PPB January 2016

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INNOVATE 32 • PPB • JANUARY 2016
child-care visionary Lee Ann
Britain in her mission to assist
children with disabilities and
their families by providing her
space in the new hospital for
what is now the Lee Ann
Britain Infant Development
Center. “Her goal was to pre-
pare these children to go to
school. This was what galva-
nized our foundation.”
The hospital has since
become “a force of life in the
county,” says Gilman. “It’s
one of the largest and most
successful in the greater
Kansas City area.”
Gilman has also spent
many years fueling his pas-
sion for arts and the theater
by supporting local organiza-
tions and the high school’s
performing arts department,
and by serving in leadership
and support positions for
area arts groups such as the
Missouri Repertory Theater,
The Barn Players, the Quality
Hill Playhouse and the
Carlsen Center at Johnson
County Community College.
“For many years I have
had my company print and
donate posters to the Theatre
Department of Shawnee
Mission North High School.
The artwork for the posters is
supplied by the students or
their teachers,” says Gilman.
“The students have saved at
least one copy of almost every
poster we have made, and the
posters have been stuck on
the walls of one of the class-
rooms of the school. The SM
North Theatre Department
has won many awards and
accolades over the years for
the terrific work the students
and faculty turn out.”
Gilman’s humanitarian
work extends as far into the
promotional products indus-
try as it does his hometown.
He has served as a PPAI
board member and board
chair, and supported the
Promotional Products
Education Foundation. “I
worked with Wayne
Greenberg when he led PPEF
to get the Vincent J. Arena
Scholarship started,” says
Gilman. “It’s important to me
because Vince Arena was a
friend. He was very influential
in my career within PPAI, and
I was able to honor his mem-
ory by naming the scholarship
for him. It may not have been
the first such scholarship, but
it did encourage other donors
to follow suit.”
Gilman sees his own pen-
chant for helping others
reflected by the industry and
its members. “I think our
industry is tuned into the idea
of encouraging charitable
activity in the community,” he
says. “I’ve always been
impressed with the sense of
sharing in the industry. And
many products and services
are actually intended to help
market charitable causes.”
While he hesitates to
allow others to recognize his
own charitable actions,
Gilman cites the humanitarian
award’s namesake as his rea-
son for accepting the honor.
“The reason I said yes was
because of Ted Olson. I knew
Ted—back in the day when
we needed to hire a new
[Association] president, it
came down to Ted and one
other candidate.
“That candidate was pol-
ished and articulate, and he
had gone out of his way to
learn about the industry,”
Gilman says. “Ted didn’t pro-
fess to know as much, and
hadn’t had quite the same
experience, but there was a
genuine sense about him—of
basic honesty and quiet
determination. I always
thought of Ted as being the
consummate servant-leader.
He was selected to lead, but
he chose to serve.”
Gilman adds, “I don’t
know whether I deserve to be
called a humanitarian; I’ve
witnessed so many people in
all aspects of society quietly
helping their communities. I
don’t know if it’s an American
characteristic, or if it’s a
unique quality, but if anybody
is motivated in the least to
serve, it doesn’t take a lot of
money—it does take a little
time, but everything counts
and every little bit helps.”
Mark Gilman, CAS
2016 H. Ted Olson Humanitarian Award
LEFT Mark Gilman (right) joins Lou Gehring, executive director of
Shawnee Mission Health, the foundation for Shawnee Mission Medical
Center, an organization he has supported for decades. BELOW Mark
Gilman also provides guidance and support to Johnson County
Community College where he works with Emily Behrmann, general
manager of the artistic performing arts department.