Minority-Led Stories

Shop small: Five gifts you didn’t know you needed at the just-opened Made in KC Lenexa

Editor’s note: Startland News explored Made in KC’s new marketplace at Lenexa City Center in Johnson County as part of the newsroom’s five-part holiday gift guide that highlights locally owned shops and the makers within them. The items identified here were curated by Kendall Kloster, manager at Made in KC Lenexa, and Startland News. Featured…

Avrell Stokes, BeGreat Together

Last chance to nominate: KC-based nonprofit granting $40K to Black, Latinx changemakers  

A new nonprofit organization is seeking nominations for changemakers in Kansas City’s Black and Latinx communities ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline. One individual will be awarded $20,000 in support of their efforts.  “We’re specifically targeting grassroot changemakers who don’t have any more than $250,000 in their annual operating budget. We really want to invest…

Lee Zuvanich, Appsta, Adva Digital Solutions

He wanted to post his pronouns on LinkedIn sooner, but first this startup founder had to come out to himself

The word was simple — sprinkled into a potentially impactful email introduction last week with little fanfare — but for Lee Zuvanich, reading it felt like Christmas morning. His. “When I came out on LinkedIn this summer — with my pronouns and everything — it wasn’t really a choice,” said Zuvanich, a trans man who now…

Isaac Collins, Yogurtini; Photo by Scott Suchman

Retaking the ‘entrepreneur’ label: ‘You need to have a good product, but ultimately it needs to be about more’

In “The New Builders,” written by Times of Entrepreneurship founder Elizabeth MacBride and venture capitalist Seth Levine, the authors look at the landscape of entrepreneurship across America. In this excerpt — from Chapter 3: The Definition Of Success — the authors focus on Isaac Collins, a Kansas City entrepreneur who also faces and fights added obstacles…

Madoka Koguchi and Jackie Nguyen, Cafe Cà Phê; 2021 AltCap Your Biz grand prize winner

KC’s first Vietnamese coffee shop brews $20K at AltCap Your Biz; other winners include an urban farm, development company and selfie studio

Cafe Cà Phê can now afford to build bathrooms in its anticipated brick-and-mortar coffee location, Jackie Nguyen teased on Instagram after being awarded the grand prize at the 2021 AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “The $20,000 will go toward helping build that out — getting new appliances, [hiring] new employees because we’ve outgrown our cart….