LaVanna Wrobley is a small business owner and passionate advocate for school choice initiatives and parental rights in education. She raised her family and grew her small business in the Saint Louis area.
LaVanna is the founder of Madyon, a small business where she focused on managing significant projects in education and health care, developing partnerships and community engagement with stakeholders and supporters.
At Madyon, she helped support the opening of North Side Community School, a free charter public school with open enrollment for children in pre-kindergarten through eighth grade. North Side Community School is located in one of the most dangerous zip codes in Missouri and LaVanna is passionate about helping students in these neighborhoods receive the education they deserve so they have the opportunity to be successful in life.
LaVanna is especially proud of the work Madyon did to help BJC’s Wings initiative. Wings works to create memories, celebrate life, and bring comfort to hospice patients and families impacted by life-limiting illnesses in BJC’s pediatric hospice and palliative care program. With LaVanna’s help and support, Wings is now funded by a permanent endowment program at BJC.
LaVanna instilled a deep commitment to community service in her children and leads by example through her volunteer work. She served as a trustee and board member of the Service Bureau Foundation where she helped guide the charitable giving programs. LaVanna served as board member for the University City Children’s Center from 2010 to 2013 helping children prepare for success later in life through early children education programs.
LaVanna and her husband, Kirk, have two children. As a parent and education advocate, she worked hard to help ensure all students received the best education possible as she leveraged her positions as board president at Ladue Chapel Nursery School, vice president of the Reed School Association, and board member of the MICDS Parents’ Association to fight for high educational standards.
LaVanna’s son, Lyon, is a graduate of Clemson University where he participated in ROTC and was a member and leader in the Clemson Ranger Club, an elite group of ROTC participants. After graduation he went to Ft. Benning where he completed the Infantry Basic Officer Leadership Course, the Striker Leadership Course, and Ranger School. Lyon is now a 1st Lieutenant. LaVanna’s daughter, Madison, is a graduate of Washington University and was a Fulbright Scholar and National Geographic Storytelling Fellow. She lived in Nepal doing research on water scarcity. She earned a Masters in the Environment, Urban Resiliency specialization degree at the University of Colorado Boulder, as is currently working in the sustainable energy industry in Denver.
LaVanna holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University, Oxford, Ohio.