KRC Leadership Update
Hello Friends of the Kansas Rural Center,
After several years of having the honor to serve on the KRC Board of Directors, I was elected earlier this year to serve as President. I have always been proud of the unwavering commitment of this organization, including its staff, leadership, and Board of Directors to advancing a socially just and ecologically sound food and farming future for our state, and I am honored to be entrusted with helping continue to guide this mission in 2021.
This year will mark a year of change in the Executive Director position of KRC. Connie Bonfy has stepped down to focus on her health, effective May 14. We are grateful to Connie for her time shepherding the organization, to helping us bring on talented, dedicated staff members along with helping build the organization's capacity and new-to-us partnerships with other organizations across the state.
During this time of transition, the KRC Board, especially the Executive Committee, is supporting staff and the organization’s programs, grants, and partnerships. The Board has selected Vice President Zack Pistora to fill the role of Interim Director as the Board begins a full executive search. Zack will be taking a temporary leave from the Board to do so. We are confident in Zack’s abilities to guide the organization, alongside our incredibly skilled and passionate staff members. Below Connie shares a few words of farewell for you all.
Starting last year and continuing to today — and surely beyond — KRC has not been immune to the great transitions our state, country, and world has been undergoing, progressing forward in a time of uncertainty and adjusting to our “new normal,” no matter how frequently that sense of normalcy seems to shift. As with many other organizations, we have moved to a fully digital program execution, bringing in folks from across the state and beyond its borders to our education-by-Zoom (and Whova platform!) opportunities. Our continued push toward our mission has remained constant throughout, and we are looking forward to many collaborative, exciting, and we believe game-changing events and programs, including:
● KRC’s annual conference in a virtual setting—just successfully completing a Local Foods conference and looking forward to the Soil Health conference on August 6.
● Engaging in the expansion of local/regional food production, processing, and marketing as a way of supporting community development and opportunities for meaningful livelihoods, including our 2020-2022 Farm to School program grant and a partnership with Common Ground Producers and Grower’s Urban Agriculture project.
● Promoting widespread adoption of more diversification and biodiversity (biological and social) in the farming, soil health, and food system in Kansas that provide more opportunities to farmers, and a more resilient future.
I thank all of you for your ongoing support of KRC, your involvement and attendance, your presence in our community, and your taking up the good fight on behalf of our land and people.
If you have someone who would be a strong fit for our next Executive Director, please email jobs@kansasruralcenter.org. We are actively searching and will be reaching out to our partners to launch a full search.
Respectfully,
Jennifer Kongs, KRC Board President——————————————————————————————————————————————————
Farewell from Connie
Hello KRC friends! I wanted to take a moment and say hello and also goodbye; at least goodbye as your executive director. As you know I’m not the youngest chick in the clutch, and we have had such a busy year with many ideas, and more than one conference (with a great one on Local Foods, Food System Resilience, and Farm to School on May 7). There is much more to be done and unfortunately I am exhausted. My heart is enthusiastic about the work and I know you will continue to see great things come out of KRC. So with an expectant heart toward the future I must say goodbye for now. I will be closely following the work and hope to help in any way I can.
Best wishes, Connie Bonfy