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Gwenda Hawk, JD/MBA, Professor and Chair, Legal Studies

Gwenda Hawk received her Juris Doctor degree from Southern Methodist University’s Dedman School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Kansas. She also has earned a Master of Business Administration degree, a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics, and a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistics.

Her formal teaching career began in 2006 at Southeast Missouri State University’s Harrison College of Business, as an Adjunct Professor of Business Law. Ms. Hawk has been teaching at ɫɫ�о�� since 2013, and was honored at the 2015 Lieberman Adjunct Faculty Awards Dinner for completing the ɫɫ�о�� Adjunct Certification Training program. She joined the Paralegal program full time in 2015 and assumed the role of chair of Business Law starting in 2017, now serving as chair of both programs in the Legal Studies department

Ms. Hawk is the co-author of “A Survey of State Copyright Laws,” which was published in Fall 2014 by the Southern Law Journal.

While in law school, Ms. Hawk served as Senior Articles Editor for the Computer Law Review & Technology Journal and president of the Intellectual Property Organization. She interned with the Missouri State Public Defender’s Capital Unit (specifically focused on death penalty appeals cases) and attended the Intellectual Property Summer Institute at the University of New Hampshire School of Law, where she received 40 hours of mediation certification training. During her MBA studies, she attended International Summer School in eastern Germany.

Ms. Hawk worked in contract administration with paralegal responsibilities in the music publishing industry in Nashville, Tennessee. She also worked as a legal intern and paralegal for the Recording Industry Association of America, Inc. in Texas and Washington, D.C. and later as a paralegal specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce before joining the U.S. Copyright Office. Ms. Hawk earned a Fellowship with the Leadership Development Program at the United States Library of Congress in 2003. Shortly after, she began her own consulting firm focused on intellectual property. Using her legal and business background, Ms. Hawk has worked in the federal government, health care, library science, and the entertainment industry to develop a diverse experience from which she draws in relating class materials to the real world. She has also tutored students in preparation for college and graduate school entrance exams, including the LSAT.

In the local community, Ms. Hawk has served as an Election Judge and was selected to the Missouri Citizens’ Commission on Compensation for Elected Officials by the Secretary of State. She leads the children’s music program at her church and has served on the board of directors for Spire Chamber Ensemble. Ms. Hawk has also volunteered at the University of Kansas Medical Center, as a speech and debate judge in the Liberty Public School District, and for the Children’s Center for the Visually Impaired. She and her family are currently learning American Sign Language together.

Gwenda Hawk, JD/MBA, Professor and Chair, Legal Studies

Phone: 913-469-3184
Email: ghawk@jccc.edu

Gwenda Hawk's Bio

Linda Gollub, JD, Associate Professor, Legal Studies

Linda J. Gollub earned her Juris Doctorate degree from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and is licensed to practice law in Missouri and Kansas. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from the University of Missouri-Columbia. Additionally, she earned a Certification for Leverage Diversity & Inclusion for Organizational Excellence from Stanford University, Graduate School of Business in 2021. Ms. Gollub is a certified mediator in Missouri.

She began teaching as an adjunct in higher education in 2012 and is on staff as an adjunct for UMKC and the University of Saint Mary-Overland Park (MBA program), teaching business law and conflict resolution. Ms. Gollub also conducts monthly interactive educational courses in civics and history at independent senior living facilities.

Her legal career has been a unique combination of experience in the judicial system, federal government, and private practice. She began as the law clerk for the Chief Bankruptcy Judge in the Western District of Missouri and bankruptcy Estate Administrator. Later in her career she was counsel for a Missouri bankruptcy trustee, which is under the oversight of the Department of Justice. Presently she is the managing partner of a law firm specializing in estate planning and small business matters.

During her undergraduate degree, she was a scholarship student-athlete in track, the Vice-President of the College of Arts and Science and a student member of the Intercollegiate Athletic Committee.

