WICHITA, Kan. – The Kansas Health Foundation (KHF) Board of Directors recently approved more than $19 million in core support funding to continue advancing civic leadership, enhancing media coverage of health issues and supporting community philanthropy through 2025.

KHF uses core support grantmaking as a strategy to build capacity and sustainability for organizations that provide far-reaching, foundational work to support KHF’s mission.

“When these organizations accomplish their missions, it is natural to see progress in the KHF mission to improve the health of all Kansans,” said Matt Allen, chair of the KHF Board of Directors. “The Board was compelled to continue investing in these organizations as they work to foster civic leadership, cover health-related issues and support the needs of communities through community-led philanthropy.”

The following grants were approved by the KHF Board of Directors for January 2021 through December 2025:

$15.4 million Kansas Leadership Center Core Support

Funding for the Kansas Leadership Center (KLC) will continue efforts to foster leadership for stronger, healthier and more prosperous Kansas communities. This five-year grant includes $400,000 to ORS Impact for evaluation of KLC’s civic engagement efforts.

In 2007, KHF created KLC and in 2012, built the Kansas Leadership Center and Kansas Health Foundation Conference Center in Wichita. KHF has committed nearly $38.1 million for core support and evaluation of KLC since its beginning. KLC’s various leadership development programs and courses equip individuals in the public, private and non-profit sectors to exercise leadership more effectively and make progress on what matters most in creating a healthy state.

Nearly $2.85 million Kansas News Service Core Support

KHF believes unbiased, nonpartisan news coverage of health-related issues is essential for Kansans to make informed decisions about their health and communities. Funding the Kansas News Service, through KCUR public radio, supports news coverage over a wide range of health, education and public policy issues. KCUR and partnerships with public radio stations across the state help expand the broadcast reach of the Kansas News Service, and content is offered for no charge to print media outlets across the state.

KHF has funded the Kansas News Service, in partnership with Kansas Grantmakers in Health, since 2017. Prior to this, the Kansas Health Institute (KHI) used part of its core operations funding in 2006 from KHF to launch the KHI News Service to address declining media coverage of health issues. In 2015, there was an opportunity for the News Service to expand in partnership with KCUR. It was at this time that KHI decided to continue focusing on policy and research and to end its partnership with nonprofit journalism.

KHF has supported health journalism with $4.1 million in core support since 2006, including the KHI News Service ($2.5 million) and the Kansas News Service (KCUR) ($1.6 million).

$1 million Kansas Association of Community Foundations Core Support

The Kansas Association of Community Foundations (KACF) is a membership organization of community foundations that believe in philanthropy, peer-learning and state-wide partnerships. This core support from KHF will help build KACF’s capacity and allow it to leverage resources of our state’s community foundations. These efforts help to strengthen and promote philanthropy in communities, resulting in long-term health improvements in Kansas counties. Funding will also support KACF’s annual National Conference for Growing Community Foundations – KACF’s core program.

The Foundation has provided KACF with $600,000 in core support since 2018. Beginning in the early 2000s, KHF also provided KACF technical assistance funding through KHF’s 20-year, $60 million Giving Resources to Our World initiative, which spurred the creation and expansion of 30 Kansas community foundations and their assets.

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Photo of 2019 KLC leadership class participants by Jeff Tuttle.