CONVENE. EDUCATE. ENGAGE.
Delivering the APS Experience
Covering topics from gun control and election reform to reproductive rights and generational politics, our programs address the most pressing, “wicked” issues of our times. When we come together as a community to have these conversations, we learn to disagree not less, but better with one another, and in so doing, we strengthen our democracy and heal our communities. Explore the page below for highlights from our 2022 season.
Protect and Serve Kansas City
A Conversation on police funding, control and reform
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Addressing Gun Violence in Public Spaces
Protection for everyday people in everyday life
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Civics Education Initiative
Expanding APS' mission into local schools and in partnerships with educators and administrators at both the high school and college level.
Evening at the Square
Featuring Robert Costa, CBS News Correspondent and honoring Founder's Civility Award recipient, Leo Morton, longtime friend of APS.
Investing in fact-based programming
How APS enhanced the fact sheet experience using learning technology to enable a more immersive, engaging and mobile experience.
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PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
Protect and Serve Kansas City: A conversation on police funding, control and accountability
April 2022
Among of the most contentious local issues in Kansas City is the complex governance model of the Kansas City Police Department. With the Missouri state legislature maintaining oversight of the police department—a model that makes Kansas City the only major U.S. city without local control of its police department—tensions had long been growing between state and local officials. As legal actions between the parties ensued, APS invited the community to a deeper conversation on this complex issue.
Mayor Quinton Lucas shares his perspective on police funding at APS' April 2022 program. News coverage of the program, provided by KMBC Channel 9, can be seen here.
The program, “Protect and Serve KC: A conversation on police funding, control and accountability” assessed the merits of state versus local police control, examined perspectives from different areas of the KC community, and worked to make sense of the tensions over Kansas City’s police budget. The lively discussion touched on wide variety of topics, including Kansas City’s history of racial segregation, the Tom Pendergast-era legacy of corruption, concerns about the Police Board appointment process and more.
Participating in the conversation was:
- Kansas City’s Mayor and member of The Board of Police Commissioners, The Honorable Quinton Lucas
- The chief executive of The Urban League of Kansas City and advocate for social justice, Gwendolyn Grant
- A columnist for The Kansas City Star’s editorial board and vocal participant in police department news coverage, Dave Helling
- Police officer and President of the Fraternal Order of Police, Brad Lemon
- The Board of Police Commissioner’s longest-serving commissioner and two-time Police Board President, Karl Zobrist
For an evening, individuals who held very different ideas of how to govern Kansas City’s police force came together to deliberate their differences, providing those in the audience a clearer view of the diverse opinions on this unique funding and governance model.
“…under the structure and expectations put in place by American Public Square, each panelist felt respectfully heard. Each was also given ample time to dialogue on the points raised by others. This is how differing viewpoints gain understanding, how consensus builds, and how ideas for change are honed.” -Program Moderator: Mary Sanchez, senior reporter – Flatland | Kansas City PBS
Explore more of the program, “Protect and Serve KC: A conversation on police funding, control and accountability.”
With thanks to Country Club Christian Church, host of the April 2022 program on police funding and accountability.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
Guns in Public Spaces: Protection for everyday people in everyday places
August 2022
In 2020, firearms became the leading cause of death for children and teenagers, outpacing car accidents for the first time. Mass shootings headlines continued to increase with frequency. And the economic cost of all firearm injuries in the U.S. exceeded $555B. Nevertheless, the country continued to grapple with a path forward, in large part given the wildly varying perspectives on the Constitution’s 2nd Amendment.
News coverage of the program, provided by 41 KSHB, can be seen here.
As the community geared up for the start of the 2022 school year, an audience gathered to tease apart the nuances of gun rights in public spaces. Panelists who led the conversation were:
- Caleb Daniels, marketing coordinator at Frontier Justice
- Reverend Adam Hamilton, founding pastor of the United Methodist Church of Resurrection
- State Representative Jo Ella Hoye, 17th District in the KS House of Representatives
- Clarke Prophete, student – University of Missouri-Columbia
- Jeron Ravin, president and CEO, Swope Health
APS Board Member, McClain Macklin-Bryant, director of policy and strategic initiatives - Health Forward Foundation, moderated the discussion, hosted at Johnson County Central Library.
Underscoring the importance of APS’ fact sheet, panelists debated gun violence data, sources of gun violence research and the letter of the law versus the human experience.
