The KLC Framework

City nonprofits create Civic Action Passport to empower and challenge Wichitans to build community A new Civic Action Passport offers simple ways to take part in community life across Wichita. Wichita, Kan. – The Wichita Public Library, City of Wichita, Lead Wichita...

KLC Receives $90K to Support Wyandotte County Partners Working Toward More Equitable Health Outcomes

Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) has received $90,000 in funding from the Health Forward Foundation to convene Wyandotte County partners to build stronger collaborations in the region and bolster their internal capacity to reshape harmful narratives...

New officers join Kansas Leadership Center executive council

Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) has expanded its executive council by hiring Michelle Locke for the new role of chief financial officer (CFO) and appointing Melissa Musgrave to the role of people and culture officer (PCO). “Expanding KLC’s executive...

Kansas Health Foundation Awards $423K to 87 Kansas Nonprofits Fighting Food Insecurity

Kansas nonprofits selected to receive mini grants for launching projects to combat hunger and food insecurity Wichita, Kan. – Eighty-seven nonprofit organizations across Kansas will receive mini grants for as much as $5,000 to fund their innovative ideas for combating...

Wichita student wins National Civics Bee Kansas State Finals

Newsroom

Wichita student wins Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee on Youth Civics Day Proceeds to national championship in D.C. Wichita, Kan. – Tanya Ramesh, a Robinson Middle School student from Wichita, won the Kansas State Finals of the National Civics Bee on...

Amy Williams Appointed Chief Business Development Officer

Amy Williams named chief business development officer for the Kansas Leadership Center Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) has hired Amy Williams as its chief business development officer. “I’m honored and excited to join such a purpose-driven...

KLC Announces Hunger Free Kansas Mini Grant Campaign

Kansas Leadership Center partners with Kansas Health Foundation to launch a mass action campaign supporting Hunger Free Kansas Up to 70 mini grants of < $5,000 awarded Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) is launching a mass action campaign on hunger...

11 Kansas Companies Join Workforce Innovators Program

Kansas Leadership Center Selects 11 Kansas Companies for Workforce Innovators Program Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) has selected 11 organizations in Kansas to participate in Workforce Innovators, a new team-based training program to help companies...

Patterson Family Foundation Partnership Supports Rural Kansas Communities

Kansas Leadership Center Hits the Road with New Programto 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...

Koch Foundation Partnership Spurs Workforce Development

Newsroom, Research Articles

Kansas Leadership Center Launches Workforce Innovators Program in Partnership with the Charles Koch Foundation Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) is partnering with the Charles Koch Foundation to offer Workforce Innovators, a new team-based training...

New Research Presents Leadership Evaluation Tool and Impact Findings

New Research Presents Groundbreaking Evaluation Tools and Impact Findings on KLC Leadership Programs Report Validates the Effectiveness of KLC’s Leadership Development Path in Building Relational Skills to Exercise Leadership on Adaptive Challenges Third Floor...

KLC Researcher Keyhan Shams Wins Dissertation Award

Newsroom, Research Articles

Kansas Leadership Center and the Kansas State University Staley School of Leadership celebrate Keyhan Shams, Ph.D., research assistant professor and assistant director of Third Floor Research, for his recent award from the International Leadership Association (ILA)....

Kansas Beats the Virus campaign improved public health outcomes and civic capacity

Beat the Virus Stories, Community Action Plans, KS Beats the Virus, Press Releases, Research Articles

April 20, 2022FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New research finds KLC's Kansas Beats the Virus campaign improvedpublic health outcomes and civic capacity across Kansas communities Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) unveiled today new research that shows...

Kansans launch 1,010 action projects to combat COVID-19

Beat the Virus Stories, Community Action Plans, KS Beats the Virus, Press Releases

February 16, 2022 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1,162 Kansans led ‘Kansas Beats the Virus’ effort to conclusion, launched 1,010 action projects to combat COVID-19 across state Wichita, Kan. – “Kansas Beats the Virus” (KBTV) – a public health partnership between the...

