The Journal, Spring 2013

I N S P I R A T I O N F O R C I V I C L E A D E R S H I P I N K A N S A S V O L U M E 5 - I S S U E 1 - S P R I N G 2 0 1 3 $10.00

THEJOURNAL

PIECES OF THE SOLUTION17 counties moving together

to craft a new story for southeast Kansas

TAKING CARE OF YOURSELFAligning purpose and practice

THE BIG PICTURETransforming the highereducation system in Kansas.

CHANGE AGENTSHow do you exercise influencein ethical, effective ways?

JOURNAL.issuu.FINAL:Layout 1 4/8/13 1:24 PM Page 1

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER BOARD OF DIRECTORSKaren Humphreys, Wichita (Chair)Ed O’Malley, Wichita (President & CEO)Susan Kang, LawrenceCarolyn Kennett, ParsonsDavid Lindstrom, Overland ParkGreg Musil, Overland ParkReggie Robinson, TopekaConsuelo Sandoval, Garden CityClayton Tatro, Fort ScottFrank York, Ashland

PERMISSIONSAbstracting is permitted with credit to thesource. For other reprint, copying, reproductionpermission or subscriptions, contact Mike Matsonat [email protected].

KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER300 North Main, Suite 100Wichita, Kansas 67202316.712.4950www.kansasleadershipcenter.org

PHOTOGRAPHYJeff Tuttle Photography220 N. Terrace Wichita, KS 67208316.706.8529 jefftuttlephotography.com

ARTWORK (Right and page 88)Justin Marablewww.justinmarable.com

MANAGING EDITORChris [email protected]

GRAPHIC DESIGNNovella Brandhouse816.868.9825www.novellabrandhouse.com

©2013 Kansas Leadership Center

The Journal is published quarterly by the Kansas Leadership Center,which receives core funding from the Kansas Health Foundation.

The Kansas Leadership Center equips people with the abilityto make lasting change for the common good. KLC stands alonein the field of leadership development with its focus on leadershipbeing an activity, not a role or position. Open to anyone wantingto move the needle on tough challenges in the civic arena, KLCenvisions more Kansans sharing responsibility for acting togetherin pursuit of the common good.

KLC MISSIONTo foster civic leadership for healthier Kansas communities

KLC VISIONTo be the center of excellence for civic leadership development

JOURNALTHE

“WE ARE LIVING IN AN AGE OFTHE MIGHTY DYNAMITE OF THIS UPHEAVING THE SOCIAL ANSTRUCTURE AND STIRRING THOF MEN FROM CENTER TO CIR

Mary Elizabeth Lease - Kansas populist orator (1


E OF THOUGHT.F THOUGHTL AND POLITICALG THE HEARTSCIRCUMFERENCE.”

ator (1890)


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CONTENTS

Welcome to the Journal

By President & CEO Ed O’Malley . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Dispatches from the Kansas Leadership Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Leadership Library . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Dawn of a New Day Under the Dome

Photo essay by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Voices of Civic Leadership . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Pieces of the Solution: The Next Chapter for Southeast Kansas

By Chris Green . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

Change Agents

Photos by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34

The Big Picture: Transforming Higher Education

By Erin Perry O’Donnell, Laura Roddy, Patsy Terrell & Brian Whepley . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

Aligning Choices with Purpose Brings Rewards

By Julia Fabris McBride . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Community Profile: Topeka

By Sarah Caldwell Hancock . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Reflections on a Global Gathering

By Nick Ellem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Reviving Newton’s Historic Fox Theatre

Photo essay by Jeff Tuttle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

The Fuse: Information and Inspiration about KLC Alumni

Alumni Profiles: Leadership & Faith Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

Featured Artist: Pastureland

By Justin Marable . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Poem: Band Practice

By Ramona McCallum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90

The Back Page

By Mike Matson . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92


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QUARTERLYCONNECTIONTHE JOURNAL WILL NOW

OFFER READERS INSPIRATION

FOUR TIMES A YEAR


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As I write this, I'm waiting on a plane to take me to my ancestral home in Ireland. O'Malleysfrom far and wide will descend on the tiny village of Murroe, Ireland, outside Limerick. Thisis either our first O'Malley family reunion, or the first in well over a century. Needless to say,I'm excited.

While there I'll have a social dinner with two Dubliners who visited Wichita last fall duringthe KLC Global Gathering. They are inspired by KLC and are hoping to start something similarfor the Emerald Isle. At their request, I'll be visiting with the Dublin Chamber of CommerceCEO to discuss the KLC idea as well.

My suitcase contains all the usual things you would imagine for a trip like this (althoughno umbrella ... I refuse to travel with an umbrella, even in Ireland). However, I also includedseveral issues of The Journal among my things. They will be a nice leave-behind for thechamber CEO and will help my extended family understand what I do back here in the states.

Of course, the KLC has bigger aims for The Journal than these minor purposes. First andforemost, The Journal is designed as a source of inspiration for you and others. There isa lot of leadership for the common good happening in Kansas and we can all be inspiredto exercise more leadership by reading these stories.

Second, The Journal shares stories and stunning photographs that create imagery aboutwhat leadership consistent with KLC ideas looks and feels like. We want to show just howwidespread civic leadership is across Kansas and how many people believe in our stateand creating a better future for it.

Finally, The Journal keeps KLC in front of you. Unlike the typical seminar or continuingeducation conference, your KLC experience is not a "one and done." The Journal is oneof many efforts utilized by KLC to allow our journey in leadership together to continue.

Related to this last point, I am thrilled to announce that The Journal will now be a quarterlypublication, meaning there will be twice as many issues this year than in the past. Long-timecontributor to KLC, Chris Green, is the managing editor and is off to a great start. Chris andthe whole team that brings us The Journal are working hard to create a publication that isworthy of the KLC idea and that serves the purposes mentioned above.

It just so happens that they are also helping some O'Malley's across the pond understandwhat their cousin is a part of here in Kansas – and what all those connected to KLC are a partof -- a grand effort to foster leadership for the common good.

Onward!

Ed O’MalleyPresident & CEOKansas Leadership Center


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The Journal gladly welcomes letters to the editor,including responses to articles in the publication.

Readers should address their comments [email protected].

We encourage readers to keep theirsubmissions to fewer than 500 words.

You may also mail letters to theKansas Leadership Center offices at

300 North Main, Suite 100, Wichita, KS 67202.

LETTERS DEALING WITH ADAPTIVE ISSUESIN CITIZEN ENGAGEMENT

The Journal article about how Johnson Countygovernment engaged citizens in tough budgetchoices (“Leading to Common Ground,” Fall2012) suggested some influence by KansasLeadership Center training. I’d like to makethe connection even clearer, specifically asit relates to dealing with adaptive challenges.

In 2010, Consensus held a focus group withJohnson County’s manager and city managersto discuss how to build civility into the way thepublic is engaged. Just a few minutes into thediscussion, and without prompting, group mem-bers began talking about the concept of adaptivechallenges. Turns out, many had experiencedKLC training. We were not surprised, then,when Johnson County chose to involve thepublic meaningfully in budget choices. (Fulldisclosure: Consensus led the focus groupsthat supplemented the online budget simulator.)

The habitual way of engaging the public is thepublic hearing, a process created back wheneverything looked like a technical problem. Publichearings are required by law in many circum-


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stances and are usually held late in the game,sometimes right before a vote. Citizens sit inrows facing elected leaders, who are usually ona stage. Citizens go, one by one, to a microphoneto make their statements. When Consensusheld 20 focus groups in metro Kansas Cityand Lawrence, we found that almost everyonehad experienced a public hearing.

A public hearing is the exact wrong tool to usewith adaptive challenges. Unlike technical problems,which we already know how to solve, adaptivechallenges require new behaviors to close thegap between where we are and where we wantto be. People need to be involved early to learn,wrestle with values choices, and consider newapproaches. By showing people how to recognizeadaptive challenges, KLC has begun to transforman ineffective old habit into new methods thatbring out the best in everyone.

Part of the reason governments haven’tbroken this old habit already is the FundamentalAttribution Error, the tendency for humans toattribute people’s behavior to the way they areinstead of the situation they’re in. For example,the Kettering Foundation has found that publicadministrators perceive the public as emotional,uninformed and self-interested. That perspectiveis built on encounters with a public that has been

brought into the decision-making process toolate to have the opportunity to fully grasp theissue or participate in the choice. If we seethe way people are as the problem, we havelittle incentive to change the situation.

When leaders can distinguish an adaptivechallenge, they, like government officials inJohnson County, can see the situation for whatit is. Johnson County leaders understood theneed to engage people early in making valueschoices, and citizens responded. One indicatoris that we had zero no-shows at the focusgroups; the typical rate is around 30 percent.

KLC has found that the most common leadershiperror is that of mistaking adaptive problems fortechnical challenges. A Kansas filled with peoplewho not only understand adaptive challenges butalso know how to involve the public in addressingthem is a Kansas ready for any challenge.

JENNIFER WILDING

Director, ConsensusKANSAS CITY, MO


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DISPATCHESFROM THE KANSAS LEADERSHIP CENTER

NEW OPPORTUNITIES ABOUND FOR KANSANS.

More Kansans than ever before can enjoy a powerfulKansas Leadership Center experience and join thenearly 2,000 KLC alumni working better their com-munities, organizations and themselves. In March,the KLC launched monthly opportunities for Kansanseager to explore and learn new, effective methodsfor making a difference on the issues that mattermost to them. Your Leadership Edge, is a three-day,comprehensive exploration of the KLC leadershipframework. Leadership for Lasting Change (formerlycalled Context & Competencies) allows participantsan in-depth approach to examine and work theirspecific leadership challenge.

PROGRAM BRINGS NEW PARTNERSHIPS.

Two Kansans who intend to make a differencein others’ lives will be the inaugural participantsin Onward Kansas, KLC’s new, personalizedleadership development experience. WayneBell of Wichita, District Director of the U. S. SmallBusiness Administration, seeks increased accessto capital for disadvantaged Kansas businessesand the development of high growth firms inunderserved communities. Shannon Cotsoradisof Lawrence, President & CEO of Topeka-based

Kansas Action for Children, seeks to reducechildhood poverty by deepening her understandingof the issue, as well as Kansans’ perspectives onit. In doing so, she hopes to change the conversationabout the issue. Both participants will work closelywith the KLC, meeting frequently to leverage theparticipant’s content knowledge of the issue withthe KLC’s process knowledge of adaptive work.

GATHERING PROMISES KHF FELLOWSOPPORTUNITIES TO CONNECT.

Alumni of the Kansas Health Foundation Fellowsprogram will have the opportunity to strengthenrelationships with other Fellows at “Reconnect,Realign, Renew: KHF Symposium 2013.” Thegathering will take place from 1-8:30 p.m. May 9in Wichita. Fellows alumni may register by clickingon the Fellows tab at the KLC website.

FAITH PROGRAM TRANSITIONS.

Sue Dondlinger, project director for KLC’s Leadership& Faith: Transforming Communities initiative, retiredfrom the position in March. Dondlinger has overseenthe development and implementation of KLC’s suc-cessful teams programs, a faith faculty developmentinitiative and seven local faith workshops. She also

LEADERSHIP LESSONS, PAGE BY PAGE.

Two of the Kansas Leadership Center’s founders, President & CEO Ed O’Malleyand Senior Fellow David Chrislip, are nearing completion of a book about thework of the KLC. “For the Common Good: Redefining Civic Leadership” sharesour belief that ‘civic leadership’ needs to become more purposeful, provocativeand engaging in order to cope with today's civic challenges and to help transformthe civic culture of our communities and regions. The real-life leadership dilemmasof five Kansans bring these ideas to life. Watch for it soon.


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implemented the faith facilitator program for 22individuals who were trained to go into UnitedMethodist Churches and work with them usingKLC’s civic leadership model and oversaw thecoach training of 14 United Methodist pastors.She will continue to serve as a civic and communityleadership coach for KLC and perform duties relatedto the leadership and faith grant for Kansas UnitedMethodist communities. Thane Chastain beganhis duties as the new faith program managerin late March.

TEAM MEMBERS TAKE STEP FORWARD.

Twenty KLC coaches recently received certificatessignifying their designation as certified Civic andCommunity Leadership Coaches. The certificationmeans the coaches have met standards developedby the KLC for training, practice and assessmentof coaching in civic and community settings. Thesestandards supplement and align with standardsof the coaching profession as developed by theInternational Coach Federation. The coaches are:Leon Atwell, Seth Bate, Greg Cole, Joyce McEwenCrane, Sue Dondlinger, Peggy Elliott, Darrell Hamlin,Suzanne Hawley, Andy Huckaba, Tim Link, GinaMaree, Greg Meissen, Carol Meyer, MarilynO’Hearne, Steve Radley, Sylvia Robinson, TeresaSchwab, Mary Kay Siefers, Jeanette Siemensand Troy Unruh.

KONZA CLUBS GROWING, DEVELOPING.

The number of KLC alumni connecting with othersin their communities who have also participatedin a KLC program continues to grow. Konza Clubsnow have champions in a dozen different commu-nities and counting. These clubs are designed toconnect KLC alumni to foster progress on civicissues, support each other and continue learningthe principles and competencies of civic leadership.Please see the KLC website for more information.

MOVING THE NEEDLE ON CIVIC CHANGE.

Two KLC programs aimed at fostering significantchange in Kansas communities launched earlierthis month The Visioneering Health AllianceLeadership Initiative aims to improve health andquality of life in the Wichita metro area and theProject 17 Leadership Initiative seeks to bolsterthe economy and quality of life in southeast Kansas(see page 18). The two efforts were chosen fromamong 21 statewide applicants for up to $1 millionworth of the KLC unique training on civic engagement.Participants in both programs, which meet againin August, will work with a team coach to identify,plan and implement their strategies.

NEW BUILDING TAKES SHAPE.

Construction continues on the newKansas Leadership Center and KansasHealth Foundation Conference Center,which will be complete and KLC’s newhome later this year. Progress on the36,000 square-foot flexible meetingspace for conferences, large-groupmeetings, small gatherings, lectures andleadership trainings can be followed athttp://opusdesignbuildkc.blogspot.com/.The Fall 2013 edition of the Journal willtell the story of the new space.


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THE LEADERSHIP LIBRARY

FILM EDITIONBOOKS ARE NOT THE ONLY PLACES WE CAN TO TURN TO FOR DEEP LEARNINGABOUT LEADERSHIP. WATCHING LEADERSHIP PLAY OUT ON FILM CAN ALSO PROVIDEKEEN INSIGHTS ABOUT WHAT IT TAKES TO LEAD FOR THE COMMON GOOD.

The InterruptersA film by Steve James and Alex Kotlowitz

The exercise of civic leadership, the KLC believes, requiresskillful intervention and engaging others to advance your purpose.This documentary profiles real-life “violence interrupters” for anorganization called CeaseFire in Chicago, which seeks to stopthe spread of violence as if it were an infectious disease.

The work of these interrupters, who tend to have violent pastsof their own, is the definition of skillful intervention. They stepinto perilous situations to defuse the tension between adver-saries – often people they know – and stop an altercation fromescalating. They work to develop relationships and expand thebandwidths of others, to help them move beyond violence.

