Education

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. [divide] 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…

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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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Why executing even the greatest startup idea first requires sales (and beyond-superficial curiosity)

By Tommy Felts / April 22, 2025

That sexy pitch alone might not get your startup its first customer, said Lee Walter, noting that lasting success relies heavily on jumping outside the vaunted “ideation” phase to truly question a venture’s value. Walter’s revelation — born from a sales career that stretched from selling school lockers and coffee beans to commercial espresso machines…

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KC’s college education gap is widening based on income; new effort targets barriers to dreams after high school

By Tommy Felts / April 16, 2025

A just-announced initiative — backed by the Bloch Family Foundation — has a straightforward goal: put more college advisors in Kansas City Public Schools and develop a strategic plan to boost access to quality, affordable college education or career training after high school. The newly launched Kansas City College and Career Attainment Network (KCCAN) already…

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