26 Jun Leadership program cohort focused on housing
Seventeen Reno County residents are focused on housing as part of this year’s Kansas Leadership Center Transformation Grant through Hutchinson Community Foundation.
The community foundation has held the grant on behalf of the community since 2019, and each year it pays the tuition for residents wishing to attend Kansas Leadership Center programs. In all, more than 140 individuals representing more than 60 Reno County businesses and organizations have attended the program through this grant.
This year’s participants form the Transformational Leadership Cohort, a nine-month experience designed to build leadership capacity and collaboration across sectors to address a key adaptive challenge connected to housing for vulnerable populations in Reno County. The cohort allows participants to engage with the Kansas Leadership Center framework while gaining hands-on experience with core leadership principles and competencies. This year’s focus on housing is in support of the 2024 Reno County Housing Needs Assessment and complementary to the Downtown Unhoused Coalition.
Cohort meetings began in April and will continue through December in a mix of local peer sessions and Leadership Center programs in Wichita.
“So far, the cohort has been working to build relationships, develop a shared understanding of the adaptive challenge, and gain a common language of leadership,” said Kari Mailloux, Hutch CF director of strategy. “As they move forward, they will discover what progress they want to make together and how it will happen. We’re excited to see how this diverse group leverages each other’s strengths, knowledge, and experience to effect change.”
The following are members of the 2025 Transformation Leadership Cohort:
- Angie Copeland, BrightHouse
- Brian E. Davis, At Your Service
- Seth Farley, Hutchinson/Reno County Chamber of Commerce
- Deven Finlay, Central Christian School
- Ashley Garber, Journey Mennonite Church
- Oscar Garcia, RCB Bank
- Jake Graber, Hutchinson Police Department
- Kristin Karam, Horizons Mental Health Center
- Lynnette Krieger-Zook, advocate
- Clint Nelson, Interfaith Housing & Community Services
- Carissa Paxton, City of Hutchinson
- Jeff Schenk, City of South Hutchinson
- Jessica Schoening, United Way of Reno County
- Nicole Scott, Beyond Barriers
- Jim Unruh, Faith Mennonite Church
- Aaron Whittington, New Beginnings, Inc.
- Karlin Zook, Rock Rentals
The grant is guided by a leadership team that creates the strategy and facilitates local sessions. The team includes Donna Davis (Food Bank of Reno County), Denice Gilliland (Hutch Rec), Kari Mailloux (Hutchinson Community Foundation), Dave Sotelo (City of Hutchinson), Valerie Taylor (United Way of Reno County), and Gregg Wamsley (Hutchinson Public Library).
Hutchinson Community Foundation’s mission is to inspire philanthropy, leadership, and collaboration to strengthen Reno County. Since 1989, the foundation has granted more than $104 million to organizations.