Intervening in difficult situations requires courage and candor. Itmeans making conscious choices, acting experimentally, holdingto purpose, giving the work back, speaking from the heart and,even, raising the heat. While most of us will hopefully never bein situations this tense and threatening, the interrupters in thisfilm provide a glimpse into the power of personal interventionsin leadership and what it takes to be effective.

Leadership ideas to explore:Intervene Skillfully, Energize Others.

Have a book, film or other resource you’d like to see included in The Leadership Library?Please email your suggestions to Chris Green at: [email protected].


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LincolnStarring Daniel Day-Lewis, Sally Field and Tommy Lee Jones,Directed by Steven Spielberg

What does it take to advance a deeply held purpose in civicleadership? The path to true progress rarely runs a straightor comfortable road. This film shows how Abraham Lincoln(Day-Lewis) twisted arms, maneuvered and allowed forcompromise to secure the votes needed for congressionalapproval of the 13th Amendment, whose ratificationabolished slavery.

But it is one scene in particular that resonates long after themovie ends. Lincoln tries to sway firebrand abolitionist and U.S.Representative Thaddeus Stevens (Jones) into compromisinghis principle of equality to allow for passage of the amendmentto end slavery. When Stevens objects, citing the need to followa moral compass, Lincoln rebuts him by saying, to paraphrase:A compass will point you true north. But it won’t show you theswamps between you and there. If you don’t avoid the swampsand other obstacles, what’s the use of knowing true north?

Leadership ideas to explore: Choose among competing values(Manage Self); Hold to purpose (Intervene Skillfully); Work acrossfactions, Start where they are (Energize Others).

MoneyballStarring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill and Philip Seymour Hoffman,Directed by Bennett Miller

When your current way of operating can’t get you the resultsyou want, what do you do? When you’re Billy Beane (Pitt), generalmanager of the Oakland A’s baseball team, you think about theproblem differently, experiment and learn how to operate outsideyour comfort zone. After his cash-strapped franchise getspoached of its star players, Beane, with the help of an assistant(Hill), turns to using statistics to identify unheralded but afford-able players who can help his team rack up wins.

It’s an approach that carries considerable risk; Beane –who flamed out as a baseball prospect himself – alienates histraditionally minded scouts who can’t break old habits, receivesresistance from his manager (Hoffman) and faces the prospectof being the laughingstock of baseball if he’s wrong. But if he’sright, he’s seeking not just to win but to change the very wayMajor League’s franchises play the game of baseball.

Leadership ideas to explore: Explore tough interpretations,distinguish between technical and adaptive work (DiagnoseSituation); Experiment beyond your comfort zone (ManageSelf); Act experimentally (Intervene Skillfully).


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DOME

DAWNof a New Day

UNDER THE

The opening of the Kansas Legislature in January saw the largest class of first-time legislatorsin more than four decades. The following photographs show what it’s like to step into the role

of citizen legislator through the eyes of four newcomers: Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth;Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway; Rep. Roderick Houston of Wichita; and Rep. Blaine Finch of Ottawa.

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Sen. Steve Fitzgerald of Leavenworth worksin his new office on the first day of the session.Fitzgerald is one of 49 House members andfour senators who are serving for the first timein the Legislature. He is part of a chamber thatlooks quite different after several incumbentswere defeated during the past election cycle.

Rep. Roderick Houston of Wichita bowshis head during the House’s opening prayer.Houston is part of a significant influxof newcomers to the State Capitol thatcame about after federal judges redrewlegislative boundaries last June followinga redistricting dispute.

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Rep. Melissa Rooker of Fairway checksher messages outside the House chamber.Rooker is among nearly three dozen first-timelegislators – the bulk of the freshmen class --participating in KLC’s Leadership and Legacyin the Statehouse: A New Legislator’s Program.The extensive, seven-month offering isdesigned to address the unique challengesand opportunities facing freshmen lawmakers.

Reps. Shanti Gandhi of Topeka and BlaineFinch of Ottawa take the Oath of Office.The two freshmen, as well as Fitzgerald,Houston and Rooker, are among theparticipants in KLC’s Leadership andLegacy in the Statehouse program.


AN ADAPTIVE VIEWOF A TECHNICAL WORLD

I’m a recovering expert-holic. I’m addicted to solutions.I thrive at solving problems. Analyzing is almost a hobbyof mine. I loved math and science as a kid. I studiedengineering in college. I’ve worked in informationtechnology for 17 years. I’ve served on my city’splanning commission. And it makes me feel goodto put my expertise on display and to good use. Myself-worth has been wrapped up in these abilities.

But I wasn’t creating the future that I wanted formyself or my community. My influence was definedby the technical issues that I could solve. Too often,my skill sets were unnecessary and sometimeseven counterproductive. Something had to give.

Enter the Kansas Leadership Center. It speaksto the need to move beyond technical issues andto adaptive challenges. On one hand, that mademe vulnerable. If my technical expertise wasn’tnecessary, then what was my value? But on theother hand, it provided a way to grow beyondmy current limitations and frustrations.

It took me almost a year to understand the dichotomybetween technical and adaptive. I remember the firsttime I was asked to experiment with an adaptive chal-lenge. Experimentation is a technical thing. Aren’t Isupposed to be doing adaptive work? I didn’t get it.

But through perseverance, I began to understand.Applying adaptive thinking to just my professional lifecreated an unmanageable dichotomy in my life, andI discovered that my personal life equally yearnedfor it. With a holistic approach, I strengthened myadaptive and experimentation muscles. And to mysurprise, I started enjoying the very adaptive workthat I disliked throughout my technical life.

Where did that leave me? Lost and confused cometo mind. Overwhelmed fits me well. But today, I findthe future exhilarating. I listen for adaptive challenges.I tell my technical muscles to sit on the sidelines andyell at my adaptive muscles to get into the game.They fail more often than they succeed, but they aregetting stronger in the process. Malcolm Gladwellsays that we need to practice something for 10,000hours before we become highly skilled at something.He reminds me that I have a long way to go.

Lawrence Andre lives in the Johnson County communityof Mission and has served his city, county and regionfor nine years. He participated in KLC’s Context andCompetencies in 2011 and ExecCoach Kansas in 2012.Today, he helps others ask the questions that increasejoy, remove barriers, and ultimately create success intheir lives, projects, and teams.

VOICESOF

CIVIC LEADERSHIP

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WORDS TO LEAD BY:FROM LINE TO VERSE, POETRY OFFERSIMPORTANT LESSONS FOR LEADERSHIP, LIFE

All the arts connect us with parts of ourselves notalways in evidence when answering emails, sittingin meetings or delegating tasks. Writing is the onlyart that does it in words. Discoveries that articulatethemselves as they're revealed enhance our under-standing of our communities and ourselves. Further-more, poetry teaches us how to listen carefully: tothe words we read or write, and by extension, to thewords we speak or hear. “Let me not to the marriageof true minds/ Admit impediments,” Shakespearewrote in one of his most famous sonnets, illuminatinghow listening deeply dissolves what separates us.

As we follow our callings to lead in our communities,churches and synagogues, schools, workplaces andgovernment, we can turn to poetry for help withthe following:

Remember Our Values: Many people begin leadershippositions with the cleanest of intentions. Then realityhits: the co-chair flakes out, the office rent goes up,the team in charge of outreach falls into a vat of inertia,and the foundation supporting the work decides to takeits investment another direction. The pressure canbuild to the point where even the best leader forgetsthe path that brought her here. “Hold on to what youbelieve/ even if it’s a tree that stands by itself,” readsa Hopi poem, reminding us to steer by our values.

Act Ethically: Great damage is done by people inleadership positions who don't know their own minds,aren't clear about their biases or intentions, or can'tsee through their blindnesses. While a poem isn't acure-all for all the unethical acts of the world's leaders,a poem can aim us toward more ethical action. Song-writer Greg Greenway in his very poetic song “A RoadWorth Walking Down,” writes of seeing what he waspreviously blind to, which led him to wonder aboutother ways in which he was blind to the issues aroundhim. Such awareness is key to living ethnically.

Access Wisdom: How do we know what we know?So often, the most important knowledge in our heartsand minds isn't right on the surface, while old beliefsand, particularly, old habits die hard. Accessing thecore wisdom that runs down our spines takes bothwill and surrender, paying close attention and lettinggo of preconceived notions to make room for what's

most true to show itself. As e.e. cummings writesof what we know most deeply, “(here is the rootof the root and the bud of the bud/ and the skyof the sky of a tree called life; which grows/ higherthan the soul can hope or mind can hide).”

Cultivate Courage and Inspiration: “In every heartthere is a coward and a procrastinator,” writes MaryOliver, who then reminds us that “In every heart thereis a god of flowers, just waiting/ to stride out of a cloudand lift its wings.” Poetry can give us inspiration aswell as help us cultivate courage. Through images,rhythms and what's between the lines in a poem,we can see, through what lives in every heart, howwe're not alone, the work is big, and we have ourpart. We can also see how, despite all the challenges,there are occasional wings to help us lead.

Learn How To Live: Poetry can show us our bestanswers to the most important question we can ask:how to live? Consider the late Kansas poet WilliamStafford's poem, “Being a Person,” which ends with,“How you stand here is important. How you/ listenfor the next things to happen. How you breathe.”This poem reminds how the most effective wayto lead is to stand with integrity, listen carefullyand look deeply, and keep breathing.

Expect Surprise: Poetry, most of all, surprises us,demonstrating ways in which language can show ussomething new of the world, or something there allalong. David Whyte surprises us in talking about darktimes and being alone in his poem “Sweet Darkness,”in which he writes, “anything or anyone/ that does notbring you alive/ is too small for you.” Poetry is com-posed of surprise: not just making the invisible visible,but more importantly, making the visible visible.

Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg is the 2009-2013 Poet Laureateof Kansas and author or editor of 16 books, including thenonfiction book “Needle in the Bone: How a HolocaustSurvivor and Polish Resistance Fighter Beat the Oddsand Found Each Other” and the novel “The Divorce Girl.”Founder of Transformative Language Arts at GoddardCollege, where she teaches, Caryn leads communitywriting workshops widely, and, with singer Kelley Hunt,Brave Voice writing and singing retreats. Her websiteis www.CarynMirriamGoldberg.com.

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T H E N E X T C H A P T E R

In a region where stories abound, 17 counties in southeast Kansan seekto tackle daunting problems and write a narrative of a better future

By Chris Green

COFFEY MIAMI ANDERSONFRANKLIN ALLEN NEOSHOWILSON CRAWFORD LABETTEBOURBON GREENWOOD LINNCHEROKEE ELK CHAUTAUQUAMONTGOMERY WOODSON

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Turn a corner and there will be a marker of the region’sprofound history, one marked by bloody frontier battlesover slavery that took place before and during the CivilWar and brought to life by places such the Fort ScottNational Historic Site and the John Brown MuseumState Historic Site in Osawatomie.

Pass by its fields and trees and stumble upon small,tight-knit communities with graceful, century-old andolder buildings standing sentry in downtowns. Thereare sprawling town squares filled by courthouses,gazebos or bandstands, which during the warmermonths of the year may brim to life with concertsby community bands or festivals.

Head another direction and one might see signs ofthe resources that Kansans once summoned forthfrom the land in mighty quantities — coal, lead, zincand natural gas — and the railroad hubs and industrial-ization that have helped fuel the nation’s growth.

The vast mineral wealth of the past century broughtlaborers from around the world to work the mines,smelters and other industries, including an influxfrom the Balkans region of southeastern Europe.The diversity created by that immigration is stillcelebrated in the region at festivals such as LittleBalkans Days in Pittsburg.

In some places, there might be still echoes of thetumultuous political history that sometimes markedparts of the region — including labor unrest — and

a fiercely unique spirit that has long distinguishedthe southeast from other parts of Kansas.

For decades, though, one of the dominant narrativeshas also been the region’s struggles, which includeeconomic difficulties, deeply entrenched poverty andindicators that it’s the least healthy region of the state.These days, though, efforts are taking shape to turnthe page to a new chapter for this intriguing, surprisingand colorful region of Kansas.

People who live in the counties that make up southeastKansas have started the process of writing a new storyfor the future. It is an effort that could change not onlyhow others talk about the region, but also the very sto-ries that people who live there tell about themselves.

While there’s no denying that there are difficultchallenges to confront here, it’s not the only the storyto be told. Look throughout the region and one canalso see a number of bright spots or trends emergingthat represent resources to leverage or provide signsof hope for better days ahead.

It is these positive sparks that the residents ofsoutheast Kansas will attempt to make use of orbuild on as they create momentum for makingprogress on the region’s deepest, most dauntingproblems. In the process, they will be working tofashion a new narrative to accompany what is hopedto be significant, sustained gains for the regionover the coming decades.

Roam long enough through thediverse and often beautiful landscape

that makes up southeast Kansasand one is sure to find

A COMPELLING STORY.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP: A tree is silhouettedagainst the sunset in Labette County in SoutheastKansas;An old school house sits near Elk City Lake;B&WTrailer Hitches employee MartinVega workson towing products at the Humboldt firm, where hehas been employed for five years.The southeast Kansasregion has a number of assets, including a profoundhistory and a solid industrial base, to draw on asit attempts to significantly improve its economy.

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COUNTY HEALTH OUTCOMES RANKINGS 2013{1} healthiest to {1O2} least healthy

COFFEY {24}, MIAMI {30}, FRANKLIN {57}, ANDERSON {67},CRAWFORD {81}, LINN {84}, WILSON {85}, ALLEN {86}, BOURBON {89},GREENWOOD {91}, LABETTE {93}, NEOSHO {94}, MONTGOMERY {96},CHEROKEE {98}, CHAUTAUQUA {100}, ELK {101}, WOODSON {102},

PER CAPITA INCOME:

$21,800state average is $26,545

PERSONS BELOW POVERTY

14.4%state average is 12.6%, U.S. average is 14.3%

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ROUGHLY


FOR DECADES,

One of the dominant narratives hasbeen the region’s struggles, which includeeconomic difficulties, deeply entrenchedpoverty and indicators that it’s the leasthealthy region in the state.These days,efforts are taking shape to turn the pageto a new chapter for this intriguing,

surprising and colorful region of Kansas.

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S Y D N E Y H U LV E Y, 1 1 , of Columbus pets a horse before riding at the Horses of Hope Riding Center in BaxterSprings.The center opened in 1997 to provide equine-assisted therapeutic services in southeast Kansas and the four-statearea. It received grant funds in 2012 from the Community Foundation of Southeast Kansas for Phase 2 of a healthyliving program collaboration with public schools and the Kansas Health Foundation.Active community foundationsrepresent an important resource in southeast Kansas for meeting emerging community needs.


REFRESHING COLLABORATIONAt the top of the list in terms of regional assets forsoutheast Kansas are the people who live and workthere, and their commitment to making it a betterplace to live and work.

Ottawa City Manager Richard Nienstedt says he seesthe communities of southeast Kansas “surviving andmoving ahead,” even in a national economic climatethat can produce difficult headwinds.

“I think what you’re seeing is people who really under-stand that if they can’t be better, they can’t help theircommunity be better,” says Nienstedt, who workedin Fort Scott for 14 years before coming to Ottawa in2007. “And they know their community can’t progressunless they are involved and getting their hands dirty.”

Communities such as Pittsburg and Iola have launchedvisioning processes to set courses for better futures.Active community foundations, such as the CommunityFoundation of Southeast Kansas, bolster charities andaddress emerging community needs.

