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
KC gun violence ‘hurts all of us,’ shop owner along Chiefs parade route says
A shooting at the end of the Chiefs’ victory rally at Union Station brought a rolling celebration of citywide pride to an abrupt stop, said Kinley Strickland, taking fans and business owners from an all-time high to a low with which many are all-too familiar. “It’s just tragic that someone would take an opportunity where…
Chicken N Pickle serves a no-tech, backyard vibe; Here’s why it’s paying off with Texas, national expansion
North Kansas City-founded Chicken N Pickle now has 10 locations — with six more in the works — but the award-winning entertainment destination remains committed to fostering human connection through simple spaces where everyone can play, said Kelli Alldredge. And disconnect. “We don’t have computers on the property. You don’t order from an iPad,” said…
University launching effort for Native small biz, focused on ‘Indianpreneurship,’ resilience
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. LAWRENCE, Kansas — A Kansas university is looking forward to developing indigenous and minority entrepreneurs through a new program funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration. Haskell Indian Nations University…
Shop Local KC leader says she won’t live in fear after parade shooting marks third encounter with gun violence
For the third time in two years, Katie Mabry van Dieren and her small businesses have been impacted by gun violence, she shared, and now the advocate for local makers is calling for gun reform. “It’s unimaginable,” Mabry van Dieren, owner of Shop Local KC and founder of Strawberry Swing, said in the wake of…