Ms. Gollub has been a board member of Safehome, a domestic violence agency, Widowed Persons Service and Grief Support Network. Additionally, she was on the educational committee of the Community Violence Action Council (COMVAC) of Johnson County and was the regional facilitator for Athlete’s As Leader and Coaching Boys into Men, programs administered by Futures Without Violence.

Assistant Professor Gollub teaches in Business Law and the Paralegal Program.

Linda Gollub, JD, Associate Professor, Legal Studies

Phone: 913-469-3146
Email: lgollub@jccc.edu

Linda Gollub's Bio

Madeline Rogers, JD/MBA, Assistant Professor, Legal Studies

Phone: 913-308-4781
Email: mroger14@jccc.edu

Jessie Simpson, JD, Associate Professor, Legal Studies

Jessie Simpson earned her Juris Doctorate at The George Washington University School of Law in Washington D.C. in 2005. She also studied International Human Rights Law at the University of Oxford in the U.K. For her undergraduate degree, she studied at the University of Central Missouri and the Maastricht Center for Transatlantic Studies, the Netherlands, receiving a dual B.S. in Criminal Justice and Photography and a dual B.A. in Political Science and Spanish with a minor in International Studies. Ms. Simpson is licensed to practice in Missouri, and she is an active member of the Missouri Bar and the Clay County Bar Association.

During law school, she taught U.S. Citizenship classes in Washington D.C. and Civil Procedure and Civil Law classes at a college in Virginia. She completed an Equal Justice Fellowship in conjunction with Court Appointed Special Advocates of Washington D.C., on whose behalf she appeared at the D.C. Superior Court and U.S. Congressional Appropriations meetings. After completing law school, she worked in a medium size law firm and also in the energy and aviation fields before opening up her own general practice. Ms. Simpson also has experience in the public sector through her work with the U.S. Department of Justice and a police crime laboratory.

While Ms. Simpson has taught since 2003, she began teaching as an adjunct for Johnson County Community College in 2016 before joining the full-time faculty at ɫɫ�о�� in 2019. She currently teaches several classes in the Legal Studies department, including Advanced Legal Technology, Immigration Law, Legal Research, and Business Law.

Jessie Simpson, JD, Associate Professor, Legal Studies

Phone: 913-799-3342
Email: jsimps45@jccc.edu

Jessie Simpson's Bio

Monica Bennett, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Phone: 913-469-2538
Email: mbenne47@jccc.edu

Shari Blank, Adjunct Professor

Phone: 913-732-4704
Email: sblank1@jccc.edu

Sophia Bond, Adjunct Associate Professor

Sophia Bond is a Kansas City, Kansas native and has spent most of her life continuously falling in love with the Kansas City metro. Sophia attended Saint Louis University where she received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science and African American Studies. Sophia attended law school at the University of Missouri- Kansas City School of Law, and took several courses focused on litigation and family law. Currently, Sophia is the FOIA and General Law Branch Chief with a federal agency, where she specializes in civil rights, the Freedom of Information Act, contracts, grants, ethics, and employment. Additionally, Sophia is a former Attorney with the U.S. Department of Education, Office of Civil Rights and former Supervising Attorney for the Juvenile Officer at the Jackson County, Missouri Family Court. Sophia has also practiced social security law, disability law, and criminal defense. Further, Sophia is a Guardian Ad Litem for abused and neglected children in Jackson County, Missouri, and a Missouri Rule 17 mediator. In Sophia's free time she enjoys traveling, spending time with her family, and reading crime dramas.

Sophia Bond, Adjunct Associate Professor

Phone: 913-513-7327
Email: sbond16@jccc.edu

Sophia Bond's bio

Matt Chiasson, Adjunct Associate Professor

Phone: 913-399-5971
Email: mchiass2@jccc.edu

Cindy Harmison, Adjunct Associate Professor

Cindy Harmison began teaching in the Paralegal program at ɫɫ�о�� in 2019. She earned her juris doctorate degree from the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where she was a member of the Law Review and served as the Administrative Editor of the Law Review during her last year of law school. She is licensed to practice in both Kansas and Missouri. Prior to law school, Cindy graduated from the University of Kansas with both her Bachelor of Science in Journalism and her Bachelor of Arts in Political Science. She also interned for the Kansas Senate Vice President.

