//Our Organization//
Wichita Urban Professionals (ICT-UP) is dedicated to empowering the young, diverse and talented.
The organization involves members
ages 20-45 in engaging and relevant personal development opportunities, which include professional development trainings and dynamic social networking events.
OUR MISSION
Developing a rising network of black leaders to improve the urban community of Wichita.
A core group of millennials came together, under the leadership of Jonathan Long, in 2013 and spent one year strategizing and structuring a course of action to help Wichita better attract, retain and develop its minority professional population.
In 2014, Urban Professionals, launched. With partnerships between ICT-UP and the Kansas Leadership Center firmly in place, Wichita Urban Professionals set out to be the go-to network for the city's young, diverse and talented.
Since then, the organization has grown its network and reach to more than 200 and launched a publication that generated reads by more than 1,000 per issue. In 2016, the organization began taking steps to be a stand-alone entity. That same year, the organization won the Wichita Business Journal's Leaders in Diversity Award. While the transition is ongoing, ICT-UP members continue to advance the Wichita-area's attraction, recruitment and retention efforts through collaborations with organizations including Young Professionals of Wichita, among others.
//ICT-UP HISTORY//
Photo credit: The Wichita Business Journal and ICT-UP archival photos