Rural Kansas Community Resilience Initiative
Helping Rural Kansas Communities Adapt and Move Forward
The Rural Kansas Community Resilience Initiative partners with smaller communities across Kansas to co-create practical strategies that strengthen local identity and help towns navigate change. Founded by Dr. Duane Nagel, Associate Professor of Marketing at Wichita State University, our initiative focuses on collaborative work—listening first, then developing approaches with communities rather than delivering ready-made solutions.
Instead, we act as facilitators to equip local leaders and residents with strategies and tools they can continue using long after the engagement ends. This work supports Wichita State’s role as an educational, cultural, and economic driver for Kansas by investing in the long-term strength of its smaller communities.
How We Work With You
We Facilitate, You Direct: We host structured listening sessions and workshops that bring local residents, business owners, and municipal leaders together to unearth what makes your town unique and align on a shared community story.
We Provide Frameworks, You Build Solutions: Rather than dropping off a generic playbook, we supply practical marketing, branding, and positioning tools so your local team can craft clear strategies to address your town's distinct opportunities and challenges.
We Train, You Sustain: Every step of the process is designed for long-term self-sufficiency, ensuring local leaders are fully equipped to drive future progress on their own.
We believe the most effective solutions are designed with communities, not for them. Our purpose is to guide the process, hand over actionable tools, and support towns in shaping their own path forward.
Let’s Start the Conversation
Every rural Kansas community has its own story, challenges, and strengths. The Rural Kansas Community Resilience Initiative is here to co-create the strategies and tools that help you navigate what’s ahead.