KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Several businesses, nonprofits and agencies from around the Kansas City are working together to address areas of need highlighted in a recent quality of life survey.
The Kauffman Foundation and KC Rising released the survey findings this month. The results showed fewer people felt the region was going in the right direction, fewer people saw opportunities for success in their neighborhoods and fewer people felt a sense of belonging socially. The survey compared answers from 2020 to 2021.
As a result, about 24 percent of survey respondents said they could move away from the region within the next five years. About 31 percent of Black and Brown Kansas Citians who filled out the survey would consider moving.
“What I think makes Kansas City unique is we’re calling it out, we’re bringing attention to it, we’re doing something about it,” explained Sheri Gonzales, the executive director of KC Rising.
Since 2015, KC Rising has worked behind the scenes to maximize the impacts of regional efforts and programs to give everyone an opportunity for prosperity. The group works with groups like the Kansas City Area Development Council, the Civic Council of Greater Kansas City, TeamKC, and businesses like Henderson Engineers and Academy Bank.
“We invest in the community by investing in the people,” Gonzales said.
KC Rising has laid out ways for business leaders and regular citizens to reverse the trends highlighted in the survey.
CEOs can sign up for the CEO to CEO Challenge, which asks businesses to commit to using local, minority-owned suppliers for their goods in an effort to promote equity.
Businesses can host interns through the new ProX initiative, or commit to hiring homegrown talent from programs like KC Scholars and Kauffman Scholars.
“We want their energy, we want their talent, I always say our young people are going to save us,” explained Tanesha Ford, the executive director of Kauffman Scholars.
A branch of the Kauffman Foundation, Kauffman Scholars, helps eliminate financial and social barriers for high school graduates to earn a post-secondary degree or credential. Since 2003, the program has served more than 2,500 students.
Ford said the survey results highlighted what her graduates, who are overwhelmingly Black or Brown, often encounter: once they receive their degree or credential, they have to prove themselves all over again to companies where they are not represented in the leadership.
“It really signaled to us that there is more work we needed to do as a community,” Ford said.
Academy Bank is doing that work. The bank launched its “Legacy Leadership Program” a few years ago. The program takes promising low-level employees and puts them in rooms with senior leaders, helping guide a pathway to upward mobility within the company.
Academy Bank’s current chief information officer graduated from the Legacy Leadership Program.
“They [program participants] learn ways to develop their own personal skills, but it’s really bringing them into the fold, making sure they feel that sense of belonging, making sure they have access to senior leaders,” explained Teresa Ascencio, Academy Bank’s chief people officer. “After they graduate from the program, it’s really about continuing to invite them into our enterprise-wide committees so they are part of the important work that goes on to continually improve our business.”
Gonzales, of KC Rising, said the survey also highlighted some of the things Kansas City is doing right.
She said the area recruits and attracts talent to the region. She said people like the area’s affordability. Kansas City has a wide variety of job opportunities. And the region supports a range of lifestyles.
KC Rising will host its annual Horizon Summit May 11. Leaders are expected to address the survey and put out a call to action during the summit. Register to attend the event through this website.