Cindy began her practice with a medium-sized insurance defense firm in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. She then moved to the public sector where she spent over 30 years representing a local Kansas municipality, serving 25 years as the City Attorney before retiring in 2020. Her practice included a variety of disciplines, including but not limited to contracts, planning and zoning, civil litigation, criminal law, constitutional law, and finance. Cindy was designated a Local Government Fellow by the International Municipal Lawyers Association from 2010-2020. She also served 17 years on the Board of Directors for the City Attorneys Association of Kansas and is a past president of the Association.

Cindy is a 2001 graduate of Leadership Kansas. She also served 7 years on the Johnson County Ethics and Grievance Committee.

Cindy Harmison, Adjunct Associate Professor

Phone: 913-399-6104
Email: charmiso@jccc.edu

Cindy Harmison's Bio

Holly Howe, Adjunct Professor

Phone: 913-398-7291
Email: hhowe6@jccc.edu

Lydia McEvoy, Adjunct Professor

Phone: 913-398-7295
Email: lmcevoy1@jccc.edu

Kristie Orme, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Kristie Remster Orme earned her Juris Doctor degree, with honors, from the University of Kansas School of Law and is licensed to practice law in Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. She also earned Bachelor of Arts degrees, cum laude, in History and Political Science from Buena Vista University in Storm Lake, Iowa.

Ms. Orme’s legal career has included time in private practice and in public service. She spent 26 years at one of the top Kansas City law firms, including serving as the President and CEO of the firm for six years. While in private practice, she focused primarily on complex civil and commercial litigation, including representing banks and financial service providers. However, for 15 years, she also served as outside counsel to the State of Iowa representing the State in a variety of complex litigation matters, including the National NPM Adjustment Arbitration pursuant to the historic 1998 Master Settlement Agreement between the States and the major tobacco companies. Ms. Orme also spent one year working in the Iowa Attorney General's Office in the consumer protection and tobacco divisions, one year working as an intern in the Johnson County District Attorney's Office and two years working for a state district court judge in Johnson County, Kansas. Prior to attending law school, Kristie worked for the Central Iowa Regional Housing Authority, which provided assistance to those in need of low-income housing assistance.

During law school, Ms. Orme was inducted into the Order of the Coif, received several awards for excellence in appellate advocacy, served as a teaching assistant for trial advocacy, was a member of two moot court teams advancing to two national moot court competitions, served as a member of the moot court council which mentored 2L students by assisting with their writing and presentation skills, and was awarded the top student CALI award in two classes.

Ms. Orme is very active in the Kansas City community. She currently serves on the Board of Sheffield Place, a shelter which assists families making the journey from homelessness to self-sufficiency, and volunteers with a wide variety of other worthy organizations and causes in the Kansas City area. Her contributions to the Kansas City business and legal community have been recognized by the Kansas City Business Journal, Ingram’s and Super Lawyers Magazine. She was inducted into the Kansas City Business Journal’s Class of 2022 “Women of Influence” (f/k/a “Women Who Mean Business”) and was also inducted into Ingram’s Class of 2019 “Top Women Executives – Kansas City.” She was named in Missouri and Kansas Super Lawyers for Business Litigation for 2014-2022.

Ms. Orme teaches in the Paralegal Program.

Kristie Orme, Adjunct Assistant Professor

Phone: 913-469-2434
Email: korme@jccc.edu

Kristie Orme's Bio

Elisa Waldman, Adjunct Professor

Phone: 913-469-4435
Email: ewaldman@jccc.edu

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Sonya S., 2025 graduate

“I am so proud to have completed the program. This accomplishment is not possible without the exceptional support and education I received from you and all of the faculty in the program.”

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