Churches across the region, too, are working to im-prove their communities and are stepping into newroles. The Fort Scott Church of the Nazarene recentlyopened a coffee shop in the community’s downtownas a way to reach out to area youth. First UnitedMethodist Church of Independence has worked witheducators and social workers to provide a programthat boosts child brain development through increasedphysical activity. Meanwhile, Eureka United MethodistChurch has launched a program to help parents withyoung children by providing care and activities on dayswhen school starts late for teacher in-service trainingabout once a month. All three churches have partici-pated in the Kansas Leadership Center’s Leadership& Faith program.

Farmers’ markets, community gardens, races andother amenities and initiatives that support healthierlifestyle behaviors are springing up throughout theregion. The first-ever Portland Alley Marathon —named for the cement produced at plants along theroute from Chanute to Humboldt and Iola — happenedlast November and promoted regional collaborationrather than rivalry.

Kelly Peak, special projects director of developmentfor the Southeast Kansas Education Service Center atGreenbush, says she sees examples of communities

where there are high levels of engagement inmaking life better there.

“There are people in communities in southeastKansas who care about their communities, andthey care about the children and families in theircommunities. I think they’re engaging in waysthat are forward-thinking and with the intentionof building a strong and vibrant community.”

One example of that commitment is the interestthat southeast Kansans are displaying in developingstronger leadership skills. Not only are there thrivingcommunity leadership programs, including severalcountywide classes, but southeast Kansans arepartnering with the Kansas Leadership Center tobuild up their civic leadership skills to better addressthe region’s challenges.

Participants in the Project 17 Leadership Initiative,named for the 17 counties involved in seeking economicimprovement in southeast Kansas, went through theirfirst round of immersion-style KLC training in Apriland will meet again in August. Their efforts includeworking with a team coach to identify, plan and imple-ment a strategy to make progress on the economyand quality of life. The initiative was chosen fromamong 21 applicants for the opportunity to receiveleadership training from the KLC valued at up to $1million. The goal of the partnership is to help turnthe tide on the region’s tough public issues.

The Project 17 regionalization initiative to improveeconomic opportunities and quality of life in southeastKansas started at the behest of four state senatorsin the region and sprung forward from an economicsummit in 2011.

Two of those lawmakers — Senate Vice PresidentJeff King, of Independence, and Sen. Pat Apple, ofLouisburg — remain in the Legislature. But redistricting(which altered Apple’s district to include just partsof Miami and Johnson counties) and primary battlesbetween conservative and moderate Republicansresulted in two other lawmakers, former Sens. BobMarshall and Dwayne Umbarger, not returning. Sens.Jacob LaTurner of Pittsburg, Caryn Tyson of Parker,and Forrest Knox of Altoona, now also representthe region.

People in southeast Kansas have long turned workedtogether to support each other when they have facedsignificant needs and demands. Rural schools, particu-larly those located in areas with high rates of poverty

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and declining enrollment, have a long history ofcollaboration, Peak says. Greenbush, for example,works as a service center to provide equal educationalopportunities for all kids, partnering with school districtsto identify common needs, shared interests andcollaborative solutions and be a resource for kids,families, teachers and schools.

Coming together to do the right things for othersin tough times is just something people do here.“I’m excited for Project 17 and maybe some newideas that refresh that collaborative spirit with somenew concepts to really engage people in buildingthe competencies for leadership,” Peak says.

MEANINGFUL CHANGE ‘TAKES TIME’The sizes of the communities throughout southeastKansas also provide some unique advantages, saysGary Palmer, director of development at Fort ScottCommunity College. Pittsburg, with a little morethan 20,000 people, is the region’s largest city. Othersignificant cities range in size from close to 1,000to as many as 12,000.

Palmer says that people living in these manageablysized communities can more easily tap into oneanother — and the resources that can be shared —on a personal level. Smaller communities allow forthe kind of genuine, quality interpersonal relationships,connectedness and support that are desired but muchmore difficult to attain in other, more populous partsof the country.

For example, Palmer says, in a large metropolis,many have access to health care, but in the SEKand smaller communities, people are likely to havea physician who remembers you, your interestsand sometimes even your chart. “You can counton each other, and you can team together to utilizeeach other’s resources and abilities and accomplishmore together than you could by yourself.”

Another factor is the invigoration of younger southeastKansans who care about what happens in their com-munities and the region. Several young professionalsgroups have sprouted up, and Nienstedt says thathe’s increasingly noticed people in their 30s and 40smore actively exercising leadership in his communityand making progress on quality of life issues. “I justthink that generation is really concerned about the

current leadership screwing up this world. I thinkthey look at Washington, D.C., and say, ‘We don’twant our community to look like that.’”

Joyce Cussimanio, who lives in Girard and works atNeosho County Community College in Chanute, alsomentions the fact that she knows a number of youngSEK citizens who are moving back to the area whoprovide additional reasons for hope. These individualsmay be able to see greater possibilities from havingleft the area for a time, have a different perspectiveand a certain energy and commitment for creating thebest of both worlds. “They have chosen to return;they see the challenges of making a living here andusing their degrees in meaningful ways. They havebeen to the big city and want the opportunities of citylife with the simplicity of the rural area of their youth.”

The significant presence of educational institutionsalso represents a resource for the region to tap intomore. Not only is there Greenbush, but there is alsoa Kansas Board of Regents institution in PittsburgState University, as well as Ottawa University andsix community colleges within its area.

New assets keep springing up, too, such as a newhealth science building at Labette Community Collegein Parsons, which is scheduled to be completed inthe summer of 2013. The 28,000 square foot LEED(Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)certified building will have a hospital simulation laband will house nursing, respiratory therapy, radiogra-phy and diagnostic medical sonography programs.

Such developments are an indication of strong healthservices being offered in the region, such as at theCommunity Health Center of Southeast Kansas.The federally qualified health center not only has agrowing Pittsburg clinic that takes medical, dentaland behavioral health appointments, but it also hasclinic locations in Columbus, Iola and Baxter Springs.

Shawn Naccarato, director of government andcommunity relations for Pittsburg State, says collegesand universities provide communities with importantcultural opportunities, such as arts and sporting events.”These university events also provide an importantavenue for developing community through sharedexperiences and an opportunity to connect withone another,” Naccarato says. In some communities,high schools provide a rallying point.

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CLOCKWISE FROM TOP Participants run thePortland Alley marathon between Iola and Chanute,one of the growing number of activities promotinghealthier lifestyles in southeast Kansas; Student LucasLinden works on a Harley Davidson motorcycle atthe Fort Scott Harley Davidson Technician TrainingCenter in Frontenac;The historic St. Francis deHieronymo Catholic Church in the Neosho Countytown of St. Paul. Higher education institutions andactive churches represent two resources for southeastKansas to leverage in improving its economy andhealth outcomes.

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THE COUNTIES OF SOUTHEAST KANSAS/PROJECT 17

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Franklin Miami

Coffey Anderson Linn

Greenwood Woodson Allen Bourbon

ElkWilson Neosho Crawford

Chautauqua Montgomery Labette Cherokee


POPULATION:

IN 2010 CENSUS

Roughly equal to the populations of Topeka and Kansas City, Kansas, combined.Represents 9.5 percent of Kansas population (2.89 million)

1900 POPULATION: 356,7531920 POPULATION: 398,1061960 POPULATION: 288,9381990 POPULATION: 265,997

LAND AREA:

SQUARE MILES

(bigger than the states of Maryland,Vermont, New Hampshire and Massachusetts).Accounts for about 13 percent of the state’s land area.

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Higher educational institutions play a key economicdevelopment role in helping build up businesses andby producing students who are better trained to filljobs at those companies. “I think that’s the role thathigher education can play by helping folks move outof that need for state subsidy and move them towardsa job,” Naccarato says. “Once we have more folks inthe labor force, it will be easier to build businesseshere and attract them from the outside.”

Even though the heyday of mining here is longpast, southeast Kansas retains an impressive base ofindustries to build on. And there are, indeed, alreadypockets where there are jobs that need to be filled.

One can also find a number of successful, uniqueor noteworthy businesses operating in the region.Among them: B&W Trailer Hitches in Humboldt; CobaltBoats in Neodesha; Watco Companies, a rail serviceprovider, in Pittsburg; and Key Industries, whichmakes bib overalls and other clothing, in Fort Scott.

On the other hand, even with its assets, many peopleare in poverty or not self-sufficient in southeast Kansas.But the increasing willingness of people being able torecognize those issues also represents a step forward,says Richard Jackson of the Ottawa-based East CentralKansas Economic Opportunity Corp., which works toeliminate the causes and conditions of poverty in itsservice area.

“The number one aspect of dealing with poverty orjob creation, or unemployment or drugs or gangs, Iguess, is recognizing that there is a problem,” Jacksonsays. “That there is a concern that needs to be dealtwith. I think so many times (people) want to say ‘ignoreit’ or say that ‘this doesn’t happen in my community.’”

But seeing meaningful progress on difficult problemsdecades in the making is probably going to take time,says Tony Encarnacion of Parsons.

When Leadership Labette’s community leadershipprogram class visited the Capitol two years ago,Encarnacion says it had the opportunity to sit downand have a substantial conversation with Gov. SamBrownback. He challenged the group to come up withsome ideas that would increase social and economicoutcomes for those on temporary state assistance,which ultimately helped spur a cooperative effort backhome among a number of agencies, organizationsand elected officials.

“It will be really interesting to see what happens,”Encarnacion says. “You know, we realize with someof these things, you aren’t going to see a change im-mediately, but you might see a change in ten years.”

Being better able to both tackle tough, deeply en-trenched problems while also being able to recognizeand talk about the good things about southeastKansas is also something people in the region hopeto get better at over time.

“I think success tends to breed more success, andI think one of the most important things that we cando is to do a good job of telling the story when thereare successes,” Naccarato says.

It’s also clearly true that there are those with doubtsabout both efforts like Project 17 and the abilityof southeast Kansas to move the needle on thesesignificant, persistent problems. For some skeptics,economic improvement may not seem like it is hap-pening anywhere fast enough and they want to seetangible results more quickly. There are also surelysome for whom regionalization efforts seem akinto rearranging deck chairs on the Titanic – the ship’sgoing down, no matter what.

But Kathryn Richard, regional director of the KansasSmall Business Development Center at PittsburgState, says the region has a lot going for it, includingexisting resources for economic development. Butpeople here will also need to avoid a “doom andgloom” outlook that overlooks good things happeningin southeast Kansas, too.

“Overall, there are a lot of people that are hopefuland who are willing to work toward the bettermentof southeast Kansas,” Richard says. “We just haveto tell our story,” to those in the region as well asoutside of the region.

For hopeful southeast Kansans, like those involvedin the Project 17 leadership initiative, addressingthe roots of the region’s problems means both awillingness to acknowledge the tough challengesat hand and a recognition that there are indeed goodresources to utilize or build upon. Much like explorers,they’ll be venturing into unchartered territory torisk sketching out a future that can’t yet be entirelyknown, rather than accepting that the way thingscurrently are – a reality that disappoints far too many-- is all that will ever be.

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BUILDING A BETTER SOUTHEAST KANSAS:Resources and Reasons to Hope for a Brighter Future

STRONG small-community health care services

Growing interest in CIVIC LEADERSHIP development opportunities

PARTNERSHIP and collaboration withing and between communities

Growth of activities and offerings that encourage HEALTHIER LIFESYLES

CARING PEOPLE who want to build stronger, more vibrant communities

Impressive industrial base and unique, ENTERPRISING COMPANIES

ACTIVE COMMUNITY foundations meeting community need

Increased engagement of YOUNG PROFESSIONALS

COMMUNITIES small enough to foster strong, deep relationships and connections

Existing job OPPORTUNITIES

EMERING EFFORTS to alleviate poverty and increase self-suffiency

CHURCHES taking on community concerns

Strong EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES and institutions, including Greenbush,

Pittsburg State, Ottawa University and six community colleges.


Russell Conner, a carpenter at the Fort Scott NationalHistoric Site, looks over the grounds in the morning.Southeast Kansas’ rich history reaches back to thefrontier days before Kansas became a state. Its heritageincludes bloody battles over slavery before and duringthe CivilWar, an influx of immigrants who workedto extract the region’s mineral wealth and tumultuouspolitics such as labor unrest.

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VIEWPOINT:Friends and Neighborsin this thing together

Editor’s note: JaredWitt is a 1989 graduate of Fort Scott HighSchool, graduated from Ozark Christian College in Joplin andhas a master of divinity and doctorate in religious studies fromYale University. He worked for years in the northeastern U.S. be-fore returning with his family to become the pastor of Fort Scott’sFirst Presbyterian Church in July 2012. He is a 2012 alumnus ofLeadership and Faith -- Southeast Kansas.This note was originallyan email addressed to Gary Palmer, director of development atFort Scott Community College.

The reason I'm hopeful about developments in our area isthat so many people are working together to find new waysforward. If we listen to some, this shouldn't be a vibrant andinteresting place to live. And yet here we all are, collaboratingto find workable solutions for our communities. It takes hopenot to listen to the voices that say, "Only big cities matter."

Of course, there is plenty to discourage and frustrate a person,let's be honest. There are real challenges that might temptus to despair. Optimism and hope don't require that we stickour heads in the sand about the challenges. In fact, we needmore honesty about obstacles to community flourishing.

But what I see is good things happening because peoplearen't waiting around on others to fix problems. I see localpeople finding local solutions to real problems. Optimismmeans we can't settle for low levels of life satisfaction("Oh well, I guess this is all we can hope for"). Optimismmeans that we can't despair, as if the future is set in stoneand nothing can change.

No, optimistic people are people who believe the futurecan be different, and better. Optimistic people believe thatcommitted people working together can actually alter whattomorrow will look like.

So, we celebrate the good trend lines around us. And I thinkthe only thing that helps me stay at it, amidst all the challenges,is that we're all friends and neighbors in this thing together.Seeing all the ways others are contributing creates positivepeer pressure. It makes me want to be a part of the action.It's hard work and takes patience, but it's also deeply satisfying.


C H A N G E

AG E N TSWe all know them. They’re plugged-in and effective. They get things done. Label them however you want.

Movers and shakers, go-to people, change agents. They build the relationships, leverage the capabilities of others, exerciseinfluence and move the needle. Here are three you may recognize from Kansas’ three largest communities and their insights.

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Modest and self-effacing to a fault, John Dicus personifies legitimacy. A Topeka community colleague said of him, “I considerhis support to be like the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.” Dicus’ passion for Topeka is manifested in Heartland Visioning,the Capitol Federal Natatorium and the large regional swim meets it attracts, the Kansas Avenue project and helping establisha child care center for employees of several Topeka businesses.The Dicus default is care and concern for others and a willing-ness to mentor. Throw in a longstanding family business legacy (his father and grandfather helped create Capitol Federal) andthe result is something genuinely Kansan.

“THIS IS THE COMMUNITYWHERE I HAVE CHOSEN

TO LIVE AND WORK, AND IFEEL AN OBLIGATION TO

MAKE IT THE BEST I CAN.”

