Every Partnership Starts at an Event
Our events are where community leaders meet schools, where partners set goals together, and where we celebrate what a year of showing up can do for kids. Almost everyone starts in the same place: a Lunch & Learn.
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What’s Coming Up
Lunch & Learns run throughout the year and are always free to attend. Kickoffs are scheduled by each school district, so those dates go up as soon as we have them. Everything else lands here too, from the gala to the one-off gatherings we add in spring and fall.
Of all our events, our Lunch & Learns are the most impactful. Not because they bring in big giving numbers or networking opportunities, but because that’s how our partners get started.
If you’re ready to activate your organization to help local Kansas City kids, join a Lunch & Learn today.
About Our Events
We host four kinds of events, and each one does a different job. One introduces you to the work. One starts your year alongside a school. One celebrates the partners and students doing remarkable things. And one asks kids what they would change about their world, then helps them do it.
Lunch & Learns
One hour, online, free. We cover who we are, why we exist, and the problem we are working on: getting more community partners around schools and kids. Then we get practical about what everyone in a school partnership is actually responsible for, and we finish with open questions. Some people come because they are brand new. Some are principals who just took the job. Some have served a school for years and want to do it better. Everyone leaves knowing what a partnership would look like for them.
Heart of a Champion Gala
Our largest fundraiser of the year, and the one night the whole network is in the same room. We honor the community organizations and schools doing remarkable work, and we hand three checks to students whose Dream Big ideas stood out. Corporate sponsorships are available at several levels and put your name in front of a room full of Kansas City leaders. If you have ever wanted to see the scope of this work in one evening, this is the night.
Dream Big
Every year we ask students from pre-K through twelfth grade one question: what is your big dream for yourself, your school, or your community? They can answer however they want, with a drawing, an essay, a video, or something nobody has thought of yet. Three winners are announced at the Heart of a Champion Gala, and each one receives a check to help make their idea real. It is the part of the year where we stop talking about kids and start listening to them.
Partnership Kickoffs
At the start of each school year, everyone serving a school comes together, new partners and ten-year veterans alike. You hear from the superintendent, get time with the principal, and sit down with the other organizations working alongside you, usually over a meal. Together you set goals for the year and sort out who is taking on what. Districts set these dates, so they go on our calendar as soon as we know them. If you are joining a school this year, your kickoff is where the work begins.
Join a Lunch & Learn
We host regular lunch and learns about how you can partner with a school. We cover Our proven 4-step process for community partnerships, what a partnership looks like day to day, and how to start your project.
We finish with time for your questions, whether you are brand new to this or you have served a school for years and want to do it better.
Join our next Lunch & Learn to see how you can serve your local schools.