Meet the Directors: David Campbell

As the chairman, president and chief executive officer of Evergy, a regional electric utility provider based in Kansas City, Missouri, David Campbell leads a workforce of more than 4,500 employees. The company provides electricity services to 1.7 million customers across Kansas and western Missouri.

Campbell relocated to Kansas City to join Evergy as its CEO in January 2021. Prior to his role at Evergy, he served in executive leadership roles at Vistra Corp., one of the largest competitive power generators in the United States based in Irving, Texas. He joined the Kansas City Fed’s Board of Directors this year.

“Evergy is responsible for providing safe, reliable and affordable power to our customers,” Campbell said. “Electricity is a basic necessity of life, so we have a tremendous obligation and privilege to service all the electrical needs of our customers in our service territory.”

Campbell said that outside of his role at Evergy, joining the Kansas City Fed’s Board of Directors has been one of the most exciting ventures that’s allowed him to serve his community and represent his industry.

“The Federal Reserve plays such an important role in both our national and regional economy, so having the opportunity to serve on the board of an important entity such as the Kansas City Fed is one I’m honored to have,” Campbell said. “Over the years, I’ve had the chance to meet several leaders at the Fed, and I’m excited to work with them in this capacity.”

While he’s a newcomer to the banking sector, Campbell said he hopes to bring his decades of expertise in business and capital management to the board.

“I see two valuable intersections of the role I have at Evergy and the perspective I hope to bring to the board,” Campbell said. “I have general, broad experience with business that I think is relevant to the Kansas City Fed as it thinks about the regional economy. As an industry that invests a lot of capital in infrastructure, the power sector is significantly impacted by Fed policies, and I’ve had the opportunity to experience those impacts through more than 20 years of management and leadership roles.”

In addition to his vast knowledge of business expertise, Campbell said his position at Evergy gives him a real-time look into the economics of many households and businesses of all sizes within Evergy’s region, which will complement the Fed’s breadth of economic data well.

“Evergy has a unique visibility to a lot of things happening in the underlying economy,” Campbell said. “Utility services can be a leading indicator of economic activity, both up and down, based on trends in electric demand or customer behavior. For example, we know we have a portion of our customer base that reports having to work very hard to afford their monthly household expenses and pay their bills, and that’s something we pay close attention to. Having a pulse on that will hopefully benefit the Fed’s ability to represent our District.”