JOHN DICUS Topeka Chairman, President/CEO of Capitol Federal Savings

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Birch is fluent in the infrastructure of civic engagement: visioning, strategic planning and communicating a message. Shederives joy from putting all kinds of people in a room and helping them work together. You’ll find Birch’s fingerprints on theJohnson County Education Research Triangle, Overland Park Convention Center, Prairiefire Museum, 2010 Kansas transportationplan and the next generation of Johnson County leaders. She’s at her best when deftly clearing hurdles that lead to the goal.“I’m not so good at checkers, would rather play chess.”

THE FILTER SHEAPPLIES WHEN ASKEDTO GET INVOLVED?“WILL MY ENGAGEMENTMAKE A DIFFERENCE?DOES IT MOVETHIS COMMUNITYFORWARD? DOES ITNEED TO HAPPEN?”

MARY BIRCH Johnson County Government Relations Coordinator, Lathrop & Gage, LLP

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You need not travel very far in downtown Wichita to see evidence of Jeff Fluhr’s handiwork. Since arriving in Wichita in 2008,Fluhr has been instrumental in moving downtown back into the consciousness of Wichita’s citizenry and has transformed thepublic agenda item from “old business” to “new business.” Think of Jeff Fluhr not as the violinist but as the orchestra conductor,managing collective engagement from the private sector and local government to stimulate new investment and interest indowntown Wichita. No longer is downtown Wichita a moribund afterthought. Among the efforts Fluhr Invests his emotionand intellect are Project Downtown Initiative, Block One, Visioneering Wichita and Young Professionals of Wichita.

“ I ENJOY FOSTERINGPARTNERSHIPS AROUNDAN IDEA/CONCEPT. ITIS PHENOMENAL TO BEINVOLVED IN DERIV INGA PROCESS AND THENSEE THAT PROCESS RESULTIN THE IDEA/CONCEPTBECOMING REALITY.”

JEFF FLUHR Wichita President, Wichita Downtown Development Corporation

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Tr a n s f o rm i ng H i g h e r E duc at i o n

THE

BIGPICTURE:

The future of Kansas and its economy will be profoundly shaped by its colleges and universities. In a time of rapidtechnological change, tuition increases, rising expenses, the challenge of competing for top-notch faculty and increasedpressure on state government support, Kansans from all segments of the system are attempting to exercise leadershipand transform higher education for the 21st century. These are the stories of five individuals who share a commitment

to moving the needle for the betterment of their institutions – and for the common good of the state.

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MAK ING QUANTUM LEAPS :

Kansas State pres identworking to mobil izeuniversity on majorlong-term goal

By Patsy Terrell

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When it came time to plan outKansas State University’s placein the future, President Kirk Schulzand the university communityset their sights on not justimprovement, but transformation.

A “Visionary Plan” calls for Kansas State plan to berecognized as one of nation's Top 50 Public ResearchUniversities by 2025. Developed over an 18-monthplanning process, it must be accomplished over morethan a decade and aims to change what the universitylooks like in some very significant ways.

It is part of an effort, championed by Schulz, to aspirefor something greater than what could be accom-plished over the course of something like a five-yearstrategic plan. In mapping out a “transforming plan,”Schulz says, the university is going out far enoughthat people don’t have to worry about the effort “dayto day.” This allows people to dream “and not justthink of incremental change but quantum change.

“I’ve never seen an organization take a major leap for-ward without an aggressive, stretching goal; significantinvolvement by all the people in the organization inhow to achieve that goal; and then constant communi-cation back about progress,” Schulz says. “The 2025plan has all three of those elements. I don’t believeyou can do any of it without all three parts being there.”

The 2025 process is being driven, Schulz says, bythe university’s quest to be more nationally recognizedand to leverage “opportunity” that would come withthat. He says being nationally recognized will net betteroffers for graduates and more career opportunitiesfor faculty and staff.

But he says the connection between research andstudents was not obvious to everyone. “Kansas Statehas a history of being very student oriented, and yetwe are talking about expanding our research and schol-arship activities — two items which can seem at firstto be contradictory,” he says. After much discussionwith faculty, staff and students, some consensus hasbeen reached that a faculty who is active in researchcan deliver a more up-to-date class.

Creating a plan for change is no easy feat in aninstitution with about 5,000 employees and 24,000students. It requires not just direction from thepresident, but conscious efforts to engage andenergize others in the planning.

“We took a lot of time in the development of the2025 plan to make sure everybody in our campuscommunity had the opportunity to really participatein the development of the plan, critique it and hadsome time to digest it,” says Schulz.

As might be expected, one of the challenges to anysuch goal is financial. Moving the university forwardis going to require university officials to step outsideof comfort zones. “If we're going to accomplish biggerand better things, we're going to have to find creativeways that don't involve just going to the State Capitoland just getting state dollars,” says Schulz. That hasmost immediately meant fundraising private dollars,which has been a focus for Schulz.

Relying on private funding is a new approach forsome. “Many of our new programs and facilities oncampus are being funded with philanthropic gifts to theinstitution, which means that we have to be workingvery closely with donors to secure needed monies,”he says. “There are still many people who feel thatthese initiatives should be funded with state funds.”

But the trend toward private funding is a national one,and Schulz has devoted a considerable amount of hisenergy to raising money, energizing donors to buy intoKansas State’s vision for its future. Donations haveincreased dramatically, and he credits the 2025 planas part of the reason. “People give money for a varietyof things, but if someone is going to give you 10 milliondollars, they're going to want to see you're goingsomewhere, that you're going to try and aspire tosomething great.”

Schulz uses social media and a monthly letter to thestaff and faculty to make sure everyone knows whathe is doing to advance the plan. “I've been involvedin the process all the way from the beginning,” Schulzsays. “I'm invested in the plan like anyone else.”

His role as president is just one part of the puzzle,though. “I believe part of the transformation we’reseeing, where the campus is getting excited and we’reseeing these increased dollar figures and increasedstudents, is because everybody on campus has thatlittle bit of a feeling that ‘hey I participated in settingthis up,’” he says. “I think that’s absolutely criticalto our success.” He says you’d be hard pressed tofind anyone on campus who can’t tell you the goalof 2025.

W

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Nonetheless, he knows some people are taking await-and-see attitude. “I believe it’s an evolutionaryprocess,” he says. “I think we have more peopleinvested in it now than we did two years ago, butit would be disingenuous of me to say, ‘Oh yeah,everybody’s equally invested.’” Although peoplemay acknowledge a need for something different,it’s still difficult. “Most of campus certainly knowsthat we need to change, but there is always someuncertainty in everyone about what that changewill mean for them personally,” he says.

Balancing the needs of everyone in a large institutionis complex. “You have to manage the change in a waythat takes the people who are brand new and getsthem inspired to say ‘hey lets go out there and dogreat things,’ and the people who have invested theircareers in an institution to say, ‘hey I think this is reallya good step’ as well,” he says. “It’s a continual process.”

Schulz knows change is not without risk and is cautiousabout not losing the intangibles that create a sense ofbelonging throughout the Kansas State community. Hedoesn’t want to get to 2025 and be ranked in the Top50 but have people say Kansas State has lost its way.

One of his biggest concerns is keeping faculty andstaff on board, especially when some haven’t hadraises in five years. “Morale of our employees is the

biggest single issue,” Schulz says. “We have talentedpeople at K-State, and many of them could easily gosomewhere else to work — so how we keep our bestand brightest faculty and staff is also a challenge ina tight fiscal environment.”

Kansas State will spend $150-175 million on academicinfrastructure in the next three years. Most of thatmoney will be privately funded and a result of theplanning process. He envisions that in 2025, KansasState will, “be a better national brand.” The physicalfootprint of the university will look different with up-dated buildings and improvements while maintainingthe current feel. He expects more masters’ and doc-toral students, more geographic and ethnic diversity,more international flavor and more faculty membersfrom outside the United States.

Schulz wants to hold to purpose by having everydecision be filtered through the concept of the2025 plan, and that begins in his office. Schulz hopesthat the lofty vision expressed in the plan will excitepeople in the university community around headingtoward new frontiers.

“We’re trying to inspire people with the 2025plan,” Schulz says. “Inspired people do moreand achieve more.”

S C H U L Z ’ S V I E W S O N L E A D E R S H I P

Involve everyone and take your time:When people are part of developing something from the ground up, “they’re going to go out

there and personally make it happen and I think that’s absolutely critical to our success.”

Stick with it:“You’ve got to keep people engaged and involved in the process, the successes, where

we’re going, all those things, so that’s a significant challenge. It’s not like you check off a box and saywe’re done the planning and now we can move on to something else. It’s a continual process.”

Encourage leadership in others:“I want to bring in good people and truly allow them the freedom and flexibility to do their

assigned jobs,” Schulz says. “That's one of the key things any leader needs to do.”

Create a system that allows for new ideas:“We need to make sure ideas are percolated through the system so that if we choose

not to do something, it's because we made a deliberate decision not to do it, not becausewe have such a convoluted set of processes it never got to our attention.”

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C R E AT I N G B E T T E R F U T U R E S

Driven to bolsterstudents and rural areas,administrator shinesspotlight oncommunity colleges

By Brian Whepley

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“ W E H AV E T O D E C I D E W H AT ’ SI M P O R TA N T T O U S C O L L E C T I V E LY.I S H AV I N G A N E D U C AT E D P O P U L A C EW O R T H T H E I N V E S T M E N T ? ”

Herbert Swender , Garden City Community College

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n Herbert Swender’s family, higher educationbegan at community college. The Garden CityCommunity College president’s mother, afterhaving four kids, went to Neosho CommunityCollege, became an X-ray technician, went onto earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees, taught

at the college and earned her doctorate. “I took Englishcomp from my mom at Neosho CC,” said Swender,whose father, siblings and two children are communitycollege grads.

He has spent three decades teaching at andadministering community colleges: Allen Countyand Independence in Kansas, Frank Phillips Collegein Texas and Garden City starting in 2011. Severalthings drew him to and made him stick withcommunity colleges.

One is the more immediate impact education and aperson – an instructor, a financial aid counselor, even acollege president – can have on a student. Another isthe vital role he believes the colleges play in the healthof communities like Garden City and states like Kansas– the rural environment he grew up in and values.

“The American community college is such a portalfor society and for communities. I challenge you tofind one community that’s thriving that doesn’t haveaccess to education, and likely a community college,”Swender said.

Access means not only geographic distance butaffordability, degree programs, workforce trainingand opportunities.

“Universities have selective admissions and canset the ACT bar at 23,” says Swender, his voiceresonating as he digs into a topic he cares deeplyabout. Measures and tests can be barriers. “Well,we have a lot of 13s walking the halls, but we alsohave high school valedictorians. What we providethat 13, though, is an opportunity to make a difference,to move from tax-taker to taxpayer. The singlemom, age 31, with two kids ...”

“It’s too easy to ‘cream,’ where you take the best andforget the rest,” he said. “At the community college,the past is prologue; what you want to do in the futureis what matters.”

Getting that message across can be challenging,as decision-makers sometimes lack the context andbackground to hear it. Some in leadership positionsin education or government, he said, haven’t seenjust how much difference an associate’s degree ornurse’s assistant or mechanic’s training can makein a life. And that can make conversations aboutcommunity colleges’ value difficult.

One of Swender’s charges when taking over was to bea visible and active advocate for GCCC and communitycolleges. He’s done that locally, partnering in economicdevelopment and forming a strong relationship withthe Garden City public schools, especially as theyimplement a state law encouraging students to obtaintechnical and career training at community colleges.He’s done that on the state level, traveling to Topekato meet with senators and representatives, thecommerce secretary, agriculture officials and otherswho can affect community colleges. And he’s takenthe rural education message to national conferencesand to Washington.

“It’s about fairness, and that’s the message I’ve sharedwith White House policymakers,” he said. “Our nationcannot survive without a successful rural economy.”

An initiative that raised GCCC’s profile – and caughtWashington’s attention – came early last year whenthe college spearheaded a study of Pell Grants thatdefined the extent – and stakes – of the grants torural America. The program grew tremendously inrecent years, and funding has been debated. A studyof 17 Kansas community colleges by the college andresearchers at the University of Alabama’s EducationPolicy Center found the grants are now a majorsource of assistance in rural education, particularlyfor women. Grants supported nearly half the creditsKansas community college students earned. Thenumber of women receiving grants grew 70 percentbetween 2008 and 2010.

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At GCCC, about half of its 3,000 students receiveworkforce training, for nursing, firefighting, lawenforcement and other trades. The rest are on thecredit-transfer track, many prepping to completedegrees elsewhere. CNN Money ranked GCCC24th in the nation, among 786 community colleges,for student success.

“The direction for this college is we’re going toexpand our workforce programs,” Swender said.In today’s economy, the trend is jobs come wherethe trained people are, instead of people movingto the jobs, he said. And that’s means a trainedworkforce can attract economic developmentand sustain rural communities like Garden City.

The college recently started an oil technologyprogram to meet oilfield needs, its first wholly newprogram in 17 years. New programs are challenging,because there’s not much “venture capital to workwith,” but community colleges have agility on theirside. “We can change a curriculum, we can enhanceand modify and respond to the needs immediately,”he said. “You need more welders for horizontalpipe welding; we can gin it up.”

During Swender’s tenure, GCCC has substantiallyreorganized its administrative structure, which isn’teasy for all involved. Learning about the peoplehe leads helps him lead, because “it’s harder tobe critical of someone when you know them.”By that he doesn’t mean change won’t occur butthat it occurs with collegiality and understanding.“The greatest challenges come on the people side,motivating, guiding and retaining the good ones,”he acknowledged, and it’s the challenge most likelyto cost him sleep at night.

Swender sees educational resources as a questionof values as much as money.

“We have to decide what’s important to us collec-tively. Is having an educated populace worth theinvestment?” he said. “Rural is becoming morerural, and it’s putting states at risk of losing theirvitality and ability to compete. Living in a ruralarea shouldn’t preclude you from having accessto a high-quality contemporary education.”

S W E N D E R ’ S V I E W S O N L E A D E R S H I P

Different roles, different views:“You have access to a lot more information, and you must realize

that people don’t have to access that information.”

Know the problem:“If you can’t articulate the opposing view, then you don’t understand the conflict.”

Getting moving:“Everyone is motivated. You just have to find out what motivates people.”

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E M P O W E R I N G O T H E R S :

WSU president stepsback to help universitymake big steps forward

By Laura Roddy

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“ I T ’ S AN EMPOWERMEN T OF A CONVERSAT I ON OFCORE QUES T I ONS , WHO ARE WE ? WHAT DO WE CAREABOU T ? WHAT ARE WE TR Y I NG TO ACCOMPL I SH ? ”

John Bardo , Wichita State University

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hen Wichita State UniversityPresident John Bardo assumedhis post last summer, he camearmed with five goals and a desirefor the university community tothink strategically about its future.

To transform Wichita State into a world-class university,though, the leadership can’t come from the presidentalone. In Bardo’s view, it is about identifying sharedcommon interests and moving forward together.

“I don’t see leadership as being an individual behavior,”Bardo says. “As president, I provide a vision thathelps people see what is possible.”

He also says his role is to bring resources to thetable. Bardo recently launched the strategic planningprocess with the creation of a steering committee.Because the effort is just beginning, Bardo, who istaking a hands-off approach, doesn’t know exactlywhere the process will lead.

“It’s an empowerment of a conversation of corequestions,” he says. “Who are we? What do wecare about? And what are we trying to accomplish?”Bardo is relying on the steering committee, whichis made up of Wichita State professors, staff andstudents, as well as business and communityleaders, to answer those questions. He wantsthese stakeholders to set the tone and directionfor the university in the coming years.

