Kansas City civic institutions have laid out metrics and set clear goals for postsecondary education to help increase the region’s overall prosperity. Data from the Greater Kansas City (GKC) region show troubling inclusive prosperity challenges. Four years ago, GKC ranked fifth among thirty peer metropolitan areas (15 metropolitan areas with more people and 15 with fewer people) when measuring the ratio of Black to White, non-Hispanic median earnings. Recently, GKC moved to eighteenth – an alarming decrease (KC Rising 2020). According to the 2019 State of Black Kansas City, the median household income of the Black community is only 54% compared to White, non-Hispanic; and the median net worth of household for Blacks is 10% ($17,600) of their White counterparts ($171,000). GKC anchor institutions are galvanized to align civic efforts on three strategies to drive regional progress – trade, ideas, and people – through KC Rising. According to KC Rising, the Kansas City region outperforms its peers in STEM employment generally, and specifically in engineering and architecture employment. Yet, for a city doing well with STEM employment, Kansas City’s higher education sector is struggling: fewer people are attaining degrees than four years ago, especially STEM degrees (28^th/30), and especially among people who identify as Black or Hispanic.

Integrating STEM reaches beyond campus and sector boundaries to focus efforts on the Greater Kansas City region. By bridging civic organizations and regional higher education, Integrating STEM hopes to make a positive, collective impact.