Diversity & Inclusion 2024: Andrea Kimball

General Counsel, Sporting Kansas City and the Patterson Family Foundation

Andrea Kimbell was born with a passion for sports in her DNA. She grew up in a family of athletes and has passed her love of sports along to her two children.

It’s no surprise she followed a career path to her dream job as vice president and general counsel of Sporting Kansas City. She is also chief legal officer of the Patterson Family Foundation, a charitable foundation whose mission is to lift rural citizens and small-town life.

Kimball, an LGBTQ attorney, devotes hundreds of hours to pro bono work as a mentor for young women navigating both their careers in sports and their personal challenges. She also demonstrates her love of Kansas City by volunteering for a variety of citywide causes.

“I enjoy giving back to my community and helping LBGTQ pro bono clients in cases involving name and gender marker changes, kids being bullied, and fighting for parental equality,” she says. “I served over 10 years on the LGBTQ Bar Association of Metro Kansas City board and as president of WIN for KC, an organization promoting women in sports.”

What goal remains unfulfilled for you as an attorney and advocate for Diversity & Inclusion?

While I would like to see more women in the C-suite of men’s pro sports, we are making gains.

What must Missouri’s legal community do to promote meaningful and long-term diversity within its legal/justice system?

Appoint more minorities (especially LGBTQ attorneys) to the bench. The number of out judges in Missouri needs to change. There should be more education about the needs of LGBTQ kids in our family court system.

Complete this sentence: I consider it a successful day when . . . a former intern or junior lawyer I mentored tells me good news about a promotion or a case victory. The fact that they thought of me and that I helped them on their journey makes me feel I have paid back the gift my mentors gave me.

Tell us something that most people don’t know about you:

I played college sports. My height might give it away, so I don’t know if it’s a well-kept secret.