that the power we wield is our consumer dollars. That's a new concept to many people," Linda says. She is convinced that most people want to do the right thing, and giving them pertinent information will increase their ability to make informed choices.
Linda explains about the corporate evaluation service that Buying Influence brings: "This is an opportunity to actually evaluate corporate business practices. For buying stock, people evaluate revenue performance. But until now, the information about the corporate business practices simply wasn?t available in any easy way. Now, it is."
Background Overview
Linda Eakes, a native Texan who now resides in Kansas City, MO, brings many years of corporate and non-profit management experience to assist in the development and management of Buying Influence Inc. Linda has over 25 years of management experience in the highly competitive telecommunications field. Her focus was on marketing and customer service. In 2000, she worked with the U.S. Small Business Administration a local non-profit organization to start the Western Missouri Women's Business Center, where she was the Director until 2004. Linda has served on several non-profit boards, and was recently appointed to serve on the Fairness in City Contracts Board for the city of Kansas City, Missouri. |
