Kansas Leadership Center

Wichita voters reflect as sales tax proposal falls Final unofficial results from the Sedgwick County Election Office showed 82% voting against to only about 18% in favor.

Final unofficial results from the Sedgwick County Election Office showed 9,143 voting in favor and 41,097 voting against, a margin of nearly 82% against to about 18% in favor.

March may come in like a lion — we come in coordinated. 🦁

Matching sweats + a team getting ready to welcome participants back March 17.

#KLCstaff #BehindTheKLCene

‘We have to be realistic’: Kansas housing policies under examination in the statehouse Legislation aims to respond to housing shortage, lack of standards for habitation and protections for tenants facing evictions.

Kansas is one of only two states without a statewide housing code – and now lawmakers are debating whether decades-old laws are holding renters and communities back.

✍️ Stefania Lugli

#ksleg

klcjournal.com/kansas-housin...

KLC in the house at United Way of the Plains.

Board chair Pete Nájera joined Jason Bosch & Lydia Santiago this week as our team helped make important recommendations to support community needs.

Leadership in action – with just a little college flair. ☘️

#KLCstaff #CivicEngagement #BehindTheKLCene

We shot something bold. Stay tuned.

Opponents of proposed ICE detention center in Leavenworth make final push as vote nears Editor’s note: This story is being republished from the Kansas News Service. LEAVENWORTH, Kansas — Tensions ran high in Leavenworth, Kansas, Tuesday evening. Protesters gathered outside city hall as c...

With a pivotal vote looming, Leavenworth is wrestling—publicly and passionately—with whether a dormant prison should reopen as a 1,000-bed immigration detention center.

✍️ Zane Irwin/Kansas News Service

Drawing people back to the Flint Hills after symphony's end Opportunities continue for people to explore less accessible Flint Hills land but on a much smaller scale.

“The Flint Hills are worth singing about,” musician Annie Wilson says.

✍️ AJ Dome
📸 Selena Favela

Opinion: Black history, white students Columnist says efforts to ignore the negative impact of racism on Black students overlooks the damaging impact on white students.

Racism damages all of society, not just those oppressed by it, columnist Mark McCormick writes in his latest piece for The Journal.

#BlackHistoryMonth #BHM

How do you strengthen a culture of leadership in your system?

Advanced Leadership Development is a 4-day immersive experience focused on practicing leadership in real time — in live group dynamics & real systems.

📅 March 30–April 2
⏳ Registration closes 3/16
www.kansasleadershipcenter.org/advanced

Board meeting flex. 🧦

Shane Carter of The Kansas African American Museum @ KLC for a TKAAM board meeting chaired by our president & CEO, Dr. Kaye Monk-Morgan. Honoring history & strengthening community together.🤝

#BehindTheKLCene

Leadership grows when more people practice it.

Join us March 17 for the first in-person #WhenEveryoneLeads of 2026.

🚨 Registration closes 3/3. ‼ Our next in-person offering of this program will be 6/16 in Colby, KS.

Enroll now: www.kansasleadershipcenter.org/when-everyone-leads-program

#KLCpath

Kansas Republicans put transgender bathroom restrictions into law, overriding a veto The law will require people to use bathrooms in public places that align with their sex assigned at birth.

With fines, lawsuits and criminal charges now on the table, Kansas has joined a growing list of states restricting bathroom access for transgender people—after lawmakers overrode the governor’s veto in a heated vote.

✍️ @stephenpkoranda.bsky.social / Kansas News Service

#ksleg #transgender

When the whole team shows up with snacks & big energy, you know it’s official. 🎉 Welcome to KLC, Melissa Musgrave!

(Michelle Locke got this same welcome last week – we just didn’t capture it on camera. 😉)

#BehindTheKLCene #KLCstaff

New officers join Kansas Leadership Center executive council Kansas Leadership Center expands its executive council, naming Michelle Locke as CFO and Melissa Musgrave as people and culture officer.

Strong leadership doesn’t happen by accident.

We’ve expanded the KLC executive council with two new officers. Learn more about how their experience will strengthen our systems, culture & long-term impact.

#KLCstaff

Effort targets shortage of mental health workers in Kansas The Kansas Behavioral Health Center of Excellence is a state-funded consortium of universities, health care providers and government agencies

The Journal reports that to serve a population the size of Kansas, the state should have roughly 150 child & adolescent psychiatrists working across its 105 counties.

In actuality, it has 60, and all but 10 of those are located in or near Kansas City, Missouri.

✍️ Timothy A. Schuler
📸 Jeff Tuttle

🎭💜💚💛 #MardiGras at KLC!

King cake from Bagatelle Bakery, won at @kmuw.bsky.social, shared with staff today. 🤤 Baby found. Crown claimed. 👑

Laissez les bons temps rouler!

