Wichita Urban Professionals

PAST ICT-UP EVENTS

WE'RE PURPOSE-DRIVEN!

From exclusive professional development and Lunch and Learns, now called Empower Hours, at some of the city's prime locations to dynamic social networking events, ICT-UP is all about empowering the young, diverse and talented.

Wichita Urban Professionals has championed diversity and inclusion work since 2013. The What if I Left Wichita? event brought together Wichitans from diverse backgrounds to explore how diversity and inclusion fits in the Focus Forward conversations and to make commitments on areas where we'll have strategic focus and impact to make Wichita more inclusive.

See the recap video courtesy of Colborn Media here.

Wichita Urban Professionals' Black Panther Premier Party - February 2018

Wichita Urban Professionals took over the Showcase Lounge at the downtown Regal movie theatre to watch Marvel's Black Panther. DJ Cadence kept the crowd energized prior to the showing of this blockbuster film.

Relive it all here.

3RD ANNUAL DREAMCHASERS AWARDS' GALA AND AFTER PARTY

Click here to view Dreamchasers' video footage captured by Vibe Wichita.

Mix N' Mingles

ICT-UP launched a series of monthly MIx N' Mingles at various locations across Wichita to allow members to network with one-another. Mixer locations included Aloft, Funky Monkey and more.

GAME NIGHT

Several ICT-UP members were invited to participate in Game Night with students participating in the Collegiate Career and Advancement Program. Nearly 50 students participated in an event design to equip them with skills -- and contacts -- as they set the foundation for collegiate and professional excellence.

CLICK HERE for more details.

ICT-UP All the Way Up Week

Wichita Urban Professionals celebrated a week's worth of events as they brought in their third anniversary.

From martini nights to old school karaoke to empowering workshops leading up to Dreamchasers, ICT-UP went all the way up!

Take Control of your Credit Score

Wichita Urban Professionals member, Attorney Robert Moody, led organization members and guests in a fascinating exploration of strategies to improve credit scores and financial outlooks.

This event was part of ICT-UP's ongoing commitment to economic development through personal and business education.

Strategy meeting with the Wichita Police Department

Members of Wichita Urban Professionals participated in a strategy dialogue session with leadership of the Wichita Police Department to talk strategies for improvement. The conversation concluded with WPD making three impactful commitments, among discussion of several actionable items.

CLICK HERE to see news coverage of the meeting outcomes.

WINEUCATION

Jennifer McDonald, of Jenny Dawn Cellars, led a special "Wineucation" wine and food pairing tasting. The effort was part of her market research project as she works on creating a business plan for her own vineyard.

Additional tastings are planned for September 10, 2016. Like her FACEBOOK page for more details.

Wine lovers are encouraged to participate in her market research efforts by participating in a brief survey: http://svy.mk/1UPOSl6

We Made It: A Thank You Celebration in honor of ICT-UP receiving a WBJ Leaders in Diversity award.

Held Friday, May 20, Wichita Urban Professionals gathered with members and supporters to celebrate our recognition from the Wichita Business Journal's Leaders in Diversity 2016 Awards. The thank you reception was held at the Kansas Leadership Center and featured refreshments, networking and karaoke.

Civic Engagement Workshop

Thursday, February 18, 2016 | 6:30 p.m.

Kansas Leadership Center, 325 E. Douglas

Republican and Democrat representatives were in attendance at this forum, which was held in conjunction with Young Professionals of Wichita. Participants learned about the parties, their platforms, key issues and ways to get involved.

Leading Through Conflict: A special LEAD-ICT UP presentation

Tuesday, February 9, 2016 | 6:30 p.m.

Wichita State University's Rhatigan Student Center, 1845 Fairmount

Featuring:

Ted Ayres, WSU's Director of Community Engagement and Opportunity and president-elect of the Mizzou Alumni Association
Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle, WSU's newly-appointed Assistant to the President for Diversity

In this installment of the LEAD-ICT UP series, speakers delved into the leadership principles of "Diagnosing Situations" and "Managing Self" as they talk race relations, diversity and leadership.

The installment was presented in partnership with WSU's Office of the President for Diversity, WSU's Office of Community Engagement and Opportunity and the Kansas Leadership Center.

Nearly 100 people attended.

Urbane Art Affair

Saturday, January 30, 2016 | 6:30 p.m.

Wichita Art Museum, 1400 W. Museum Blvd.

This special opening mixer was held in partnership with the Wichita Art Museum as it celebrates the opening of its Gordon Parks Freedom to Expand exhibit.

Wichita Urban Professionals mixed it up with guests from Washburn University Law School for a great evening of old-school board games, (non-gambling) card games, music and fun at the Mixer/Game Night.

The event, held at the Labor Party, allowed Urban Professionals to share points of pride with the guests about all that Wichita has to offer. The event also drew the participation of others in Wichita's legal community.

Urban Economic Development Roundtable

ICT-UP, in partnership with NetWork Kansas, the Create Campaign and others, held an Urban Economic Development Roundtable featuring Dell Gines of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. The event, held at the Kansas Leadership center on September 30, drew a diverse crowd of business leaders, community advocates, financial representatives and entrepreneurs. Gines presented his "Growing Your Own" strategy as a way to help create more African-American entrepreneurs across various industries. For more information about the event, please read the latest edition of Urban Magnate.

More than 150 people came to celebrate the city's young, diverse and talented at Wichita Urban Professionals' inaugural recognition event: Dreamchasers. The event, presented in partnership with Spirit AeroSystems, was held Saturday, September 12, 2015 at Abode. The inugural honoree class included:

CIVIC LEADERSHIP: Brandon Johnson, of Community Operations Recovery Empowerment, Inc. and Angela Scott, head mistress of the Ubuntu Village School.

