LaFarris L. Risby, CFLE

LaFarris L. Risby, CFLE is an award-winning business strategist, author, international speaker, philanthropist, childcare and parenting expert, executive coach, community leader, and founder of Loving Arms Enterprises, the largest African American woman-owned business in Junction City, Kansas. She excels at guiding women to take their entrepreneurial dreams from concept to reality by using her personal and professional expertise. 

LaFarris is a domestic abuse overcomer who established her childcare facility after leaving her abusive first husband. She moved to Kansas with nothing more than $50 in her pocket and a need to provide her two small children with a safe, loving, and stable environment. LaFarris has since turned her childcare company into Loving Arms Childcare and Preschool and started three additional entities, including Loving Arms University, an online educational platform with resources and tools for educators and parents, MGB, a real estate company that will provide housing for domestic abuse survivors, and her personal brand, LaFarris Risby, which serves as a training and intellectual development company.

LaFarris is also the author of "Dare to Dream," is recognized as a sought-after keynote speaker, and has presented at several conferences and seminars, including Coca-Cola's Global Supplier Diversity Curriculum, Dare 2 Dream, and Kansas Association for the Education of Young Children.

In 2018, LaFarris was the first in her region to graduate from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Program, a prestigious and exclusive small business development program offered to select business owners globally. In 2021 LaFarris graduated from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth College.

LaFarris has received awards and accolades throughout her illustrious career and has been recognized worldwide for her outstanding leadership and commitment to serving others, including Enterprising Women Magazine 2020 Enterprising Women of the Year; Remarkable Women of Kansas (nomination); Today's Purpose Woman Magazine March/April 2020 Issue; IAOTP Top Business Strategist of the Year for 2021; and currently serves as the Captain of Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Business Voices representing Kansas. In 2022, She received The Shine Award and The Presidential Lifetime Achievement Award and became a part of the BOW Collective as a Sister Business Owner.