Prior to the August 2022 program, Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, joined APS’ podcast to discuss gun violence in Kansas City. Listen now
Explore more of the program, “Guns in Public Spaces.”
- APS Fact Sheet: Guns in America
- Full program recording
With thanks to Johnson County Library – Central Resource Branch, host of the August 2022 program on gun violence.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
Big Ideas. Big Challenges. What's America's Global End Game?
September 2022
For months, the world watched and waited as Russian forces increased their military presence along the Ukrainian border under the premise of security concerns for the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. On February 24, 2022 Russia initiated a series of pre-dawn missile strikes targeting several major Ukrainian cities and setting off a war that remains ongoing.
Global leaders—still reeling from COVID-19 disruption, ongoing economic turbulence, shifting power balances with China and Russia, not to mention the domestic conflict taking place in the U.S. political arenas—found themselves facing extraordinarily complex circumstances as they considered response options to the invasion of Ukraine.
It was under these circumstances that APS partnered with the International Relations Council of Kansas City (IRC) to engage a panel of diplomatic, military, and academic experts to examine the challenging circumstances America, specifically, faced in maintaining global strength, while managing ongoing political, social, and economic tension at home. Leaning on several of his diplomatic relationships, APS CEO Allan Katz helped convene a panel that included:
- Ambassador Francisco Seixas da Costa, a retired diplomat, private business consultant and news commentator for EU and international affairs
- Steven Simon, the Robert E. Wilhelm Fellow in International Affairs at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and research fellow at the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft
- Ambassador Kathleen Fitzpatrick, a career diplomat in the U.S. Foreign Service and United Nations
- Ambassador Feisal Amin Rasoul al-Istrabadi, Iraq’s UN representative during the Iraq War, professor of global and international studies, and founding director of the Center for the Study of the Middle East (Indiana University)
The IRC’s executive director, Matthew Hughes, moderated the discussion which included many frank perspectives about American foreign policy and its ripple effects around the world.
“Russia’s Ukraine war happened because facts and civility broke down. Here’s the fix.” By Allan Katz, March 10 OpEd in The Kansas City Star Read Now.
See more on the program, “Big Ideas. Big Challenges. What’s America’s Global End Game?”
With thanks to the Kansas City Public Library – Plaza Branch, host of the September 2022 program on U.S. Foreign Policy.
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHT
APS Discussion Group: Are you a feminist?
September 2022
As 2022 progressed, communities were increasingly relaxing the public health and social distancing protocols put in place as a response to COVID-19. One of the advantages of this for APS was the ability to return to in-person programming, particularly through our community discussion groups.
Building off a previous approach, APS introduced a new series of discussion groups, starting with the September discussion group, “Are you a Feminist?” For this event, APS executive director and COO, Claire Bishop, partnered with APS Board Member and co-founder of Wickham James Strategies, Joni Wickham, to host a group of community members in conversation about what it means to be a feminist in a society grappling with the #MeToo movement, the overturn of Roe v. Wade and the growing narrative about who can identify as a woman.
Against the backdrop of Amigoni Urban Winery, attendees heard first from Claire and Joni, then broke into smaller groups to deliberate on their own perspectives of feminism.
With thanks to Amigoni Urban Winery, host of the September 2022 discussion group.
“Working with the team at APS to launch in-person discussion groups in September 2022 was such a rewarding experience. As a long-standing Board Member, I know that APS Members are active, engaged and want to be heard. The discussion group format, along with our topic - focused on modern feminism -was a wonderful way to open up a dialogue with our community, to listen and learn, and to make new friends.” –Joni Wickham, founder, Wickham James Strategies & APS Board Member
Additional Programs from APS’ 2022 season:
- “The Politics of Mother Nature: The climate is changing – should you?”
- “The Politics of Gen Z” (in partnership with the Kansas City Media Collective)
- “Courageous Discomfort – Conversations about Race and Racism”
- “A Community Conversation on Reproductive Rights” (in partnership with the Kansas City Media Collective)
With thanks to our
PROGRAM COMMITTEE MEMBERS
Ward Katz, Chair
Gary Armstrong
John Carney
Mara Colbert
Maggie Collins
Jenny Garmon
Shakedra Knight
Dr. Mary Pflanz
Jennifer Sykes