KC STEM Alliance, UMKC earn $2.5M grant
September 29, 2015 | Bobby Burch
A multi-million dollar grant will aim to boost diversity in Kansas City’s healthcare workforce.
KC STEM Alliance and the UMKC School of Nursing and Health Studies recently received a $2.5 million grant. The funds will create KC HealthTracks to introduce more low-income and minority students to healthcare careers. KC STEM Alliance works to bolster area science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.
“This is an incredible opportunity to help students think beyond traditional entry-level jobs in healthcare and develop a pipeline of academically ready students who can diversify our healthcare workforce,” Laura Loyacono, executive director of KC STEM Alliance, said in a release.
The grant, awarded by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, assists students in 11 high schools from seven Kansas City-area school districts preparing for college and careers in biomedical sciences. Students in the KC HealthTracks program will have access to improved STEM curriculum, mentors, college campus visits, extensive lab experiences, tutoring and ACT preparation.
Featured Business

2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
After east side restaurant closes, KC Cajun drives back to its food truck roots, cooking up a new market
Esra England is hitting the streets again, he shared. The head chef and founder of KC Cajun recently closed his fixed location on the east side, and is returning to the food truck and catering strategy that gave him his start. “It was a good learning experience,” England explained. “But with the overhead of trying…
Bloch faculty duo earn $200K grant toward effort to disrupt social media echo chambers
Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click here to read the original story. In the digital realm where algorithms reign supreme, Alex Krause Matlack and Bryan C. Boots from the UMKC Henry W. Bloch School of Management aim to create a tool that disrupts the social media landscape,…
Some 18th & Vine leaders say losing downtown stadium could have ‘a tremendously negative impact’
Editor’s note: The following story was published by KCUR, Kansas City’s NPR member station, and a fellow member of the KC Media Collective. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for KCUR’s email newsletter. Businesses were split on their reaction to the vote on April 2 that rejected the extension of a 3/8th-cent sales tax…
Build a bigger bandwagon for women entrepreneurs, founders say; an isolated journey is too lonely
Representation of women in entrepreneurship is critically important, Vanessa Jupe told a crowd gathered this week at Union Station, emphasizing the power of exposure and leading by example to create a stronger, more diverse ecosystem. “If we don’t start businesses, then other women aren’t going to see that as a possibility,” said the founder and…
