Foundation Leaders
Justin Johnson, Director
Bio coming soon!
Wende Verdeja, Director
Bio coming soon!
Nick McDaniels, Director, President
Nick is the father of eight children: two biological daughters, three adopted sons, and three foster sons. He co-founded ETS Taxi in 2013 with the hope of cutting down on drunk driving in Warrensburg, and has proudly owned and operated what has become one of the largest non-emergency medical transportation companies in Missouri ever since. Nick and his wife Samantha have experience with real estate through their rental company ETS Properties. He has been a full-time EMT and paramedic with the Johnson County Ambulance District since 2011, and currently serves as a battalion chief and their Director of Quality and Performance. He has been a volunteer firefighter with the Johnson County Fire Protection District since 2009 and currently is the Captain of their Training Division.
Nick received the Charno award from the University of Central Missouri, graduating in 2010 with a BS in political science and criminal justice. He went on to obtain his masters in public affairs with an emphasis in emergency management from Park University. He worked for Jason Kander in the Missouri House of Representatives and with several Democrat campaigns at various levels of government before becoming a member of the emergency services community, an entrepreneur, and a father.
Nick seeks to use his business start-up and public service experience to help guide the foundation through the early years of getting established to become a community service that will last long into the future.
Samantha McDaniels, Secretary Treasurer
Samantha is a stay at home mama of eight children, six boys and two girls, two biological, three adopted, and three foster. Her other full-time job is overseeing the operations of ETS Taxi, which she has owned with her husband Nick since 2013. They own and operate together their small real estate company, ETS Properties. For stress relief, she works part-time at Johnson County Central Dispatch as an emergency services dispatcher.
Samantha obtained her BS at the University of Central Missouri, studying a variety of disciplines including aviation, agriculture, political science, and business. She worked for the Republican National Committee, the Missouri College Republicans, and the Missouri Republican Party during and after college 2004-2008; and as the political director for the successful breakthrough campaign of Vicky Hartzler for Congress in 2010. She ran unsuccessfully for Johnson County Treasurer in 2012 before turning to emergency services, entrepreneurship, and motherhood as her chosen career paths.
Samantha is excited to use her bookkeeping and management experience to help keep the foundation legally and financially healthy.