Get to Know Our Team

E. Frank Ellis

Managing Partner/Founder

Past Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Swope Community Enterprises –  E. Frank Ellis is Founder, Chairman and CEO of Swope Health Services, Swope Community Builders, Applied Urban Research Institute, and Swope Community Enterprises.  Originally named Model Cities Health Corporation, Swope Health Services opened in 1969 in the basement of Metropolitan Baptist Church.  Mr. Ellis and his dedicated board saw the need to provide primary health services to those who fell through the cracks of the health care system – the working poor. That first year, with a budget of $100,000 and 20 employees, 2000 patients were served. 
 Over the years, Swope grew in size and stature, adding services along the way services to address substance abuse, mental and behavioral health issues, and every day medical problems.  As a true social entrepreneur, Mr. Ellis grew the organization and founded FirstGuard Health Plan in 1996.  He grew the company after an initial $5 million in raised equity to over $250 million in revenue and later sold it to Centene Corporation for $123 million in 2004. 

During his forty-two years as head of Swope Community Enterprises, Mr. Ellis has received local and national recognition for his impact as an entrepreneur—effectively applying business principles and practices to address the total health and economic well being of the indigent and working poor.  He has successfully fostered public-private partnerships resulting in investments in some of Kansas City’s most blighted and depressed neighborhoods, transforming them with new housing, office, and retail space, resulting in new jobs, social services, economic growth, and a restored sense of pride. The result to date of Swope Community Builders is the development and/or sponsorship of over $230 million of mixed-use real estate. 

 E. Frank Ellis served as the Chairman of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, where he was leading the efforts on the Chamber’s Big 5 Ideas to create a better business climate, create jobs, and to make Kansas City the most entrepreneurial city in the world.  And while serving on the Greater Kansas City Chamber, Mr. Ellis also sat on the boards of the Heart of America Boy Scouts, United Missouri Bank, the University of Missouri-Kansas City Trustees, and the Midwest Research Institute Board of Trustees. 
 He graduated from the University of Michigan with a Master of Science degree in Public Health, and has postgraduate work at Harvard University School of Business and UMKC’s Henry Block School of Business and Public Administration. He is happily married to Dr. Janice S. Ellis, Ph.D., and they have three children and four grand kids. 

Christopher Ellis

Partner

For many years, our team of experts has contributed to the company’s most coveted projects.

Christopher Ellis is a respected industry figure and has extensive experience in information technology with an emphasis in electronic security. Chris was a regional sales manager over 15 states for one of the leading emergency and life safety communication (mass notification platforms) manufacturers in the country, and has been instrumental in raising the PL Strategies, LLC profile.

Chris received his BSBA from Rockhurst University and his MBA from the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri - Kansas City. We are proud to have him on the team.