Kansas Leadership Center

The Kansas Health Foundation, one of the nation’s foremost philanthropies, launched the Kansas Leadership Center in 2007 with an initial $30 million grant.

Finding the Context

The KLC model is based on a thorough understanding of the civic challenges facing Kansas civic culture and the norms and processes used to address them.

Listening to Kansans

The KLC conducted an extensive listening process using focus groups and interviews with Kansans from all walks of life. The KLC analyzed the results of this process to identify the leadership capacities Kansans needed to successfully address these challenges.

Developing a Theory 

A theory or hypothesis began to take shape over time about how enhanced civic leadership would eventually improve the health of Kansans.Grounding this theory in the experiences of Kansans helped assure the relevance of the KLC’s initiatives to the Kansas context. Additional vetting by leadership scholars and experts helped refine the leadership model and hypothesis.

Click on the picture to the right to read an extensive article about our origins.