Kansas Health Foundation plans new building to bring together Kansans

Wichita, Kan. – The Kansas Health Foundation announced plans for a new building designed to bring together Kansans for multiple purposes. The building will have additional meeting facilities for the Foundation to gather grantees for conferences and larger group meetings.

The building will serve as a new statewide headquarters for the Kansas Leadership Center currently located in temporary, leased space at 300 North Main Street in Wichita. The Foundation launched the Kansas Leadership Center in 2005, and it opened two years later as a separate organization through an initial 10-year grant. The Center fosters civic leadership with the goal to create stronger, healthier communities.

“When we launched the Kansas Leadership Center, we publicly committed to providing them space in downtown Wichita, and we’re pleased to follow through on that promise because it also makes the most efficient use of new meeting space designed to bring Kansans together in pursuit of a healthier Kansas,” said Steve Coen, President and CEO of the Foundation.

The new headquarters will be built on the parking lot adjacent to the Foundation’s building at 309 East Douglas in downtown Wichita. The Foundation owns the land.

“Together we looked at a number of alternatives and how they best met our vision of bringing people together while also being most efficient for both organizations,” Coen said. “Co-locating will allow us to share meeting space and some services to create the best economies of scale.”

Plans for the building are in the early stages, but it is expected to be about 20,000 to 25,000 square feet. The two organizations will maximize meeting space and group interaction in the building design. In addition to offices and smaller meeting rooms, major features will include a “town hall” type meeting space for 200 people and a meeting room for 200 people that can also be divided into four smaller rooms.

“Our mission to help foster more leadership engaged in more communities throughout the state necessitates people gathering to have important conversations,” said Kansas Leadership Center President and CEO Ed O’Malley. “No matter where someone lives in Kansas, large or small town, north or south, we want to create the right space so people can gather to have meaningful conversations that lead to action to create healthier communities.”

The Kansas Leadership Center expects to bring about 1,000 Kansans a year to its headquarters for leadership training programs and additional people for meetings and conferences, including alumni meetings. It has more than 1,500 alumni throughout Kansas.

Wichita Mayor Carl Brewer said, “These two groups are important assets to the entire state, and we are pleased to have them located here. We believe that downtown Wichita is a great place for them to create a welcoming living room for Kansans.”

The Kansas Health Foundation is a private foundation dedicated to improving the health of all Kansans, especially in the area of promoting health and preventing disease. Since its inception, the Foundation has paid out about $470 million to grantees to help improve the health of Kansans.

The Foundation was established through the sale of Wesley Medical Center in 1985. It was originally endowed with $200 million and has now grown its asset base to more than $435 million distributing more than $22 million annually to grantees.

The Kansas Leadership Center has 15 full time employees and 30 part-time employees, including faculty from throughout Kansas.

“The Kansas Leadership Center is nationally recognized for its innovative and comprehensive approach to leadership in action and an important strategy to help people make communities and therefore the state healthier,” Coen said. “Several other states are now working to replicate the Center. We’re proud we have this resource in Kansas.”

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The Kansas Health Foundation is a private philanthropy based in Wichita and works statewide to improve the health of all Kansans. www.kansashealth.org

The Kansas Leadership Center opened in 2007 with a multi-year, renewable grant from the Kansas Health Foundation, and is charged with fostering civic leadership for stronger, healthier communities. www.kansasleadershipcenter.org