Relationships, trust and incentives engage Latinx community

KS Beats the Virus, Newsroom, Press Releases, Research Articles

Relationships with trusted groups, incentives helped reach the Latinx community To help reach the state’s largest group of non-White residents in the KBTV initiative, some project leaders used incentives, innovative ideas and established relationships with the Latinx...

2021 Annual Report

Annual Report of the Kansas Leadership Center See where we've been, where we are and where we're headed in KLC's 2021 Annual Report. In KLC's first-ever Annual Report, we’ve outlined a few of the key takeaways from the work our team and partners like you have been...

Safe Shopping is Common Ground in Crawford County

Finding common ground in rural Kansas results in successful project By finding common ground, a health and wellness coalition and its volunteers in a rural southeastern county created a Kansas Beats the Virus (KBTV) initiative that helped change residents’ behaviors...

Connections and engagement empower civic-minded residents

“Look, regardless of whether you believe in the virus or not, it's creating effects on your organization. What are those effects and how can we go about mitigating them?” --Phil Black, Salina musician and concerned community member When an email announcing the Kansas...

Groups addressing disparities found valuable resource through virus initiative

KS Beats the Virus, Newsroom, Press Releases, Research Articles

Groups addressing disparities found valuable resource through virus initiative With disproportionately high COVID-19 infection and death rates among non-White populations the pandemic put a spotlight on racial disparities in health care. In Wyandotte County, community...

News Release: Kansas Beats the Virus Evaluation Report

September 29, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE New research on grassroots pandemic activism finds personal connections, shared purpose empowered Kansans to take action Wichita, Kan. – Third Floor Research—the research partnership between the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC)...

Voices on Vaccinations

Beat the Virus Stories, KBV News, KS Beats the Virus, Newsroom

“Voices on Vaccinations” Campaign Elevates the Conversation on COVID-19 Vaccination with Diverse Kansas Communities In an effort to build awareness of and interest in the COVID-19 vaccine for four Kansas communities – Black, Latino, Native American, and Kansans...

Pandemic produces ray of hope for Kansas communities

Silver linings have been hard to come by during COVID-19, but strengthened civic ties may very well be a bright spot that endures in Kansas communities long after the pandemic recedes. Faced with fighting a common enemy, citizens from all walks of life rallied around...

Subsidized therapy addresses mental impact of COVID

KS Beats the Virus, Newsroom, Press Releases

The Journey church in Wichita has a small congregation that includes a surprising number of mental health professionals, so perhaps it was preordained that the church would respond to the mental health crisis brought on by COVID. The church is asking therapists to...

Kansas Beats the Virus initiative mobilized 7,000 Kansans

February 1, 2021 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE ‘Kansas Beats the Virus’ project mobilized 7,000 Kansans launching 827 action plans to combat COVID across the state Wichita, Kan. – “Kansas Beats the Virus”– a statewide, bi-partisan public health intervention to combat the...

Civic Action Passport launches in Wichita to spark community participation

KLC Receives $90K to Support Wyandotte County Partners Working Toward More Equitable Health Outcomes

New officers join Kansas Leadership Center executive council

The Journal Chosen as Report for America newsroom partner

Kansas Leadership Center’s The Journal selected as 2026 newsroom partner for Report for America Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center’s nonpartisan news site, The Journal, has been selected as one of the 2026 newsroom partners for Report for America, a national...

Kansas Leadership Center Announces Executive Board Slate

January 6, 2026 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kansas Leadership Center Announces Slate of Officers for Board of Directors Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC), a first-of-its-kind nonprofit educational organization based in Wichita, welcomes a new slate of...

Announcing Recipients of Leadership Transformation Grants for 2026

October 28, 2025 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Kansas Leadership Center announces recipients of 2026 Leadership Transformation Grants Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) has selected 76 organizations across Kansas as 2026 Leadership Transformation Grant (LTG)...

Kansas Leadership Center offering grants to Kansas organizations wanting to empower employees and create progress