Woman-led

Alex Krause Matlack, Sit Foundry

Sit Foundry takes a stand for ‘lost art’ of upholstery amid fast furniture’s climate threat

By Tommy Felts / March 17, 2022

Alex Krause Matlack is bringing what she teaches in the classroom to Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as she pursues Sit Foundry — an all-inclusive reupholstery design studio.  “In the first week of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, I tell my students to go out into the world and take notice of the problems they face.…

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Callie England

Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says

By Tommy Felts / March 15, 2022

Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?”  It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…

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2534 Prospect Avenue, a city-owned space housing WeCode KC

She’s bringing tech to urban core teens; why KCMO says Tammy Buckner needs to pay ‘fair market value’ or get out

By Tommy Felts / March 12, 2022

One of KC’s leading Black women in tech leased a vacant city building for $1 and made $20K+ in improvements for her workforce development program — now the city wants to sell it, kicking WeCode KC to the curb A local nonprofit is asking for community support as the KCMO city council makes a move…

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Panelists Kavya Shankar, Sam De Jong, and Jacob Wagner at the C3KC "Future of Neighborhoods" session

One-size-fits-all neighborhoods are a blueprint for development failure, C3KC panel says

By Tommy Felts / March 11, 2022

Editor’s note: Startland News is a non-financial media sponsor of the 3CKC conference organized by the Junior League of Kansas City, Missouri. The formula for creating a vibrant neighborhood might seem simple, but replicating it between variable demographics, geographies and economies is more challenging than many planners think, said Kavya Shankar. “The strength of the…

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Donald Hawkins, kinly, at the C3KC “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking” session

Fintech revolution follows historical abuse of Black wealth: ‘We’re already late, but we’ve got to do something’

By Tommy Felts / March 11, 2022

Editor’s note: Startland News is a media sponsor for the C3KC session “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking.” With nearly 30 percent of Americans reported as under-banked or unbanked, leaders in the financial space need to ask themselves what steps must be taken to create a more inclusive system, said Cordell Carter II. “We often ask leaders the…

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