July 13, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Kansas Leadership Center to Host Series of Conversations Across Kansas on Immigration and Demographic Change
Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), a Wichita-based nonprofit, and its civic issues magazine, The Journal, are bringing back Journal Talks and hosting a series of conversations about immigration and demographic change across Kansas with “Journal Talks: Bringing Together Our Changing Communities” that kicks off August 17.
Journal Talks are the organization’s statewide effort in which alumni of KLC leadership development programs convene conversations on tough civic issues with their communities. The initiative launched in 2017 and a series focused on immigration began in February 2020. Both were interrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Journal Executive Editor Chris Green
“We resumed hosting Journal Talks in 2021, and now we are excited to foster healthy civic dialogue around the state by revisiting this immigration series. ‘Our Changing Communities’ is a partnership between the Kansas Leadership Center and the network of community leadership programs in Kansas that helped inspire the creation of KLC before 2007. While we’re fulfilling our original goal of hosting lots of conversations with Kansas communities, we’re also encouraging others around the state to do the same thing,” said Chris Green, executive editor of The Journal.
The dialogue will kick-off on August 17 with a conversation at the Kansas Leadership Center. In the weeks that follow, community leadership programs across the state will convene similar discussions in 10-15 communities across Kansas with the goal of gathering consensus on a variety of questions that will be shared in an upcoming issue of The Journal.
“We’re asking residents of these communities to not just talk but take on an assignment, one that’s small but significant. Our hope is that each community will put some stakes in the ground and tell the rest of Kansas what they decided from their conversation,” said Green.
KLC’s first attempt to convene statewide dialogue on immigration was cut short by Covid-19.
Over the next few months, communities will convene group discussions lasting 60 to 90 minutes to answer the following questions:
- How are the demographics of your community changing and what does it mean for you?
- How might immigration affect the future of your community?
- What values do you think should bind us together as Americans?
- What should our community do to navigate changes and thrive?
The public is invited to attend the first Journal Talk at the Kansas Leadership Center from 5:30 – 7:00 p.m. on Thursday, August 17. Admittance is free and participants can join in person or virtually. Online registration is encouraged. Community leaders interested in convening a conversation in their Kansas town can learn more here.
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About the Kansas Leadership Center
The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) is a first-of-its-kind nonprofit educational organization with a civic mission, national reputation and global reach. Founded in 2007 to foster leadership for stronger, healthier and more prosperous Kansas communities, KLC receives core funding from the Kansas Health Foundation (a private, philanthropic organization). It partners with nonprofit organizations, government agencies, educational institutions, businesses and communities to build cultures that are healthy, productive and well-positioned to make measurable progress on daunting challenges and emergent opportunities. KLC Press publishes leadership books and The Journal, a nationally recognized, award-winning civic issues magazine.
Over the past 15 years, KLC has built a strong and respected institution in Kansas designed to deliver leadership development and culture change at unparalleled scale. Now, organizations across the country and around the world look to us to provide resources and consultation to support their own aspirations for mission-driven leadership education. Learn more at www.kansasleadershipcenter.org.
MEDIA CONTACT:
Carrie Lindeman
316-393-1076
[email protected]