Bardo acknowledges that there are risks the WichitaState community must deal with as it endeavorsto become world class. It can be difficult to motivatea community to change or try something new whenthe status quo is not inherently flawed, as he viewsthe case with Wichita State.

“There’s also going to be a level of discomfort[with change] when an institution has been stable,”Bardo says.

Bardo has previously led a university – WesternCarolina – through the strategic planning processand is eager to see what the result will be at WichitaState, where he started his career as a sociologyprofessor in the 1970s and met his wife. Althoughit helps to have that success under his belt andassurance that the process works, it is a styleof leadership that didn’t come naturally to Bardo.

“It took a whole lot of effort,” Bardo says. “I’m naturallya control guy.”

However, as in any reasonably complex organization,he says, he alone has “the same power as the soundof one hand clapping. What we are really trying to dois engage the best minds.”

He has found that when an authority figure directspeople, they will do what they need to do and nomore. When he gives the work back to them, he isgiving people permission to do what they feel theyshould be doing.

“My power actually increases dramatically whenI do this,” he says. “The more power I give away,the more I get back.”

Bardo has articulated his own vision for the university.He has identified five areas of improvement to helpWichita State reach the next echelon of excellence:increase quality, increase enrollment, expand theuniversity’s research capacity, achieve technologytransfer to the surrounding community and improvethe quality of student life.

As Bardo sets his sights on achieving these goals,he acknowledges the competing factors that WichitaState, like other universities in Kansas and beyond,is up against. “The challenges are not unique forKansas,” he says.

Funding is a continual concern. “We are very laborintensive,” Bardo says. It is a continual struggle forall institutions of higher learning to find effectiveways to control costs while increasing quality.

Another challenge in higher education is increasingthe number of people who are successful in society.Following up with dropouts is important, but Bardoalso stressed that K-12 education is a critical factorin the success of university graduates.

Regulation is also perennial challenge for highereducation. Bardo anticipates the federal governmentcontinuing to want to regulate higher educationthrough reliance on accreditation.

Moreover, he says, the public is losing sight of theimportance of the connection among the variouscomponents of the traditional university: teaching,research and engaged work in the community. Themarketplace is peeling off some of the more lucrativeteaching elements.

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“We’re in danger as a country of losing innovationby separating out components,” he says.

Bardo says in many ways, the Kansas Board of Regentsoffers advantages that other systems he has experi-enced do not. Kansas universities are not as centralized,and as a result, Wichita State has more flexibility. Still,he acknowledges, “We’re not as nimble as we couldbe over time.”

As Bardo looks to Wichita State’s future, he stressesthe importance of team judgments and decisions.He has specific ideas about the culture of leadershipthat he seeks to cultivate. For example, the group thatreports to him is now called the executive team ratherthan the administrative staff, a conscious change.

Since assuming the president’s post, Bardo has ledthe team on three half-day retreats, which provide anopportunity for them to sit down and talk through realissues – sometimes getting angry with one another.“It is a very different approach,” he says. “It causes achange of thought process. It isn’t just the president’soffice that has to change.”

On a scale of 1 to 10, Bardo says, his team is at afour or five at implementation. “We will get to a nineor 10,” he says.

Bardo also is a strong believer in selecting the rightpeople for a task and then letting them own theprocess. An example is the team selecting the developerfor the university’s first new residence hall in nearly 50years. Although Bardo does have veto authority, heleft it to the team to select the developer for the project.A strong consensus emerged among the members.

“They own this process,” he says. “I’m not doing it.I’m not even meeting regularly with the committee.”For Bardo, leadership is about getting the best peoplein place to make needed decisions.

“In the end, we’re all going to go a direction,” Bardosays. In his analogy, various stakeholders in theuniversity community may be going different speeds– some in a car, some by canoe, some walking. Whatis important to him is that they are all on the samepath with united goals, which he is confident willemerge through the creation of a strategic plan.

“The big thing to me is this is a place that’s worth it,”Bardo says.

B A R D O ’ SF I V E G O A L S F O R W S U

Continue to press on quality:When resources are tight, this is particularly difficult.

Enrollment growth:Wichita State is too small and needs to grow.

Although enrollment has been stable for the last10 years or so, it is several thousand below the

enrollment of 17,400 that Wichita State saw30 years ago. One key that Bardo sees for helping

increase enrollment is the construction of theuniversity’s first new residence hall since 1964,

which will help him recruit out of state.

Continuing to expand research capacity:Wichita State University spends $50 million

a year on research and development. “We shouldbe able to double that over time,” Bardo says.

Technology transferBardo says this concept is about taking

the intellectual property of the university andconsciously getting it out to the surrounding

community and to the world.

Quality of student life:Having a relationship with the university is key.

For traditional students, Bardo says, this is a timeof life where what happens outside class is as

important as what happens inside class when itcomes to personal development. At Wichita State,

about 8 percent of the student body lives on campus.At similar universities, 15 to 30 percent of students

live on campus. That is one reason why the newresidence hall and accompanying dining hall

are so important, Bardo says.

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M O L D I N G T H EE N T R E P R E N E U R I A L S T U D E N T:

Young president spurseffort to fuse start-up

spir it with college’score liberal arts miss ion

By Erin Perry O’Donnell

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“ I T H O U G H T,‘ H O W D O W E G I V EL I B E RA L A R T S VA L U E ? ’W E ’ R E G O I N G T O L I F TI T U P T H R O U G H T H EE N T R E P R E N E U R I A LM I N D S E T, B E C A U S EW E W A N T O U RG RA D U AT E S T OB E E N T E R P R I S I N GA N D P E R C E P T I V E . ”

Michael Schneider , McPherson College

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hen you’re one of at least18 small, private colleges inKansas, it’s not easy to standout from the pack. MichaelSchneider took over as presidentof McPherson College in 2009

and thought it was time to reinvigorate the schoolfor the 21st century.

Schneider reached across traditional academicboundaries to accomplish his vision: to infuse theschool’s liberal arts curriculum with an entrepreneurialmindset, born from his own experience withstartup businesses.

“One of the core values of liberal arts and ofentrepreneurship is idea exploration, and 18-year-oldstudents have ideas,” Schneider says. “College isthe sweet spot, an incredible opportunity to go awayand try things and, in some ways, fail. But you have agreat support system, especially at a smaller college.”

The concept seemed alien to the longtime liberalarts faculty. Was the institution becoming a businessschool? Cultivating capitalists? No, Schneider says.Although liberal arts seem to have been devaluedin an economy so focused on literal job skills, hebelieved in it more than ever for its ability to teachstudents how to be resourceful, flexible and creative.“I think what’s at your core, your true identity,is not something you want to change,” he says.“I thought, ‘How do we give liberal arts value?’We’re going to lift it up through the entrepreneurialmindset, because we want our graduates to beenterprising and perceptive.”

Schneider, himself a 1996 McPherson alumnus,returned to campus as an administrator in 2002,and brought a startup spirit with him. With just over600 students, Schneider says, McPherson is nimbleenough to navigate new ideas. But first he had topersuade the 50-member faculty to follow his lead– no small feat for a person who, at age 36, was oneof the youngest college presidents in the country.

He started in the first months of his presidencyby meeting with every faculty and staff member.He knew what his passion was. So he asked about

theirs, and what they valued about the school.They answered: our size. Our sense of community.A tradition of service.

After he’d listened, he started talking about his idea –and listened some more to their reactions. “I told thefaculty if they weren’t interested in it, I wasn’t goingto pursue it.”

Schneider reached out to the Kauffman Foundationin Kansas City, which supports efforts to mergeeducation and entrepreneurship. Foundation officialsvisited campus to guide them in the process. Schneidershared with them the faculty’s own profile of whattheir ideal graduate should look like. Among othertraits, it calls for students to think critically, assessvalue conflicts, and integrate knowledge and experi-ence. Kauffman representatives told Schneider,“That looks a heck of a lot like an entrepreneur.”Schneider worked hard to give the faculty a sense ofownership in the venture, like asking them to writetheir own definition of entrepreneurship across thecurriculum. After several months of brainstormingand discussions, they were ready to act. Theydeveloped a program for a minor in entrepreneurshipin just three months. A year later, the programgraduated its first student.

Building the trust that allowed that to happen wasa methodical, daily effort. A key factor was trans-parency, Schneider says. He was open about disap-pointments, such as the college’s failure to landa Kauffman Foundation grant, despite their closeworking relationship. He addressed setbackspublicly in meetings. And he tried to be generouswith others when they made mistakes.

“What I have been known to do is take that big,fat elephant in the room and put it on the table:‘I know this is what you’re thinking, but here it is.Let’s get that out of the way.’ Then people open up.”

In 2010, McPherson College created its HorizonFund, which gives students micro-grants of up to$500 to launch business ideas. Students jumped atthe opportunity, making 72 proposals in the first twoyears. Their startup ideas ranged from new mobiletechnology to community service projects, along

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with several automotive-based concepts fromstudents majoring in McPherson’s unique autorestoration program.

Word is getting around. Two years later, prospectivestudent inquiries are up 20 percent. Half of seniorshave jobs in their fields before graduation – abouttwice the national rate – and within six months ofgraduation, that number climbs to 90 percent. Theschool also received a $1.2 million gift that allowedit to hire an executive director of entrepreneurshipand develop new programs.

It’s not the only small Kansas college that’s findingsuccess by crossing the typical academic boundaries.The interdisciplinary Newman Studies program atNewman University in Wichita is bringing instructorstogether from different fields to team-teach andshow students how ideas are connected, PresidentNoreen Carrocci says. Newman also has partnerships

with several other Kansas institutions to help transferand graduate students make transitions.

At McPherson, Schneider says that, ultimately,his faculty and staff quickly matched his enthusiasmfor entrepreneurship. Now, if they argue, it’s over thedetails, not the direction of the program. Personally,Schneider is drawing attention, too. This spring,he’ll be a visiting lecturer on leadership at RutgersUniversity, which only helps to raise his school’sprofile further.

“When you can be a model, it’s inspiring, and itinspires your own people,” he says.

S C H N E I D E R ’ S I D E A S F O R M A K I N GC H A N G E I N A N O R G A N I Z A T I O N

Listen, then talk:Find out what your people value about your organization. Pay attention to what

they think is essential to your mission, and appeal to that.

Find ways to give everyone ownership:Give them opportunities to put their personal vision for the organization into their ownwords. Have them write what they hear you saying when you’re asking for a change.

Know your identity:Schneider says, “If you’re not crystal clear on your identity, you’re in trouble.” Identity is more than

a mission statement, and it should remain constant no matter what other changes you make. Protect it.

Own your mistakes:Schneider works hard to be transparent and never leave room for the impression

that he’s hiding problems or setbacks. Confront challenges immediately and publicly,and acknowledge failures so you can learn from them.

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B U I L D I N G B R I D G E S

Dean strivesstrengthen ties betweenbusiness school andKansas companies

By Brian Whepley

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“ THE H I GHER UP YOU GO , THE LESS OXYGEN THERE I S .TO S TAY GROUNDED , YOU NEED TO SEE PEOPLE ON THEFRON T L I NES AND TRUS T THE PEOPLE THERE . ”

Neeli Bendapudi , University of Kansas


s a researcher, Neeli Bendapudiis intrigued by companies thatdeliver products or services thatkeep customers coming backtime after time.

Bendapudi, dean of the University of Kansas Schoolof Business, put a loyalty-inducing Midwest institution– QuikTrip convenience stores – under the microscopein research reported in 2005. Since becoming deanin 2011, she’s emphasized a customer-service focusfor her alma mater’s business school.

The approach is multipronged: Stress real-world skills.Ensure that students and faculty work with businessesand organizations across Kansas, and then bringthat knowledge to class. Be a school that sharesits expertise with Kansans.

As a professor of marketing, Bendapudi has studiedmotivation and its role in moving people and institutionsforward. The more closely you can tie goals – andhelp people see the link – into what drives a person,the more readily you’ll achieve buy-in, she says.To keep the goals front and center, she stresses,in conversations with faculty and students, “whythe business school’s interests must be alignedwith the interests of Kansas.”

So, if a professor is interested in research but fundingis short, then it just makes sense to maximize KU’sresources by collaborating with other departmentsand outside partners. For example, she said, a largeinternational company is talking with KU’s business,engineering, liberal arts and computer science pro-grams to “leverage resources across the university.”When interdepartmental barriers – “silos” – fall, thecompany attains a one-stop shop to meet its needswhile faculty and schools meet theirs: resourcesfor research.

Making the school “a better place to work” is atheme that arises often with Bendapudi, as doesthe result that it will be a better place to learn. Theschool is more than halfway to raising $60 millionfor a new home, so it can move from cramped,aging Summerfield Hall. The money is comingfrom private donors and that provides Bendapudian opportunity to link goals (reaching out to Kansas’business community) to results (a new building thataccommodates growing enrollment) and to thingsthat can motivate faculty and staff (better offices,classrooms and facilities to teach and research).

Other motivating factors involve a personal approach,such as turning the conversation around and askingprofessors and staff how they would answer thequestion of whether they would “send their childrento study with someone who has never worked inbusiness or met a payroll?”

“It’s a lot of leadership by influence rather than byauthority,” she says. “We have tenure, so you reallyhave to have buy-in. You must use a lot of collaborationand influence building.”

A key ingredient is following through on the passionand energy she exhibits.

“Accountability is very big to me. The quickest wayto lose respect is to push people to do things youwouldn’t do yourself,” says Bendapudi, who has donethe real-world work she urges faculty to embrace,including consulting with Cessna, Yellow Roadways(now YRC Freight) and others and serving as execu-tive vice president and chief customer officer ofOhio’s Huntington National Bank in 2007 and 2008.

The business school is not alone at KU in efforts tobecome the place Kansans turn to for expertise. KU’sintent, outlined in 2011’s Bold Aspirations strategicplan, is to be a world-class research institution whileaddressing issues vital to Kansas and its competitiveness.

The School of Engineering, responding to an engineershortage, expanded freshman enrollment 22 percentthis past fall and is expanding facilities and faculty.The KU Medical Center concluded a decades-longcampaign by receiving the National Cancer Institutedesignation in 2012. It recognizes the investmentof millions in research and facilities and Kansans’accessibility to cutting-edge treatments, while addingan estimated $453 million and 1,123 jobs since 2006.To highlight its reach into communities, the universitylaunched the KU Works website (kuworks.ku.edu)several years ago.

At the business school, programs send students andresources into the state to share and build expertise.One, RedTire, matches qualified candidates with ruralbusiness owners who want to retire but can’t findsuccessors. Another, the Kansas Impact Project (KIP),pairs teams of MBA students with a mentor and putsthe students’ energies to bear on an organization’sproblem, such as recruiting nurses to a long-termcare center in Ashland.

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Other recent KIP projects included ones to overcomepatient “no-shows” at a Douglas County mental healthprogram and studying the feasibility of a northeastKansas “food hub” for small-scale agricultural producers.

Each fall, students start work on the project beforeclasses begin. Illustrating the KIP emphasis, they hadto answer an admissions essay on “what’s an impor-tant issue in Kansas and how would you address that?”

