Seven women of remarkable merit in the Kansas City area will make up the first class of the new Starr Women’s Hall of Fame.

The honorees will be recognized for their achievements in philanthropy, politics, ethics, education, business and community development at a luncheon event on March 13 at Swinney Recreation Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

The Starr Women’s Hall of Fame inductees are:

• Marjorie Powell Allen: The founder of the Women’s Employment Network and a pivotal player in the creation of the Central Exchange, Allen has enabled women to realize the full potential of their business capabilities. She was the first woman to chair the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation and the University of Kansas City Trustees.

• Kay Barnes: The first woman mayor of Kansas City, Mo., spearheaded the revitalization of downtown Kansas City with the construction of the Sprint Center, the Power & Light District and the new H&R Block headquarters. Barnes is the founding director of the Center for Leadership at Park University.

• Myra J. Christopher: The founding director of the Center for Practical Bioethics (Midwest Bioethics Center), Christopher has worked to improve health care for the most vulnerable citizens of Greater Kansas City. She is a founder and board member of the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care.

• Adele Hall: A former board chair of Children’s Mercy Hospital and the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation, Hall also served on the board of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and co-founded the Central Exchange. She was named Kansas Citian of the Year in 1990.

• Shirley Bush Helzberg: A champion of the Kansas City Symphony, the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art and the Heart of America Shakespeare Festival, Helzberg co-founded the University Academy Charter School and was given the Citation Award by the National Conference of Christians and Jews in 1995.

• Dorothy H. Johnson: Former director of the Community Mental Health Model Cities Program and the Jackson County Department of Health and Welfare, Johnson also co-founded the Central Exchange, which named her its 1990 Woman of the Year. A former reporter and writer for The Kansas City Call, she received the 1993 Distinguished Service Citation from the NAACP Freedom Fund Committee.

• Martha Jane Phillips Starr: The namesake of the Starr Women’s Hall of Fame died in 2011. Starr established the Chair for Reproductive Studies at the University of Kansas School of Medicine, the first of its kind in the United States, served as president of Planned Parenthood of Greater Kansas City, founded the Women’s Council at UMKC and was the first woman recipient of the UMKC Chancellor’s Medal.

“Martha Jane would be absolutely delighted that we are celebrating the achievements of women in this way,” said Mary Kay McPhee, chair of the Starr Education Committee at UMKC, in a release. “Even though she herself was uncomfortable with receiving accolades, she knew it was important to recognize the accomplishments of women in order to inspire and empower others to bring about change.”

The March 13 luncheon event will also feature Robin Roberts, co-anchor of ABC’s “Good Morning America” and a cancer survivor. In 2013, Roberts received the Arthur Ashe Courage Award at the ESPYs and a Peabody Award for her public service campaign spotlighting her battle with a rare blood and bone marrow disease. Tickets for the event are available online at umkc.edu/starrhalloffame.