Patience Fairbrother,
Senior Vice President, Talent Attraction,
Development Counsellors International

As Senior Vice President, Talent Attraction, Patience oversees DCI’s Talent Attraction practice area, which helps cities, states, regions and countries to attract and retain a talented workforce through custom research and targeted marketing campaigns. Prior to that, she served as DCI’s Vice President, Brand & Digital Strategy, spearheading dozens of economic development, tourism and talent attraction brands and websites designed to drive leads, visitation and relocation.

Patience’s work has been recognized in the Summit Creative Awards, AVA Digital Awards, Horizon Interactive Awards, International Economic Development Council (IEDC) Excellence in Economic Development Awards, and MarCom Awards.

She has been a featured speaker on place marketing research and best practices at conferences including Young Smart & Local, Destinations International, ECONOMIX, and the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW) Annual Conference, and in communities from Buffalo to Birmingham. Patience also serves as co-chair of DCI’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DE&I) initiative.

This native of the Berkshires grew up learning to appreciate the benefits of small town life. When she chose to attend Kenyon College in rural Ohio, she learned to love even-smaller-town life, only to fall in love with global cities like Paris, Rome and Amsterdam during her travels abroad. Luckily for Patience, a career in representing places—from small cities, to large states, to entire countries—means she never has to choose which she prefers.

Since moving to New York, Patience has eaten her way across a variety of neighborhoods throughout Brooklyn and Manhattan. When she’s not indulging her taste buds, you’ll find her working on her headstand at her favorite yoga studio.

Patience is a graduate of Kenyon College holding a Bachelor of Science in psychology.

Heather Schroeder,
Executive Director,
Downtown Wichita

Heather Schroeder joined Downtown Wichita as executive director in August 2024. In this role, she champions downtown growth and investment by working with Wichita stakeholders on real estate development projects, business resources, public space improvements and streetscape activation projects. Prior to Downtown Wichita, Heather led economic development efforts for nine years in Syracuse, NY. At the Downtown Committee of Syracuse, she secured and deployed millions of dollars in grant and philanthropic funding for programs ranging from historic building improvements to downtown master planning, storefront activation projects, and free live music performances.

Heather was selected for the International Downtown Association’s (IDA) Emerging Leader Fellowship in 2021 and has presented at multiple national IDA conferences. She holds a Master of City and Regional Planning degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a Bachelor of Science in Policy Analysis and Management from Cornell University. She and her husband Petter live in downtown Wichita.

Retention is the New Recruitment Panel

Moderator:

Michelle Moe Witte, Attorney, Martin Pringle Law Firm

Panelists:

Dr. LaShonda Porter, Director of Inclusive Engagement Strategies, Fidelity Bank

John Buckley, Senior Manager of Military Programs, Textron Aviation

Evan Barton, Marketing Manager for Early Career Programs, Campus Tulsa