“A really important aspect of leadership is for them togive back to the community,” says Catherine Shenoy,director of KU’s MBA program. “They learn howto work together and accomplish a task using eachother’s skills and communicating with an organization.Some of them may not have worked in such an intenseenvironment to accomplish a goal in a short periodof time. Maybe next time they will be the personwho will initiate something, because they have theconfidence. The belief that they can carry out aproject is important in their leadership development.”

Having all faculty spend time with Kansas businessesto gain insights that better prepare students for careersis another goal Bendapudi has. “It’s not about goingin and saying, ‘I have the answers,’” she says.

Getting the word out that KU’s business school andfaculty are willing to help is one of the bigger challenges.That’s why she accepts opportunities to make KU’spitch, she said, such as emceeing the Kansas Chamberof Commerce’s annual dinner in early February.

“We are not going to be a successful business schoolunless people in Kansas can bring their businessproblems to us,” Bendapudi says.

As the school tries to increase its impact on Kansasand the state’s businesses, it faces the same hurdlesas much of the higher education system.

“The financial challenges are pretty significant,with the cuts and the rising cost of tuition,”Bendapudi says. “Specific to Kansas is how dowe create a system that creates opportunitiesthat keep our young people here.”

A native of India, Bendapudi’s KU connections rivalthose of many Kansans. The ties began with herfather, whose family stayed behind while he venturedto Kansas to study. Pictures of the “mystical” Jayhawkimpressed his 5-year-old daughter, and she went toLawrence for her doctorate, earning it in 1994. Herhusband, Venkat, and sisters are KU grads. Beforefeeling the tug of KU, Bendapudi taught at Ohio StateUniversity for 15 years.

Guiding her is a belief in education’s transformativepowers – it, after all, brought her family to Kansas andprovided a new home, careers and U.S. citizenship.Fueling her is what brought her into education in thefirst place: “People who come into academia wantto do something for the next generation. They havea sense of purpose.”

And then there’s the gratitude generated by a plansuccessfully executed, those times “when businesspeople come in and say, ‘Thank you, we have better-prepared students.’”

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B E N D A P U D I ’ S V I E W S O N L E A D E R S H I P

Visible passion:“Education is intensely personal, and a student can tell if a teacher

is truly engaged or just going through the motions.”

Trust:“The higher up you go, the less oxygen there is. To stay grounded,

you need to see people on the front lines and trust the people there.”

Grasping challenges:“‘A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.’ I really love that quote.”

Looking inward:“Here, faculty want to collaborate. Am I giving them technology, time and resources to do it?”


TAKING THE TIME TO ALIGN YOUR CHOICESWITH YOUR PURPOSE, EVEN AMIDST LIFE’SFRENETIC PACE, CAN BRING REWARDS

It’s a Saturday morning and I’m gazing out the10th-floor window of my dear friends’ south Bostonapartment. The icy blue harbor is backdrop for theurban to-and-fro. I’m on a short vacation. The perfectplace and time to take a reflective, bird’s-eye viewof my life back in Kansas.

I’ve slept well, spent 45 minutes at the gym, had agood breakfast and I’m on to my second cup of coffee.I’m looking out the window feeling like anything ispossible in this complex and beautiful world.

So if you asked me this morning, “Hey, Julia, what’syour life purpose?” I’d happily reply, “To bring my full,wacky self to every relationship and every effort thathas even the slightest chance of making the world abetter place. I want to use my talents to help peopleconnect and get things done.”

In the quiet of this morning I think about the aboutthe ways in which I’m doing a good job of livingthat purpose. And I acknowledge a few areas inwhich I need to do a better job of walking the talk.

As you may or may not have guessed, this is a highlyunusual morning. I don’t typically have the luxuryof extended time on the balcony. Like you, mostmornings, I jump out of bed and just start dancing.The alarm rings, and I get my son up for breakfast.I do my job and celebrate being on time for the thirdmeeting of the day. I join an email chain about Satur-day’s community workday. I call a friend on my wayhome from work, remind myself to stay gratefulfor my husband’s love and creativity, and save timeat the end of the day to read “Green Eggs and Ham”and “Babar Comes to America”.

Most days, if I reflect on purpose at all, it’s a quickcheck in to notice whether what I’m doing is makingme feel more or less alive.

At KLC we recognize that making choices basedon a sense of personal purpose is an important partof taking care of ourselves. Take care of yourself is akey leadership behavior, part of the KLC competencyManage Self. We know that if we are going to

successfully shift the culture of civic life in Kansas,we each must consciously take care of ourselves.We have to maintain energy for the long haul ofcommunity leadership.

That’s why KLC has introduced a new retreat,for alumni only, called Taking Care of Yourself:Aligning Purpose and Practice. The two-day retreatis a chance to get away from your daily life, to reflect,and to articulate or reconnect to your sense of purpose.Retreats are offered every two months. Please visithttp://www.kansasleadershipcenter.org/takecarefor more information.

But whether or not you attend the retreat, you canconsciously take better care of yourself by payingmore attention to the alignment between yourpurpose and actions.

Try this simple daily routine. Take a few minutes,each morning, to jot down you answers to thefollowing questions:

• What do I want others to experience whenI walk into a room?

• If I could snap my fingers and make moreof something in the world, what would it be?

• What do I value most?

After a day or two of taking notes on thosequestions, try adding this one:

• How will I create that experience, make moreof that something or embody that value today?

As you make a daily practice of those for four ques-tions, notice what starts happening to your energy.My bet is you start to feel more powerful, more alive.You will still face leadership challenges, and you willstill struggle to address those challenges in the briefhours between alarm clock and bedtime story. Butwith a strong sense of personal purpose, you willhave the fuel you need to do it all.

Julia Fabris McBride is the Director of Faculty &Coach Development at the Kansas Leadership Center.

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COMMUNITY PROFILE

TOPEKA

The Start of Change:Building a better Capital City requires

leadership over the long haul

BySarah Caldwell Hancock

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Construction work is nearing a closeon a massive 12-year renovation of the

State Capitol building, as seen envelopedin a web of scaffolding from behind theAssumption Catholic Church, Mater Dei

Parish. Much like the Statehouse it houses,Topeka also remains a work in progress.

Despite recent successes wooing a MarsNorth America plant and seeing the growth

of an arts district in North Topeka, the citycontinues to face problems with a number

of issues, including crumbling infrastructure,crime and deteriorating neighborhoods.

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A patron dines inside Bobo’s Drive-in on southwest 10th avenue in Topeka,a popular eatery that has been in business at the location since 1953. Theburger joint’s profile has been high in recent years and it has been featuredon the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-ins and Dives”and was the one ofthe Kansas Sampler Foundation’s “8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine.”


“We have a pretty good life here in Topeka,” explains Jim Ogle, generalmanager of WIBW television. Although Topeka has suffered its shareof past difficulties such as a 1966 tornado and the departure of theworld-renowned Menninger Clinic in 2003, Ogle says: “We didn’t havethe kind of disaster that forces people to hunker down. We had noforce-you-together event.”

That hasn’t stopped Topekans from working together to make their communitystronger. It’s a good thing, too, because Topeka’s issues, although notunusual, are notable and maybe even notorious. Topeka has its share oftypical inner-city problems such as crumbling infrastructure, crime, toomany neighborhoods containing too many decaying houses and poverty.Combined with a limping downtown, constant pressure to deliver jobgrowth, sprawling geography and a historic “pay your dues” mentalitywhen it comes to who gets involved in civic leadership positions, thesefactors coalesced into an attitude characterized by Ogle as “Well, it’sjust Topeka.”

Yet that’s far from the complete picture here. New partnerships are arising.Progress is happening. Success is being celebrated. Attitudes are changing.Visions are being developed, and those visions are leading to plans, andthose plans are being executed. As Martha Bartlett Piland, owner of MBPiland Advertising + Marketing in Topeka, says, “The time is right. The playersare at the table, and the table has room for more people to come sit at it.”

The aftermath of disasters, from Superstorm Sandy to theGreensburg tornado to Hurricane Katrina, often bring with themstories of collaborations and extraordinary personal effortsthat help people meet their immediate needs and fill the futurewith hope. But what’s the impetus for civic leadership andchange when there is no precipitating event or disasterto which we can attach a name? This has been the situationin Topeka, the state’s Capital City and home to nearly 130,000people alongside the I-70 corridor in northeast Kansas, formuch of the past decade.

COMMUNITY PROFILE: TOPEKA

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Key Successes: ‘Something to be proud of’Topeka’s recent successes include, most notably,a commitment from Mars North America to buildand open a new plant here in 2013. Another exampleis the North Topeka (NOTO) Arts District. Situatedin a formerly downtrodden but historic area acrossthe Kansas River from the rest of downtown, NOTOis now home to galleries, studios, the NOTO ArtsCenter with classes for all ages and a huge numberof visitors during the citywide ARTSConnect FirstFriday Artwalk. Ruby and Chuck Bradley, ownersof Yeldarb Gallery, say up to 2,000 people havestrolled down their street during the event.

Sarah Fizell, executive director of ARTSConnect, saysthe arts contribute much more to a community thanattracting out-of-town visitors who purchase gas andrestaurant meals. “Most importantly, it’s a facet ofour community that is something to be proud of,”she says. Friday Artwalks take people all over Topeka,not just to NOTO, and help them find what’s there.

Anita Wolgast and John Hunter, volunteer co-directorsof the NOTO board, understand that working in thearts leads to other areas of involvement. AlthoughNOTO has a jury that evaluates artists before theyqualify for subsidized studio or gallery space, the area’ssuccess is not just about appreciating art. “We’re talkingabout an economic development plan,” Hunter says.

Core NOTO artists must create a business plan incollaboration with the Washburn Small BusinessDevelopment Center before qualifying for up to$7,000 to renovate space and up to two years ofsubsidized rent. The NOTO Arts District has formedpartnerships with the Community Resources Council,Washburn University, Washburn Institute of Technology,Topeka Public Schools USD 501, the Topeka RescueMission and many others to help 24 new businessesopen in the last two and a half years and to renovatebuildings and fill classes.

Although public funds were used for infrastructureimprovements to the area more than 10 years ago,arts district funding has flowed from businesses,

William Trier, 8, studies painted scenes of Topekaat the Yeldarb Gallery in North Topeka’s NOTO Arts District.The development of galleries and antique stores, fosteredby both public planning, infrastructure improvements andprivate investment, in the area has brought new life intosection of town once dimmed by floods, neglect and crime.On some nights during a First Friday Artwalk, up to 2,000people can be seen strolling down the street of the district.

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individuals and grants from private foundations. Theresults are striking. NOTO was once a derogatoryterm, but “new businesses are now spawning newemployees and tax dollars and the city is increasingthe property tax value of the buildings,” whichultimately will lead to new discussions aboutsustainability of the arts community, Hunter says.

Spirit of CollaborationThe development of NOTO is just one area whereTopeka has seen the benefit of increased collaboration.After deliberating for more than 20 years, city andcounty officials recently consolidated their Parks andRecreation offerings. The consolidated departmentis in its first full year.

“We had shared leadership in how we approachedthat,” says Shawnee County Commissioner ShellyBuhler, noting that she worked closely with Bob Archer(now a fellow county commissioner) who was then

on the Topeka City Council. Relationships betweencity and county officials in Topeka have a troubledhistory, but they are in the process of leaving thatbehind. “We had some bumps, but we have afive-year strategic plan. We’re continuing to investin quality of life.”

Collaboration breeds collaboration. For example,Gina Millsap, CEO of the Topeka and ShawneeCounty Public Library, explains a plan for the libraryto provide and manage computers in six communitycenters around Topeka. The county approachedMillsap because the library had experiencemanaging public computers.

“I said I’d like to talk about doing more than that —improving technology available to neighborhoodsand families in those areas. I want to talk about howwe program together. We’re in the beginning stages.We’re looking at literacy programs, homework coachesand trainers to help people develop résumés andsearch for jobs and learn technology skills.”

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Explore a vision.Engaging a facilitator to helpdevelop a vision can helpeveryone learn about thecommunity, so those workingtoward change begin froma more shared understanding.

Listen broadly.Find out what community mem-bers think. Real listening is vital.Pay special attention to unusualvoices such as young professionalsor other groups who may haveless authority in your community.

Form a backboneorganization.Volunteers grow weary, peoplemove away, or resources dwindle.A backbone organization with adedicated staff person (even apart-time worker) can help keeppeople and organizations on trackto execute complicated projects

Engage naysayers.People resist the loss fromchange, but opening communi-cation with critics by listeningto them, explaining communityneeds and learning from themcan reduce polarization.

Work with whatyou already have.Use organizations that are alreadyin place and encourage them tocollaborate and build coalitions.

Collaboration breedscollaboration.True collaboration should beenergizing and inspiring, so whenmembers of the communityexperience it, they’ll want more.

Celebrate success& review progress.Follow up your vision withcelebrations when good thingshappen and periodic check-inswith stakeholders for truthfulevaluations of progress.

There’s no silverbullet, but there’ssilver buckshot.It may take several approachesand solutions to address complexchallenges. Setbacks and evenperiodic failures are likely.

Expectincremental gains.Progress on daunting projectstends to come one step at a time.

9THINGS EVERY KANSAN

CAN LEARN FROM TOPEKA— and Kansas Community —

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Targets for ImpovementAnother example of a cooperative initiativein Topeka is Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods,an organization that grew out of collaborationbetween Nancy Johnson, director of the CommunityResources Council; K-State Research and Exten-sion; the YMCA/YWCA; and the Topeka RescueMission. Johnson says the group worked fromtwo premises: doing projects and forging realchange through policy.

After earning a grant to build a coalition, thegroup focused on forming a Complete Streetsprogram. “Complete Streets” have wide side-walks for pedestrians; accommodate publictransportation, biking and other forms of transportbesides cars; and have ADA-compliant crossingsignals and other features.

The process wasn’t simple. “We had a lot ofnaysayers because of the cost and extra work andbecause it was a change,” Johnson says. HeartlandHealthy Neighborhoods has established a checklistwith city engineers. A local half-cent sales taxused for road improvement can’t be used fornew sidewalks and other amenities, Johnsonsays, but when the city has to replace a sidewalk,it can make it wide enough to be multipurpose.

Heartland Healthy Neighborhoods’ effortson behalf of Complete Streets led to a naturalcollaboration with local cycling advocates like KarlFundenberger of the Topeka Community CycleProject and an effort to raise funds and obtaina matching grant to perform a comprehensiveanalysis and master plan for bikeways.

The Most Daunting Project in TopekaBigger projects represent more daunting challengesand call for more intensive engagement. A recentcity council vote to dedicate $5 million to down-town infrastructure improvement is bolstered bycitizen support, but it’s not a simple fix.

Vince Frye, president and CEO of DowntownTopeka Inc. since April 2011, says he was surprisedby the deterioration of sidewalks, curbs, andmedians in the downtown area, “and that was

just the stuff above the ground.” But segmentsof the community, both in the public and privatesectors, were willing to take up the matterand push for revitalization by renewingphysical infrastructure.

“Obviously there’s not enough money availablefrom the government to do everything,” Fryesays. “We worked closely with the city andgot the private sector involved. Because ofthat partnership, we will see new energy anddevelopment downtown.”

Frye notes that the road to progress is long.“People like to see things happen quickly, andthings never seem to happen quick enough,”he says. In addition, citizens disagree abouthow to prioritize the community’s needs.Communication is vital, Frye says, noting thathe has had the experience of turning naysayersinto supporters just by explaining the situation.

