Sylvia Penner joined the Kansas Health Foundation Board of Directors on July 1, 2019.

Penner is a lifelong resident of Kansas. She received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Biology in 1999 from Tabor College in Hillsboro, Kansas, where she was a member of the varsity basketball and soccer teams and served on the college’s Student Senate. Ms. Penner received her Juris Doctor from the University of Kansas in 2004. While at KU, she served as a Student Ambassador and worked as a law clerk to the District Court for the Third Judicial District in Shawnee County.

After law school, Ms. Penner worked for four years as an Assistant District Attorney for the Eighteenth Judicial District in Sedgwick County, where she prosecuted criminal actions in the traffic, juvenile, drug, sex, domestic violence, and gang units. As a prosecutor, she honed her trial skills, argued before the Kansas Court of Appeals, and served as an instructor at the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center.

Ms. Penner joined Penner Lowe Law Group in February 2020 and practices in the areas of Criminal Defense, including White Collar Criminal and Civil Defense, Civil Litigation, Personal Injury, Workers Compensation, and Juvenile Law. She is bilingual and takes delight in representing clients from both the English and Spanish speaking communities. She genuinely enjoys her work and especially the people that she meets and serves.

Ms. Penner is a member of the American, Kansas, and Wichita Bar Associations. As an active Bar member, she serves on the Wichita Women Attorneys Association and the Criminal Practice, Law in Education, and Professional Diversity Committees of the Wichita Bar Association. She is also the chair of the WBA’s Grow Your Own Lawyer Program. In 2012, Ms. Penner was elected by her peers to serve on the WBA Board of Governors. Additionally, Penner sits on the boards of Kansas Appleseed, The Salvation Army, Child Start and Everence.

Ms. Penner is active in a variety of community organizations and activities. She is presently serving on the Kansas Criminal Justice Reform Commission, and she also provides pro bono legal advice at Wichita’s Union Rescue Mission, Hilltop Urban Church, and World Impact Ministries.

When she is not working, Ms. Penner enjoys participating in a number of organized sports, running, listening to live music, and spending time with her family.