Minority-Led Stories

TomboyX Women’s Capital Connection

$18M buyout of TomboyX shares shows investing in women pays off, says Women’s Capital Connection

Women are winning in Kansas City, said Kelly Sievers as 24 members of Women’s Capital Connection receive their return from an $18-million buyout of their shares in a Seattle woman’s startup. “They’re getting a great infusion of capital to grow even more and we also still have money in the company because we invested a…

Image courtesy of ShotTracker Mountain West

ShotTracker partners with entire NCAA conference, taking shot at potential in-game analytics

The game is all about proliferating ShotTracker’s technology, said Davyeon Ross, announcing a new partnership with the Mountain West conference to spread the Kansas-born stats-and-analytics tech further across collegiate basketball. Ross’ goal: nothing short of overhauling sports. “The Mountain West continues to stand out for being a pioneer in adopting the latest cutting-edge technologies,” the…

James “Sug Easy” Singleton, Break Free KC

Break Free KC drops beat on cultural stereotypes, aims to rebrand hip hop

Hip hop culture in Kansas City is misunderstood, James “Sug Easy” Singleton said, explaining his mission to help local artists break free of stereotypes and live their passion with authenticity. “When I have a 88-year-old lady at my camp seeing her grandson — who came in with a negative notion of what hip hop was going…

The Distrikc, AbdulRasheed Yahaya, Michelle Richmond, Ryan S. Harvey, Mark Launiu, Deaunte Thomas, Wesley Hamilton, and Darion Moore

The Distrikc founders: We’re not waiting on outsiders to save our brothers and sisters

It’s time for members of Kansas City’s largely unseen and forgotten communities of color to take control, said Wesley Hamilton, one of the organizers behind The Distrikc. “We speak so much about KC, but people forget whole groups of people — I’m talking Troost to Main, East Kansas City, South Kansas City,” he said. “We want…

University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Enactus team; Photo courtesy of Darcy Howe

‘Legendary’ UMKC Enactus team earns spot in national entrepreneurship finals

The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s Enactus team is the fourth most impactful in the country, declared Ben Williams. “At UMKC Enactus, we take the world’s greatest challenges into our own hands, channeling our power as students, advocates, and entrepreneurs,” the team told a crowd gathered Tuesday at the Kansas City Convention Center, as they took…