Education

Big ideas for young people: How Equal Minded Café crowdfunded its coffee shop youth incubator’s next blend

By Tommy Felts / June 25, 2025

Dontavious Young is betting on the next generation. As founder of Equal Minded Café and the Big Ideas Foundation, Young is creating space for high school students to build businesses, find purpose, and take ownership of their futures. “I want to be someone who kids remember their whole life,” Young said. “Almost everyone has an…

Read More >

Kauffman awards $5.8M funding pipeline to research how to close wealth gaps in KC, beyond

By Tommy Felts / June 18, 2025

Eight newly announced research grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are expected to help catalyze research-based efforts aimed at growing equitable economic mobility in Kansas City, regionally, and nationally. More than $5.8 million in research funding will be disbursed over the next three years through this first round of grantmaking through Kauffman’s new research…

Read More >

Topeka’s new community-built innovation incubator turns soil; leaders eager to show the world what grows

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2025

TOPEKA — It’s not just about breaking new ground in the state’s capital, said Neal Spencer; the Link Innovation Labs project’s global reach serves as “a foundation for growth, impact, and the future of our great city.” “It’ll be a hub for ideas, connection and opportunity — a place where startups launch, collaborators spark, and…

Read More >

Global startups plug into Topeka: How Kansas connections are powering their innovation

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2025

TOPEKA — Collaboration in the Midwest is just a call away, said Romaine Redman. It’s a reality that sets the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem apart, he added, and a heartland trait that seeds Topeka’s Plug and Play accelerator with the potential for international impact. “I pick up the phone and I call someone, and they’re here…

Read More >

Topeka recruited dozens of Filipino teachers for local classrooms; at year’s end, the district hopes they’ll stay

By Tommy Felts / May 29, 2025

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.  [divide] TOPEKA — Although international educators are not new to the state’s capital city, Topeka welcomed about 50 teachers from the Philippines this past school year to address shortages within…

Read More >
[adinserter block="4"]