Frye adds that infrastructure investment in NOTOset the tone for the downtown area.

“You can look back on that investment and realizethere was a plan and that plan took many yearsto come to the point that we have it now, butwithout that investment, I hate to think of whatNorth Topeka might be today,” he says. “Someonehad the vision and made the investment. Yearslater, we’re seeing the fruits, and I know for afact that there are investors waiting in the wingsto do some significant things in downtownTopeka, just making sure the city was willingto make its investment to make Topeka a placewhere they could bring the business and retailand living facilities we all want downtown.”

Drivers of Success: New Vision, New VoicesBringing tangible change has required intangiblechanges in leadership. Some officials in Topekapoint to Heartland Visioning and engagementof younger voices in civic life as precipitatingthose shifts.

Heartland Visioning, which receives both publicand private funding, began in 2008 as the resultof a community-led effort. A contractor was en-gaged; a local staff person, William Beteta, was

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hired as executive director; focus groups were as-sembled; and well-attended community meetingswere held to draft a strategic plan. Martha Bartlett Pi-land remembers that the facilitator repeatedly ex-pressed disbelief at how many people were engaged.“It was a tipping point,” she says. “People wantedto send things into motion and see what they couldget going.”

The most important thing Heartland Visioning workedto do was strengthen relationships. Heartland Visioningprovides a backbone organization to keep groupsmotivated, celebrate successes and prevent volunteerburnout. It does not commandeer projects or tellgroups, agencies or individuals what to do, but bringsthem together to find out what they can accomplish.

“The biggest component to progress that most peopleidentify is that the visioning project [brought] differentgroups of people together who hadn’t been talking

before,” says Beteta, an alumnus of KLC’s CommunityCollaboration Academy in 2010.

The visioning process also helped spawn a new cultureof listening, according to Bartlett Piland. “People arereaching out, connecting to others through HeartlandVisioning or their networks, and I see so much energyand people moving forward with so many things wesaid we needed to do,” she says.

Just as importantly, more and more young professionalsare being encouraged to speak up, a big change frompast approaches. “The engagement of a diversity ofage of people is so important,” says Ogle, the generalmanager of WIBW and an alumnus of the 2010-11Kansas Health Foundation Fellows program. “Havingtheir opinions, but also teaching a model of cooperationthat will work across generations rather than waitinguntil they are 50 to make decisions, ‘my turn to becoach.’ We’re not worried about who the coach is —

Topeka is continuing to invest in its future, focus on community listeningand involvement, develop young leaders and make changes that contributeto citizens’ long-term quality of life. FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Jeremy Taylorof Topeka works on his bicycle at the Topeka Community Cycle Project,a non-profit bike shop located downtown where citizens can learn how tobuild, maintain and repair bikes and utilize recycled parts; Audrey Senger,10, of Lawrence, plays at the Kansas Children’s Discovery Center. Thecenter opened in 2011 near Gage Park; A view of the Wanamaker retailand restaurant corridor from northwest Topeka.

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we’re worried about how to get it done together.”Young professionals like Kerrice Mapes, founderof seveneightfive magazine, have noticed the differ-ence. Mapes explains that her generation of youngprofessionals is predisposed to civic participationbecause of a desire to question things and “be in aplace that they love.” Members of her cohort don’tget a job and live in the place with the job; instead,they choose where they want to live and then findjobs. “Because people have chosen to live here, theyhave a vested interest in making this a better placefor them,” she says, noting that Heartland Visioningbrought frankness to the discussion. “People aremore willing to talk and be transparent about theirgoals and visions,” she says.

Fizell of ARTSConnect adds that Topeka is just plainmore fun that it used it be. “It’s been really rewardingto be part of a community that is making an effort tobe better, to be more fun, to include young professionalsand really embrace that side of itself,” she says.

One driver of the engagement of young professionalshas been Leadership Greater Topeka. Marsha Sheahan,vice president of public relations for the GreaterTopeka Chamber of Commerce, says the course isoffered once a year from late January through earlyMay. The class has just under 40 participants eachyear and is competitive: Only 1 in 3 applicants areaccepted. “People consider it a rite of passage,” shesays, noting that students learn to build consensusand involve other people. Of the 37 people in the classof 2013, Sheahan says, at least a third are under 30.

The Chamber also began Fast Forward as an after-hoursgroup for young professionals 13 years ago, gave itpart-time staff and added to it about five years ago,and started using the group to recruit the under-30set for Leadership Topeka. “It was like unleashingthis energy that was waiting for permission,” shesays. “We gave them the skills and how-to’s tomake what they want to do more effective.”

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Looking to the Future: ‘Silver Buckshot’Topeka continues to invest in its future and focuson community listening and involvement, developingyoung leaders, and making changes that contributeto citizens’ long-term quality of life. More majorand challenging projects may be in the works,including a redevelopment of the waterfrontconnecting downtown to NOTO that is inthe planning stage. Community membersare also raising funds to renovate the historicJayhawk Theatre.

Harsh truths about the daunting nature of the tasklist in Topeka remain plentiful. Topekans like Sheahanand Beteta are realistic yet optimistic. “I thinkwe’re getting better,” Sheahan explains. “We havea huge project list. We have to get on with it andspread the work out so it’s not a handful of peopledoing all the work.”

Beteta knows progress will be difficult. Of down-town, he says, “We want to make it an economicengine, a place where people want to go, wherebusinesses want to go because the number ofpeople will make it successful. But there’s no sil-ver bullet. ‘Silver buckshot’ is the term we use.”Beteta notes that each group with their ownparticular set of values and interests — a faction,in terminology often used at the Kansas Leader-ship Center— brings a piece of buckshot. Hittingthe target of a capital city Kansans can be moreproud of will require shooting plenty of buckshot,and some pieces may go astray.

Avoiding Slow-Motion DeclineFinding the right combination of listening, engage-ment and respect is a step in the right direction,but Topekans also must avoid the slow-motiondecline that threatens all cities. County Commis-sioner Shelly Buhler says the high-profile shootingthat killed two police officers late last year broughtcommunity safety to the front of citizens’ minds.Managing city and county responsibilities andcontinuing to pursue public safety initiatives willbe vital, she says, along with dealing with “theunknowns of budgets we are going to be facing.”She notes that “everyone wants less governmentexcept maybe when that impacts you,” and

“steady, persistent progress is what’s going tochange Topeka and Shawnee County.”

Persistent progress is the name of the gamefor Nancy Johnson in her efforts to keep socialservices on the minds of leaders and citizens inTopeka. As director of the Community ResourcesCouncil, Johnson connects social services agencieswith other entities and with the people who needthem and generates data on service utilizationrates and needs in the city. “Economic developmentis the flash,” she says. “Leaders need to realizethat social services, nonprofits are as importantas landing the Mars company, because if we don’thave that solid foundation, we’re unsound.”

Johnson has seen “incredible change” in Topekain the last five years, and she credits HeartlandVisioning. Addressing poverty, however, requiresfurther efforts. “It’s called education,” saysJohnson, “and taking off the rose-colored glassesand saying ‘we’ve come a long ways’ but realizingyou have progress to make.”

Johnson constantly reminds leaders to appropri-ately value social services. At a recent HeartlandVisioning meeting after city council support fordowntown funding had passed, she recounts thatpeople were happily high-fiving and celebrating.“I said to this group, there is nobody who’s happierabout this. I’m thrilled. But the next time socialservice is on the block, are you going to be [at thecity council] to support it?”

Where does Topeka go from here? Topeka isrecovering not from a natural disaster, but fromall-too-natural neglect. A city that admittedlysuffered from lack of vision has engaged in avisioning process. A place that suffered from theparalyzing sense that slow decline was inevitablenow has many people who see better days ahead.Initiatives are beginning to coalesce into meaningfulactions and offer hope of revitalizing Topeka whilechipping away at its economic divide.

Continued progress will require more efforts atexercising leadership, engagement and collabora-tion, and, as City Manager Jim Colson warned thecity council at a meeting earlier this year, maintaininga sense of humanity and refraining from “slippingback” into old ways.

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The view of downtown Topekaat night includes the neon signfor the Jayhawk Tower, a one-time hotel. City officials recentlyvoted to dedicate $5 millionto infrastructure improvementsin the historic city center, whichhas suffered as retail businesseshave sprouted near a west-sidemall. Fundraising efforts arealso underway to revive theJayhawk Theatre in the sameblock. However, revitalizing thecity’s historic center defies asingle solution and may require“silver buckshot” – a varietyof efforts and involvement fromdifferent groups – instead ofa “silver bullet.”


REFLECTIONS ONA GLOBAL GATHERING:

‘SMALL FIRES IN LOTS OF DIFFERENT PLACES’By Nick Ellem

Nick Ellem, a leadership development professional from Australia, learned about the KLC last spring when he metPresident & CEO Ed O’Malley during a program at Harvard’s Kennedy School on leadership development. He traveled toWichita in November 2012 to join a group of about 60 other leadership development professionals and trainers fromaround the world for KLC’s global gathering, reuniting with a number of colleagues from the Harvard program. In thiscolumn, he reflects on the visit, what he learned about leadership and the KLC and what the experience meant to him.


What stays with me so vividly since our gathering ismeeting people emboldened by, and who care deeplyabout, helping create the right kind of leadership intheir own settings.

The gathering was an opportunity to learn and bepushed from my peers and the group as a whole.It helped build a muscle, a muscle to make progresson personal and civic leadership challenges. Thegathering made me realize how often we avoidthe real work at hand.

For example, there is a community organization I’mworking with at the moment on a real issue. It wasshocking to see how many times people blindly lookto the authority in the room for answers or uncon-sciously divert attention away from the problemby blaming others. It was perplexing to see, butnot uncommon when the issue seems so complex.

I think back every day about our experiences in Kansas,people’s stories and personal aspirations aroundcreating large-scale leadership for the common good.Therefore, I am humbled and energized in those heatedmoments, despite the prevailing wind we are coming upagainst in doing leadership in such a transforming way.

I also remember when we were at KLC, a colleagueshared her aspirations of creating healthier schools inher country and she told our group about the progressshe is making in holding people’s attention and energiz-ing others around the problem. This example makesme think about what we are asking others to do,which is to reprioritize what really matters and faceup to an uncomfortable truth in service of somethingwe collectively care deeply about.

Kansans are so fortunate to have organizations likeKLC. It is a global beacon for those who are involvedin the business of developing people’s capacity toexercise leadership for the common good.

KLC taught me if I stepped back from a challenge inmy community instead of jumping in with the answers,that allows room for a real conversation that is importantto everyone, despite how good giving answers makesme feel normally.

KLC made me think about how I get caught up a lot withmy own story, when it’s not about me but the manyother people who I am trying to help think differently.It springs to mind that what adaptive work actuallyrequires is dealing with the part of problem that is

lodged in us, and better equipping ourselves to mobi-lize others to find a way forward on a bigger problem.

What also struck me was that I learned about designingsmart experiments. They are essential to makingprogress, and I realized that trial and error may berequired to find new ways of working, which is riskyand hard for most to take onboard. Sharing our ownrisk taking in doing this work all around the world mademe realize how our challenges are so similar despitethe differences in our cultures, our histories, and wherewe came from, whether that was from the U.S., U.K.,Nigeria, Norway, France or Australia, among others.

KLC has given me hope, hope that despite the temp-tation for quick fixes, we can come to realize deepdown that our challenges require us to look at thehard reality of our default beliefs, values and actions,which may be getting in the way of making progresson tough, unrelenting civic challenges.

Those of us working on civic challenges owe it to our-selves and our communities -- despite the discomfortwe might be creating in others -- to surface what’s reallyat stake and speak to the losses that might need tobe endured to make progress on a really tough issue.It is also about what ways of operating are importantto conserve and acknowledging what is precious andworth keeping in our existing repertoire and histories.The work KLC is doing energizes me every day.

What Marty Linsky (a Harvard faculty memberand former consultant for KLC) said at Harvardand repeated in Kansas remains with me. His callto action: that if we spent more of our time exercisingleadership than we do now, we would help makethe world a better place.

I came to Kansas as alone wolf trying to makeprogress on some reallytough leadership challengesbut left knowing there isa wider network acrossthe world, particularly inKansas, that I can turn tofor support and challenge.As someone poignantly saidon our last day together inNovember, we are, “smallfires in lots of differentplaces” now.

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R E V I V I N G N E W T O N ’ S H I S T O R I C F O X T H E A T R E :

A group o f c i t i z en s keep New ton’ s Hi s to r i c Fox Thea t rerunn ing to con t r ibu t e to the cu l tu ra l l i f e o f the i r communi t y .

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Carrie Vansickle (seated)Barth Hague, vice presidentAdam Hartke, executive directorGini Johnson ColemanRosalind ScudderBarb Burns, presidentTim Buller, treasurerJanis Whitfield

Irish dancers perform withCherish the Ladies at theFox Theatre, Newton, Kan.


The Boxcars bass playerHarold Nixon is silhouettedagainst the back of theFox Theatre in a showin November of 2012.


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The Boxcars perform at theFox Theatre in November of 2012


It’s often hard for people to see the same possibilities in a tough situation.

E X E R C I S I N G L E A D E R S H I P M E A N SJ O U R N E Y I N G W I T H O T H E R S A N D B U I L D I N GU P A S H A R E D B I G D R E A M O F P R O G E S S

The volunteers hoping to restore the Historic Fox Theatre in downtown Newton didn’tjust see a once-abandoned iconic building that needed a lot of repairs and maintenance.They saw a place with the potential to inspire, entertain and serve Newton residents inthe coming decades, much as it did during its glory days of the 1950s. The Newton PerformingArts Center, Inc. group didn’t just tell others about the potential. They tried to showthem by having four “under construction” concerts last year, including one with an Irishmusical group in December. The Fox board, according to The Newton Kansan, nowplans a fundraising effort to pay for some needed repairs needed to reopen the theater.It’s a reminder that the path to change doesn’t just run through the head. It also runsthrough the heart and in joining with others to laugh, cry, cheer and applaud together.

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ALUMNI PROFILESLEADERSHIP & FAITH EDITION

Why do you think it is important for people offaith to be involved in community leadership?

As a follower of Christ, I am compelled to care for the poor,the homeless, the oppressed, the widow, the orphan. Peopleof faith look at the needs of a community as an opportunityto live out the gospel, the good news we believe in. Our faithis the fuel that motivates us to lead. We cannot stand by whilea community endures hardship.

Where are you originally from?

I am from the Maryland/Delaware area; most of myfirst 18 years we spent living in Dover, Delaware.

Where do you live now?I live in Shawnee.

What personal, professional or civic rolesoutside of church are most important to you?

I facilitate a movement of about 40 churches in the KansasCity area called, “What if the Church?” We build relation-ships between pastors and congregations and collaborate toaddress significant community issues: literacy, homelessness,abuse, poverty, foster care, sex trafficking, etc.

How has your experience with Leadership & Faithimpacted your involvement in community issues?

My perspective on leadership now enables me tosee opportunities to lead that I did not see beforethis experience. I find myself consistently asking“what is another interpretation?” or “how could Ienergize others?”

Based on a leadership challenge that you have,how have you been able to use a KLC competency?