COLLEGIATE IMPACT - Joseph Shepard, student body president, Wichita State University and La.tin.a., the Latina Interest Association.

CORPORATE- Koch Industries, Inc. for its community engagement efforts.

ENTREPRENEUR - Carlos Fernandez, of Clutch Studios and Page Out; and Jondalyn Crosby of Road to Hauteness.

MENTOR - Brian Black of Spirit AeroSystems

URBAN PROFESSIONAL OF THE YEAR - This recognition is exclusively reserved for an inspirational Wichita Urban Professionals member whose life, work, personal character(s), achievement(s) and/or initiative(s): motivate others to accomplish more than they would have normally; inspires a high level of commitment from others when taking on new initiatives; creates a compelling vision of the future and helps others understand their role in achieving it; actively shares responsibility, authority, information and credit when working towards the achievement of a goal; sets a high level of integrity by leading by example and maintaining high personal standards.

Urban Professional Man of the Year- Robert Moody, attorney at Martin Pringle

Urban Professional Woman of the Year - Portia Portugal, of Dress for Success.

The featured speaker, Ann Fox of Wichita Habitat for Humanity, gave a powerful talk based on the simplistically profound song, "Row, row, row your boat."

DJ Rolls Royce Stevenson, of Power 93.5, served as the event's emcee. DJ Chris "Playmaker" Stimpson, of Hot 103 Jamz, kicked out hit after hit at the Afterparty.

The event also drew its own "paparazzi" with Photography by Michael E. Woods, LLC, David D. Wallace, Jr. and Bray Films capturing the moments.

The event was made possible by sponsors including: Spirit AeroSystems, Westar Energy, Wichita State University's Office of Diversity and Inclusion, CML Collective, LLC, Facility Interiors, Glam I, LLC and Midwest Single Source.

Click here to read our special Urban Magnate- Dreamchasers' edition

The Create Campaign Kick-off Event

Wichita Urban Professionals partnered with CML Collective, LLC and the Entrepreneurship Task Force to help promote the Create Campaign, which was held on Saturday, July 25, 2015 at the Wichita State University Rhatigan Student Center. The event connected entrepreneuers - and particularly African-American entrepreneuers - with existing service providers and resources to help raise awareness on ways to start, sustain and scale their firms.

Event sponsors include: CML Collective, LLC, The Center for Entrepreneurship at Wichita State University, the Wichita Metro Chamber of Commerce and many more. Workshop presentations were made by the US Small Business Administration, S.C.O.R.E., Kiko, LLC and more.

CLICK HERE to learn more about the campaign.

Urban Empower Hour focused on the compelling topic, "The Only One in the Room" presented by Kaye Monk-Morgan and Mark McCormick on Wednesday, June 24, 2015 at the Kansas Leadership Center.

Special thanks to the Kansas Leadership Center for partnering with ICT-UP for use of the facility for this dynamic event.

Brian Black, of Spirit AeroSystems, facilitated a fact-filled and interactive forum that explored the art and strategy of effective networking using the Ready, Rapport and Request Strategy. Participants also heard from Don Sherman of Westar Energy and Laura Bernstorf of Young Professionals of Wichita.

Special thanks to the Boys and Girls Club, 2400 N. Opportunity Drive, for allowing Wichita Urban Professionals use of the venue for this incredible professional development event.

WORK THE ROOM

MID-CONTINENT MAYORAL CANDIDATE FORUM

Wichita Urban Professionals collaborated with the Young Professionals of Wichita to put on the Mid-Continent Mayoral Forum, held on February 25, at the Hungry Heart in downtown Wichita. Nine of the 10 candidates appeared and gave a brief account of their platform followed by an informal meet-and-greet to allow people to ask questions one-on-one of the candidates. More than 70 people attended.

Photos courtesy of C.Long and Young Professionals of Wichita

Wichita Urban Professionals kicked off our 2015 calendar with First Friday set for Friday, February 6, 2015. The lively night featured a mixer at the 40 Plus Lounge, which also doubled as our February/March 2015 Urban Magnate release. Followed by the mixer and release, we enjoyed a movie screening at the Labor Party.

LUNCH AND LEARN

Assistant County Manager, Ron Holt, gave a thought-provoking talk about leadership to kick off ICT-UP's Lunch and Learn Series. The Lunch and Learn took place at the Cox Lounge at Intrust Bank Arena. Following the talk, members were treated to an exclusive, behind-the-scenes tour of Intrust Bank Arena.

Special thanks to Ron Holt, Intrust Bank Arena and Lunch and Learn sponsor, Cox Business.

MAGAZINE LAUNCH

Wichita Urban Professionals took over the Penthouse at Mayflower Plaza to celebrate the release of the organization's premiere publication, Urban Magnate. The release party, co-hosted by the Urban League Guild, combined great music from artist, Kevin Harrison, and networking in one of the city's hottest venues. CLICK HERE to read the publication that features Mayor Carl Brewer.

Photos courtesy of Photography by Michael E. Woods, LLC

OUR FUTURE-NOW

Wichita Urban Professionals' Launch Event and awareness campaign.

Nearly 70 urban professionals attended the launch event held at the Kansas Leadership Center. Highlights included remarks by Mayor Carl Brewer, Shaun Rojas of the leadership Center and Jonathan Long, president of the Wichita Urban Professionals.