JFS Leadership Team

Awais Sufi
Interim Executive Director & CEO
|Prior to joining JFS, Awais served as Entrepreneur in Residence at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, where he raised capital, built the strategy and led the team of SchoolSmartKC, a $100M collaborative fund to support school improvement in Kansas City. Previously, Awais served as Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President at the International Youth Foundation (IYF) where he drove strategy across teams working in 50 countries through 10 worldwide offices. Prior to his work with IYF, Awais was the founding Managing Director of the Education for Employment Foundation, a startup venture that now continues two decades later working closely with business leaders to provide exceptional training and jobs for youth in the Middle East.
Awais started his career as a lawyer, working as a corporate and securities attorney at the Washington, D.C. law firm Arnold & Porter, and as Law Clerk to the Honorable Judge John Sprizzo of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. He’s a graduate of the University of Texas School of Law, where he was an editor of the Texas Law Review, and the University of Chicago.

Dayton Isbell
Chief Technology Officer
|Dayton started with JFS in a contracting position during the height of the pandemic and a major transitional period for the Organization. As a contractor, he spearheaded a major file systems upgrade to bring JFS’ outdated infrastructure to a fully cloud-based entity that better supported not only the staff, but the communities we serve. Shortly after the project’s completion, Dayton was hired full time as the Director of Technology in early 2021. Since starting full time with JFS, Dayton has played a pivotal role in the Organization’s strategy and implementation surrounding technology, security, and advancement of JFS.

Debbie Bass
Chief Development Officer
|Debbie Bass is responsible for spearheading all fundraising initiatives at JFS. During her thirty-year fundraising career, she has been responsible for raising $68 million. For eight years, Debbie served as Vice President of Development of the National WWI Museum and Memorial, where she led the $25 million Call to Duty Centennial fundraising campaign and initiated the $50 million Second Century campaign. Previous roles have been Associate Director/Director of Major Gifts of both the Foundation for the Shawnee Mission Medical Center and the Truman Medical Center Charitable Foundation. Debbie has been involved with JFS in various ways since elementary school. She and her family especially enjoy their involvement in the JFS Hanukkah project.

Maggie Haghirian
Chief Program Officer
|Maggie Haghirian came to JFS in 2018 from Safehome, Inc., where she was the Shelter Director. In her role of Chief Program Officer, Maggie oversees the agency’s core program areas, including KesherKC, Older Adult Services, Mental Health, and Volunteer Engagement. Before taking on this role, she served as Director of KesherKC, where she used her experience with client-centered care to launch our integrated approach to connecting clients to food, housing, employment, and financial resources they need for a more secure future. Maggie holds a Master of Social Work from the University of Kansas, and a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice from Missouri Western State College.