#BehindTheKLCene #KLCstaff #WorkplaceCulture

Advanced Training Programs | Kansas Leadership Center Kansas Leadership intensives offer a deeper look into coaching, teaching or using the case-in-point method to help others learn leadership skills.

Offered only once each year! ⏰ The full-tuition Lynette Lacy scholarship deadline is February 16.

What does it look like to practice leadership in real time? We can show you!

Advanced Leadership Development is a four-day immersive experience in working with live group dynamics, real systems, and real relationships.

📅 March 30–April 2
www.KansasLeadershipCenter.org/advanced

How one small Kansas town is using conversations about race and history to bring people together An emotional visit to central Kansas this past fall brought a dozen descendants of Kansas Exodusters closer to their family histories.

Read a story that revisits the history of an African American settlement in Kansas—one that has largely been forgotten or ignored for decades.

#BlackHistoryMonth #Exoduster #BlackHistory #KansasHistory #SmallTownKansas #ForgottenHistory

How one small Kansas town is using conversations about race and history to bring people together An emotional visit to central Kansas this past fall brought a dozen descendants of Kansas Exodusters closer to their family histories.

In 2021, about a dozen descendants of the Exodusters returned to Stafford County to establish connections with their ancestors. Beccy Tanner wrote about the homecoming for The Journal.

#BlackHistoryMonth #Exoduster #BlackHistory #KansasHistory #SmallTownKansas #ForgottenHistory

Improving Kansas child care will 'take pulling multiple levers' Report offers recommendations to ease use of the state child care subsidies and incentivize more child care providers to participate.

Two years ago, Kansas child care providers and agency administrators shared their passions and concerns about the state of the state’s child care subsidy program.

The resounding sentiment? Simplify and amplify.

A recent update to the report echoes that sentiment.

✍️ AJ Dome
📸 Jeff Tuttle

From shelter to front door: how modular homes are giving Wichita families stability, dignity & a real shot at home.

✍️ Maleah Evans / Wichita Journalism Collaborative
📸 Selena Favela

klcjournal.com/modular-homes...

🎉 Happy 2-year anniversary, Jason!

We are grateful for Jason Bosch’s creativity, heart and love of good food at KLC. Here’s to the people, the mission, and many more potlucks. 👏🔥🍽️

#KLCstaff #BehindTheKLCene

Unaligned or opportunity? Wichita service providers and homeless advocates debate 1% sales tax’s ability to fill crucial gaps Workers in the homelessness ecosystem, people of lived experience and affordable housing advocates weigh in on the special election.

The Coalition to End Homelessness in Wichita/Sedgwick County, which guides much of the community’s response, supports the sales tax, as do local housing advocates.

Some groups representing people vulnerable to homelessness are more wary.

✍️ @steflugli.bsky.social

🎉 3 years at KLC! @steflugli.bsky.social has played a key role in growing The Journal into a nationally recognized newsroom—an INN National Award finalist, w/fellowships & grants from the Solutions Journalism Network, & more!

Thoughtful reporting w/real impact. Congrats!

#KLCstaff #BehindTheKLCene

Opinion: How residents got bike lanes tested on East Douglas In just over a month, pedestrians, cyclists, and others packed local advisory meetings, open houses and a city council meeting.

Decisions made in city hall might seem divorced from the opinions of everyday people. However, the Douglas redesign process shows how groups, with enough thoughtful engagement and persistence, can exert influence.

✍️ Rami Toubia Stucky

Latino voices needed to shape Sedgwick County's health future The Sedgwick County Health Department is in the final design phase of its next Community Health Improvement Plan

Sedgwick County’s next health plan is taking shape - without enough Latino voices at the table.

This story breaks down what CHIP is, why participation matters, and what’s at stake.

✍ Claudia Amaro / Planeta Venus

#KShealth #LatinoJournalism #SolutionsJournalism #CivicInformation

A new strategy in Kansas builds whole neighborhoods of homes that stay affordable for years Projects use community land trusts to sell homes at a reduced price and keep them affordable in the future.

In a state where home prices keep climbing, one Kansas neighborhood is rewriting the rules for affordability.

✍️ Dylan Lysen / Kansas News Service

#AffordableHousing

This issue is coming. 👀
And it’s one you’ll want to hold.

Our next print edition of The Journal focuses on the American Dream–who gets to claim it, and who gets left out.

Subscriptions are free for a limited time: www.bit.ly/KLCjournal

#KLCimpact #CivicInformation

Housing trends, energy updates, fungi, quadruplets, best books and more The latest edition of Connecting Threads provides a patchwork of updates and items of interest related Kansas news.

The latest edition of Connecting Threads provides a patchwork of updates and items of interest to Journal readers.

✍ Bruce Janssen