April 3, 2024
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
StoryCorps Demonstrates Commitment to OSS Wichita with Local Hire and Kansas Leadership Center Partnership
Wichita, Kan.– StoryCorps’ One Small Step (OSS), an effort to remind the country of the humanity in all of us, even those with whom we disagree – announced today the hiring of Karin Kaufman Wall of Newton to the role of Wichita Field Manager. In this role, Karin will play a key role in a newly formed partnership with the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC).
As part of the partnership, KLC will leverage its expertise in civic leadership to offer professional development, aid in participant recruitment, and collaborate with StoryCorps on local programming. Wichita is an OSS Model Community – one of only a handful of locations nationwide where OSS is currently working intensively. Kaufman Wall is the first full-time local hire since OSS began its work in Wichita three years ago.
Wichita Field Manager Karin Kaufman Wall (left); One Small Step Wichita conversation participants Kaye Monk-Morgan and Dalton Glasscock.
“Our work in Wichita is taking hold, and through partnerships like this one with the Kansas Leadership Center, we have a tremendous opportunity to deepen our work on the local level,” said Dave Isay, Founder and President of StoryCorps. “Research shows that there is a hopeful majority of us who are tired of polarization and looking for a way out. One Small Step gives everyday people a way to bridge these divisions and be part of the solution.”
“The Kansas Leadership Center has at its core a mission to bring people together across differences, to create a civic culture where people can engage with one another to solve problems,” said Kaye Monk-Morgan, President and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC). “We are looking forward to working with One Small Step to help promote further connection and dialogue in our community.”
One Small Step pairs strangers with different political views together to record a 50-minute conversation—not to debate politics—but to get to know each other as people.
For more information about how to sign up to participate in a One Small Step Wichita conversation, click the button below.
Listen to a One Small Step conversation with Kaye Monk-Morgan:
About StoryCorpsÂ
Founded in 2003, StoryCorps is a national nonprofit dedicated to helping us believe in each other by illuminating the humanity and possibility in us all, one story at a time. The organization has given over 655,000 people, in all 50 states, the chance to record interviews about their lives. StoryCorps helps people believe in each other by illuminating the possibility and humanity in all of us—one story at a time. The award-winning organization preserves the recordings in its archive at the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress, the largest single collection of human voices ever gathered, and shares select stories with the public through StoryCorps’ podcast, radio broadcasts, animated shorts, digital platforms, and best-selling books. These powerful human stories reflect the vast range of American experiences, engender empathy and connection, and remind us how much more we have in common than what divides us. StoryCorps is especially committed to capturing and amplifying voices least heard in the media. The StoryCorps MobileBooth, an Airstream trailer that has been transformed into a traveling recording booth, crisscrosses the country year-round gathering the stories of people nationwide. 2023 marked the 20th anniversary of StoryCorps. Learn more at storycorps.org.Â
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 16 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.
For more information about the Kansas Leadership Center, contact Sam Smith, Director of Communications, [email protected]
For more information about StoryCorps and One Small Step Wichita, contact Tami Bradley, Bothner and Bradley communications and consulting, [email protected]
