Education

Goodwill’s ‘adult high school’ in KC just scored major funding wins (and hired its first leader)

By Tommy Felts / May 20, 2025

A first-of-its kind adult high school in the region hit two big funding milestones this month, said organizers of the Excel Center, announcing six-figure financial contributions from the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, as well as a key hire. Led by Goodwill of Western Missouri and Eastern Kansas (MoKan…

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First domino falls as University of Kentucky athletic department launches its own LLC

By Tommy Felts / May 2, 2025

Editor’s note: The perspectives expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Parker Graham is co-founder of Vestible, an Overland Park-based investment platform that gives fans ownership in the career trajectories of their favorite players. The University of Kentucky’s athletic department is officially becoming its own LLC. Anyone in athletics needs to understand the implications…

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BoysGrow cultivates young leaders in South Kansas City through farming, purpose, entrepreneurship

By Tommy Felts / May 2, 2025

Editor’s note: The following story was written and first published by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDCKC). Click here to read the original story. At the heart of South Kansas City’s farmland, a quiet transformation is happening. For more than a decade, BoysGrow has been shaping not just crops — but futures. Founded in…

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Start the ignition: These Operation Breakthrough students just designed MADE MOBB’s latest drop

By Tommy Felts / May 1, 2025

Vu Radley wants students at Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab to have opportunities he wishes he would have been offered in high school, shared the co-owner of Crossroads-based streetwear brand MADE MOBB. His team spent the past nine months working with a handful of teens at the Ignition Lab — Josiah Bryant, Suleyman Dia, Jeremiyah Bradley,…

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UMKC pitch challenge awards $95K+ for ‘entrepreneur state of mind’ in and outside the classroom

By Tommy Felts / April 26, 2025

Winning $15,000 in Friday’s pitch competition at UMKC’s Regnier Venture Creation Challenge felt like the culmination of years of hard work and development, said Iyshia Sims. “Oh my gosh, I’m just so proud of myself,” said Sims, founder of ‘Amir’acle Body Butters and More. “I felt really good after the pitch, I have pitched a…

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