Minority-Led Stories

KC’s premier queer sports league nearly doubles in enrollment; focuses on uniting diverse LGBTQ+ community

Athletics has not always been a space where Jared Horman felt comfortable, he shared; but through Stonewall Sports, he discovered a way to genuinely enjoy games while connecting with other queer individuals and allies. “We get to kind of reclaim this thing that was terrifying for us as children,” said Horman, who was first introduced…

Ryan Harvey

Demand more than the life you see scrolling Instagram, Ryan Harvey urges after scam inspires self-reflection

Kansas City motivational speaker Ryan Harvey thought his dreams had come true when a duo from Los Angeles offered him a job creating videos for their up-and-coming self-help company, he recalled. To the community thought leader’s shock, the two took the revenue from the company and disappeared — leaving Harvey to answer to upset clients…

Carlanda McKinney, Bodify

Right fit, refined: Carlanda McKinney’s third venture in apparel measures up to its digital design

Online shopping is a staple for Carlanda McKinney, she noted, but the inaccuracy and variety of size guides leave both shoppers and retailers with major pain points.  “On the shopper side, it is frustrating to order multiple sizes and not have anything fit your body the right way. … On the seller side, retailers are…

Christopher and Ajia Morris, The Greenline Initiative

60 percent of Black residents on KC’s east side are renters: How one small biz hopes to reverse redlining’s hit to homeownership

An investment in The Greenline Initiative is, on its face, an investment in the future of Kansas City’s historic and re-emerging east side, said Ajia Morris.  But there’s more to the effort than meets the eye, the effort’s co-founder explained, detailing ways she and her husband, Christopher, hope to uplift the metro’s Black community; a…

Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith, the Porter House KC

C2FO donates all marketplace revenue it earned Friday to three KC nonprofits for Juneteenth

Editor’s note: C2FO is a financial supporter of Startland News; and Kansas City G.I.F.T. is a non-financial partner of Startland, the parent organization of Startland News. This story was produced independently by Startland News’ non-profit newsroom. One of Kansas City’s biggest tech startups wanted to make Juneteenth a day of “action and awareness,” the company…