We’ve been working to develop a coalition of organizationsthat would work together to address the commercial sexualexploitation of children in Kansas City. We’ve identifiedseveral factions, each working to address the issue from adifferent perspective. The competencies are helping us toaddress perceived loss of the various factions. I believe wewill be able to develop a plan that will enable the differentorganizations to fulfill their unique mission while aligningwith a larger plan and greater combined impact.

How has your church been impacted as a resultof your involvement with Leadership & Faith?

Perhaps the most significant impact, beyond helpingme to be more effective as a leader, is that I am moreable to see people around me as leaders. It is excitingto recognize the potential of others and to help themgrow as leaders by teaching them various competencies.

What others have to say:

“Matt Adams is using his extraordinary gifts ofleadership and organization to help build unity andcollaboration among churches and ministries all acrossthe Kansas City metro. He has excellent communicationand management skills, and he has a great heart ofcompassion to serve the least, the last and the most brokenand hurting in our city. All of us who serve on variouscity teams are learning fromMatt's knowledge and passionto see neighborhood transformation and communitiesimpacted for the gospel and for the kingdom of God.I am personally grateful for Matt's friendship and hisleadership,” says Pastor Gary Schmitz, executive directorof Citywide Prayer Movement KC.

FUSETHE

MATT ADAMSParticipant in The Art & Practice of Civic LeadershipDevelopment Faith and community impact pastorat Westside Family Church in Lenexa who fosterscollaboration across pastors and congregationson tough community issues.

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Leadership is important in any organization. When churcheswith good community leadership are healthy and prosperous,they impact others outside the church, which in turn buildsa stronger, healthier, thriving community.

Where are you originally from? I grew up in Satanta.

Where do you live now? Liberal.


I am currently serving as president of Liberal Bright Futures.It is an organization whose sole purpose is to help school-agekids get their basic needs met so that they may be successful inschool. What I truly love about this particular organizationis Bright Futures serves as a “bridge” between students andcommunity resources — we just connect the needs with thepeople or organization that can meet that need. It reallybrings the community together for the benefit of children inthe hopes that kids stay in school and become a contributingmember of their community. Teamwork at its best!


I realize that leadership is needed in every aspect of ourlives. And sometimes leadership is raising the heat, gettingevery voice in the room — all important information Ilearned at Leadership & Faith Transforming Communities.


I am currently working on a challenge that I am focusingon the engagement process. If we can get people to sharewhile they are at the table, then we can start to makeprogress on the issue. It can be difficult to “raise the heatin the room,” but it is probably one of the most importantfactors in getting a group to make progress on the issueat hand.


Our pastor asked members of our congregation to hostsmall home gatherings in order to gather input from asmany members as possible. Because they were small groups,I believe we received a lot more information than we evercould have hosting one large meeting asking for ideas.We used this information for a vision planning sessionto prioritize our goals and set a direction for our church.


“Leadership-wise, (Lisa) brings a lot of energy and apositive perspective on things … she’s pretty persistent,and basically what I see is a lot of her working with everyfaction and stakeholder in the community and trying toget them involved in different things,” says Pastor DavidRandall of First United Methodist Church in Liberal.

LISA HATCHERParticipant in the Leadership & Faith Teams Program(First United Methodist Church in Liberal) and workson meeting basic needs of school-age children.

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Leadership & Faith Transforming Communities is a KLC program designed for Kansasfaith congregations wanting to make their communities healthier and more prosperous.


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ALUMNI PROFILESLEADERSHIP & FAITH EDITION


I believe that faith is but one of the vital pieces of the collectivevoice at the community’s core. Community is formed arounda given set of core values and beliefs which shape the com-munity. These values and beliefs guide the community’spurpose as well as the creation of a vision for the community.For me, faith acts as the directional compass in this processwhile serving as a stabilizing anchor in the collective processof leadership.

Where are you originally from?

Originally I am from Northwest Kansas – Colby.

Where do you live now?Currently I live in Central Kansas – Lincoln.


I love being a wife, mother of three and grandmother of two.It is a very important role in my life. My faith is not limitedto my role within the church; my faith informs who I amand also directs my involvement in multiple roles, withmultiple age groups, including my interests in health care,advocacy for rural issues and the elderly.


My experience with Leadership & Faith has impacted myinvolvement in community issues in many ways includingthe Oversight and Administration Council of the Lincoln

County Food Pantry and Communities LINC’d to HealthierDirection. The pantry, founded by the UMC, is currentlyworking toward collaborative partnership within the countyand the increased involvement of community members.Communities LINC’d to Healthier Direction recentlyformed to engage Lincoln County in growing in healthydirections: the overall physical, mental, environmental andsocial well-being of a person or a community of persons.Because of my experience with the L&F, and the work of the“What If” Team in Lincoln County, I have been honored tobe the guest speaker at the Chamber of Commerce as well asnumerous civic organizations, theMitchell County LeadershipTeam trainings and also their leadership alumni breakfast.(Mitchell County is Lincoln County’s northern neighbor.)


I have no doubts that the KLC competency training hashelped to strengthen my leadership and sharpen my leadershipskills. I have found myself utilizing the competencies taughtthrough the KLC numerous times and in numerous settings.Understanding and utilizing the “management of self” hashelped me to more effectively engage with others.


The UMC churches of Lincoln County have been impactedby my involvement in the L&F through many areas includingthe food pantry and “Goodness Garden” Project. Each ofthe churches of the Lincoln Cluster has 1-2 representativeswho trained at the KLC. The “team” has raised the aware-ness of collaborative partnering within the community throughengagement with city and county offices as well as manycivic organizations. Through the team’s work at diagnosingthe situation and energizing others, a greater awareness andinterest in growing a healthier Lincoln County has begun.Because of the team’s competencies of leadership, our workhas been instrumental in the application of a HealthyInitiatives Grant for Lincoln County.


“She’s kind of a quiet leader. She gets all the right peopleto the table, and she’s good at getting people with differentstrengths to come forward. She lets everybody into theprocess … she wants everybody to get involved and showtheir strengths,” says LaDonna Reinert, administratorof the Lincoln County Health Department.

FUSETHE

KAYE METZLERPastor in the Lincoln County Cluster (Barnard-Beverly-Lincoln United Methodist Churches) and is an alumnaof the Leadership & Faith Teams Program. She is workingto improve health and wellness in central Kansas.


87.


First, I believe that one of the greatest reasons for people offaith to be involved in community leadership is due to thepassion to care for, reach out to, and lift up individuals andfamilies in our communities. What I mean by lifting up hasto do with the fact that many people in our communities havegreat needs, and those needs don't always just need to be"filled" as much as folks possibly need support to be able tomeet their own needs. As a faith community, I would hopethat folks understand the servant leadership of Jesus Christ asan example of how we might serve our community, throughcommunity. I believe that some, outside a faith community,understand needs and only look to meet them instead ofbuilding relationships that sustain and support over a longerterm. This is not to say that other agencies do not try to do thisat some level, but I would hope it is primary component whenfaith communities engage in service. Leadership isn't abouthanding out, but engaging in and empowering others to domore themselves.

Where are you originally from? I grew up in Howard,just about an hour southeast of Wichita. It was a smallcommunity of about 900 people.

Where do you live now? My family and I now livein northwest Wichita.


I love to work with youth and children. I have coached sportsteams that my kids were on and served at camps where I hopeto instill the belief in youth that they to have the opportunityto impact our culture and communities in significant ways.


My involvement has helped me to realize that many peopleare just flat-out unaware of the needs of our communities.By offering opportunities for them to hear from the sometimes"unheard" voices of others who live in their communities, Ihope to open them up to the reality that they too can be activein making change in our culture today. My involvement hashelped me to empower others to seek information aboutcommunity issues and then take first steps at addressing them.


The greatest impact on my church has been that I am muchmore active at engaging others in conversation and workingwith them to bring about a better understanding of howthey might engage leadership in new ways by serving withand alongside others.

Just recently, we invited a founder of a group focusedon addressing the issue of human trafficking, specificallyin regards to the human sex trade, to come share with ourchurch. Through what that individual shared, many havestepped forward to stand in the gap and engage in waysto address this issue. It would be difficult to name justone person, as many stepped forward that evening toseek different ways in which they could get involved.

MIKE GADDIEA pastor at United Methodist Church @ The Well inWichita and a participant in the Leadership & Faith TeamsProgram. He aspires for faith communities not to justmeet needs but to build relationships that support andsustain others over the long term.


81.


I often find myself somewhere in betweennostalgia and a present state of urban awareness.It is here where connections converge to createa clear perspective of beauty in the familiar andcontentment in the surroundings of place. In thismiddle ground, I find inspiration in geography andhistory of the Midwest. Social and environmentalissues drive much of my work as well as influencesfrom family, nature and everyday life. Serigraphy,or screen printing, and mixed media with drawing,photography and painting are my preferred mediums.

I’m currently working on an exhibition called"Consumed" at the Alice C. Sabatini Gallery inthe Topeka and Shawnee County Library. It willrun from April 5 - May 19. The art will take aimat environmental awareness, land use and humanhistory. The work will provoke playfulness withsatire to somewhat relieve the weight of thetopics allowing for a more approachable andaccessible exhibition.

Over time, I’ve discovered my work resonates witha wide and varied audience and seems to connectwith many on some basic level. The imagerywithin my work comes from a very honest place.I was born and raised in the Midwest, a placewhere I’ve continuously deepened my roots andreflected on rural memories. My hope is to providean ongoing stream of original art that flows fromroots of urban and rural Kansas to the surroundinglocal and global community for years to come.

Here in Kansas I’ve chosen to settle, grow my rootsand create a life grounded in art, family and community.

PASTURELANDBY JUSTIN MARABLE

Justin Marable was raised in Robinson, a northeasternKansas farm town. Throughout his life, Justin has learnedand wandered within the boundaries of his Midwesternhomeland, observing the landscape and landmarks of thesurrounding region. Printmaking, drawing and music havebecome his main methods of artistic expression. Justingraduated from the University of Kansas in 2005 with aBFA in printmaking. He currently resides in the Kenwoodneighborhood of Topeka with his wife and daughters. Heworks full time at his home as an artist, husband and father.


90.

A tsunami of sound rises up the walls and finds meat the top of the stairs, laundry basket riding on my hipthe way my babies used to do. Below, in the basement,in the room where they used to play with Legos, nowmy boys are building a band.

I’ve been observing this progression from a distance—their discoveryof specific music they like, posters stapled on ceilings, tee shirts wornlike uniforms to identify who their ears work for. And recently,instruments they’ve picked up on their own.

BAND PRACTICEBY RAMONA MCCALLUM


91.

When I started as Kansas Poet Laureate, I put out the call for Kansaspoems for www.150KansasPoems.Wordpress.com (eventuallypublished as the anthology “Begin Again: 150 Kansas Poems”).Ramona McCallum, a Garden City woman, sent me a batch ofpoems so original, tender, visionary and fierce that I wrote her backimmediately, “Who are you?” She is one of the strongest Kansas poetsI know. Her work is published in anthologies and journals with herfirst collection forthcoming from Woodley Memorial Press. Ramona'spoetry celebrates the nuances, gifts, surprises and sparks of life aroundus. A mother of five, she works in juvenile justice, schools, galleriesand the arts, often organizing community events and projects that helpyoung people recover their creative spark (even serving as regionalcoordinator for Poetry Out Loud). Her poem "Band Practice" showsus the interior landscape of facilitating the next generation's art,expression and sense of belonging. I think the strongest way to lead isto facilitate others in cultivating their strength, courage and vision,and Ramona shares how she does this in and beyond her home.

– CARYN MIRRIAM-GOLDBERG

I have to put the basket down, lean into the doorframe, listen.They wrote this tune—the composition’s buoyant, clear and pretty soonI’m way back when, hearing live rock and roll at a show: guitars rawand honest, strings responding to fingers pronouncing notes my bodytranslates to sway and nod—slight at first, then in full agreementwith how melody makes me feel. Except these notes not onlytravel back and forth by octaves but in between wide fretsof time, eighteen years reverberating all at once

as though this song has been in the backgroundall along—on a million trips to the store for milkor while I changed diapers, found chore charts buriedunder unfinished homework, lost my share of argumentsand kept a running tally of anniversaries and bills.The soundtrack of a lifetime, full volume, turning uplike a glove whose perfect matchwaves at me from the past.

And as the air around me settles presentlyto smooth electric hum, I add my contributionto their creation—bring together these hands which seemdecades apart, bring them together right here,with fierce and absolute applause.


92.

THE BACK PAGE

HORN TOOTINGThe organist leaned into the wheezy pipe organ.The prelude to the doxology cascaded through thesanctuary. It was the congregation’s musical cueto rise and lift voices.

Seated between my parents on a hard wooden pewof the First Christian Church in Plainville, sportinga Brylcreemed pompadour and a clip-on necktie, Ifollowed their lead. Mom, whose voice is a beautifulinstrument, sang with full, unabashed emotion.

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow…”

My father felt the spirit, but couldn’t sing his wayout of a wet paper bag. Tone deaf. So Pop foundother ways to share in the community of faith. Hewould serve as an usher and teach Sunday school.

Listen and you’ll hear similar chords in our work atthe Kansas Leadership Center. Various instruments,designed to make various sounds. All aimed at offeringskills that result in leadership for the common good.

So what am I talking about? The playlist is varied.

This spring brings more opportunities to participatein a KLC experience. Monthly programs also offervital personal schedule flexibility.

Hours of intellect, emotion and energy have beenpoured into a new team coaching framework, debutingthis year with some forward-looking southeast Kansansin Project 17 (see p. 18) and the Visioneering HealthAlliance in Wichita.

This summer, we’ll move into shiny new digs indowntown Wichita. The building will bring an entirenew level of visibility to our ideas. So we’re deepinto the planning of some events to allow youa chance to experience it.

New partnerships are being explored, relationshipscultivated, because while we’re proud that we addroughly a thousand alumni each year, the overwhelmingmajority of Kansans have not heard our music.

You’re holding the first of four Journals you will re-ceive this year. We know this magazine resonates.You’ve told us so. So we’ll publish them twice asoften (See p. 4).

We’re deeply vested in some experiments. Take Careof Yourself workshops (see p. 63) offer a chance to getaway, reflect and reconnect to your sense of purpose.

Two of our founders, Ed O’Malley and David Chrislip,are finishing a book about the ideas that drive ourwork at the Kansas Leadership Center. The bookshares our belief that civic leadership needs to be-come more purposeful, provocative and engaging.

All this may sound a bit self-serving (but Rule No. 1in The Guide to Effective Organizational Horn Tootingis clear: Toot the horn).

So, we’ll toot our horn in places where we findthose who want to hear the music. And it will takemany forms, so it doesn’t matter if you’re tone deaf.We’re even forming a Konza Chorus. If you wantto sing, please contact Amanda Cebula on the KLCstaff. Seriously.

We hope we’re artful enough to toot the horn, leaninto the organ and sing so that when the music washesover you, it leads to deeper emotional ownership inthese ideas, in yourselves, in your communities andin Kansas.

Mike Matson is Directorof Innovative and StrategicCommunication for theKansas Leadership Center.


“THERE IS NO TIME LIKE SPRING,WHEN LIFE 'S ALIVE IN EVERYTHING,”

Christina Rossetti - Victorian poet (1830-1894)


300 N. MAIN, SUITE 100 WICHITA, KANSAS 67202


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The Journal, Spring 2013

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