Recently the Staley School of Leadership Studies partnered with the Kansas Leadership Center and the state of Kansas for the Kansas Beats the Virus initiative.
The goal of Kansas Beats the Virus was to host 1,000 meetings across the state with Kansans, inspiring local solutions that keep people healthy, schools and businesses open, and our economy strong amidst the pandemic.
Staley School faculty and staff facilitated 20 online group meetings across the state, convened by current students, alumni, campus partners, and local community leaders. The group members worked together to identify the needs and concerns of the people they influence or serve, and developed an action plan that could help slow the spread of COVID-19.
Groups’ plans addressed a variety of strategies that could be implemented right away to help people practice healthy behaviors and connect people to resources or support systems that would make doing the right thing easier. One group agreed to help promote and contribute assistance with proper mask sanitization and access to reusable masks. Another group committed to creating learning materials to distribute safely to community members on how to use various video chat platforms and tools to encourage safe socialization.
“I met with a group of young alumni in the Kansas City Area. As these new professionals shared stories of their varied work and personal experiences, their purpose became clear,” says Kerry Priest, Ph.D., associate professor at the Staley School. “Their leadership plan focused on closing the gap on fatigue, resistance, and conflicting views around masking and other safe behaviors. They seek to energize their families, colleagues, students, and the broader community through positive messages, modeling safe practices, and sharing resources that support public health behaviors.”
Members of the Kansas State University Foundation came together with facilitator Tamara Bauer, instructor at the Staley School, to brainstorm and strategize creative ways they can contribute to #beatthevirus. They split into workgroups and came up with four multifaceted action steps:
- Highlighting the ways their own staff members are engaging in positive behaviors to keep themselves and others healthy
- Creating a networking opportunity for team members to check-in with one another on overall wellbeing
- Highlighting and celebrating small businesses throughout Manhattan committed to practices that slow the virus spread
- Bringing in a healthcare professional to speak directly to their staff to answer questions or concerns they have about the virus and vaccine.
“These dialogues create an opportunity for people to be responsive and solution focused to help offset the worry and fatigue we are all experiencing,” Bauer said. “The KSU Foundation is leveraging the talent and energy of their culture to unify around action steps they can take.”
Brandon Kliewer, Ph.D., associate professor at the Staley School, worked with the Habitat for Humanity Restore in Manhattan, Kansas. They committed to improving online shopping, providing PPE for staff, and creating a customer traffic flow plan in the store. Read more.
The Staley School facilitation team for this partnership was Tamara Bauer, Amanda Cebula, Mike Finnegan, Brandon Kliewer, Tamas Kowalik, Kerry Priest, Aliah K. Mestrovich Seay, Kim Ralston, and Andrew Wefald, all from the Staley School.
As of Feb. 1, the Kansas Beats the Virus, funded by the CARES act, awarded $850,000 for action plans. More than 7,000 Kansans from 72 counties met.
The Staley School is a long-time collaborator with the Kansas Leadership Center, including Third Floor Research. Efforts like Kansas Beats the Virus are examples of the benefits of such partnerships and the strength of united Kansans.