Kansas Leadership Center Hits the Road with New Program
to Stimulate Leadership and Civic Engagement in Rural Kansas Communities

Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), an educational organization founded to foster civic leadership for healthier communities, is providing leadership training, coaching and support to newly hired executive directors and their boards operating the state’s rural community foundations through the new Community Foundation Leadership Initiative.

As part of this program, KLC staff are embarking on a series of road trips across Kansas to facilitate leadership courses and help new community foundation staff navigate the leadership challenges of a small community foundation while simultaneously addressing technical and operational challenges. In collaboration with the Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) and funded by a grant from the Patterson Family Foundation, KLC’s training sessions are designed to stimulate the practices of leadership and civic engagement in rural Kansas communities.

“KLC is enthusiastic about demonstrating how equipping rural community foundations with our proven leadership framework, coupled with technical assistance from KACF, can transform the capacity and impact of these foundations across rural communities in the state. We’re grateful to the Patterson Family Foundation for the funding to equip these small rural community foundations with highly capable paid staff that can accelerate their progress. Their support allows us to meet the foundations where they are and help facilitate a smoother transition into their work,” said Kaye Monk-Morgan, president and CEO of the Kansas Leadership Center.

With KLC staff Joyce McEwen Crane, Racquel Thiesen and Emily Speake, participants imagine a future where every community foundation leads in Newton.

In the fall of 2024, KLC staff hosted GAP sessions with Community Foundation Leadership Initiative grantees to learn about the challenges the community foundations are facing and what makes progress on those challenges difficult. This week, KLC staff kick-off local visits in Garden City and Newton to facilitate the first leadership course with local grantees. Over the next four years, two cohorts of grantees of the Community Foundation Leadership Initiative will complete three leadership programs on The KLC Path and up to 12 sessions of individual and group coaching sessions, as well as receive relational support.

“Through the Community Foundation Leadership Initiative, KLC is on a mission to develop the capacity of rural community foundation executive directors and board members and empower them to transform their organizations into thriving impact centers that mobilize the community to make progress on tough challenges and benefit from intergenerational wealth transfer. We start facilitating our first leadership program in western Kansas this week and have site visits scheduled across the state throughout the month,” said Joyce McEwen Crane, director of learning and development at the Kansas Leadership Center.

With KLC staff Joyce McEwen Crane, Racquel Thiesen and Emily Speake, participants imagine a future when every community foundation leads in Garden City.

According to the Kansas Association of Community Foundations, there are currently 32 community foundations in the Patterson Family Foundation service area that have less than $5 million in assets and lack paid staff. These constraints limit their ability to grow their assets through donor relationship management while also limiting the capacity of the foundation to proactively invest in the future of the community.

“The Patterson Family Foundation recognizes the importance of local philanthropy and the indispensable role that community foundations play in building thriving rural communities,” said Emily Masters, program officer of the Patterson Family Foundation. “We are excited to support the work of the Kansas Leadership Center and the Kansas Association of Community Foundations during a pivotal moment for rural community foundations and their impact on the future of Kansas.”

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 17 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.

About the Patterson Family Foundation

The Patterson Family Foundation is a family-led foundation based in Kansas City, Missouri that extends the legacy of Neal and Jeanne Patterson. The Foundation’s mission, “Working together to help rural communities thrive,” is carried forward through strategic grantmaking and other collaborative initiatives that serve rural counties across Kansas and western Missouri.

About the Kansas Association of Community Foundations

The Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) is a leadership organization with a strong membership of 115+ member organizations across the state. KACF was founded in 2005 by a dedicated group of volunteers representing community foundations across the state of Kansas who believed in philanthropy, peer-learning, and state-wide partnerships. KACF impacts the growth, development and organizational sustainability of Kansas community foundations as trusted community catalysts that offer in-depth knowledge of local issues and funding resources to help impact the health and well-being of Kansas and its residents.

MEDIA CONTACT:

Carrie Lindeman
316-393-1076
carrie@lindemancollective.com