KC programs become semifinalists in Harvard innovation contest
January 19, 2017 | Bobby Burch
Harvard University has recognized two Kansas City initiatives as semifinalists in the school’s Innovations in American Government Awards competition.
Led by the City of Kansas City, Mo., the Community Improvement District Revolving Loan Fund and Women’s Empowerment initiative both are among 100 programs vying for a shot to become finalists and the $100,000 grand prize.
“These programs demonstrate that there are no prerequisites for doing the good work of governing,” Stephen Goldsmith, director of the Innovations in American Government Program at the Ash Center, said in a release. “Small towns and massive cities, huge federal agencies and local school districts, large budgets or no budgets at all — what makes government work best is the drive to do better, and this group proves that drive can be found anywhere.”
The two programs beat out more than 500 other applicants from 50 states as examples of “effective actions whose work has had significant impact,” and can be replicated around the world, the city said in a release.
The Women’s Empowerment program is a collaboration between the Mayor Sly James’ office, Central Exchange, the Women’s Foundation and the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Women’s Center. It aims to ensure that Kansas City is an inclusive, diverse and supportive of women-owned businesses and female entrepreneurs.
About half of Kansas City’s Zip+4 zones were considered economically distressed in 2011 when the city began its CID fund, the city said. The fund partners with a neighborhood to provide resources and support to make changes that change its landscape for the better. Instead of relying on third parties to make neighborhood improvements, the CID fund provides citizens with essential resources, while focusing on opportunities leaders can identify and solve. As part of the effort, the city created tools to assist organizations in the formation of their CIDs and managing expenses throughout their work.
The competition expects to announce 10 programs as finalists in March, with the grand prize winners to be named in June.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Former KC startup eyes nationwide education revamp with merger
About a year after a move from Kansas City to St. Louis, education tech firm myEDmatch has merged with a nationwide teacher recruitment platform. Led by CEO Alicia Herald, myEDmatch will combine its platform connecting teachers and school job openings with St. Louis-based Teachers-Teachers, a firm that focuses on teacher recruitment. The new, yet-to-be-named entity…
Byrd: How the Silicon Prairie can avoid Silicon Valley’s diversity issues
When Google and Intel first released their employment statistics in 2014, the topic of diversity was nowhere as elevated as it is today in corporate circles. Silicon Valley and its many companies from large tech giants down to startups are under the diversity and inclusion microscope. Why all of the emphasis on diversity? Demographically our…
State of Entrepreneurship to tackle national ‘startup deficit’
In her second address to the nation, Kauffman Foundation CEO Wendy Guillies on Wednesday will present the seventh-annual “State of Entrepreneurship Address.” Guillies will travel to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to address the nation’s long-term decline in new business creation, which has created a so-called “startup deficit.” Guillies, who was appointed as…
LaunchCode kicks off Kansas City office with $250K boost
Fresh off its expansion to Kansas City, LaunchCode will tap additional capital from the Missouri Technology Corporation to boost its operations focused on tech workforce development. With a visit Thursday from Missouri Gov. Jay Nixon at the Sprint Accelerator, the MTC announced that it would inject an additional $250,000 into LaunchCode, which expanded from St.…