Media advisory: Columnist Leonard Pitts among speakers at Kansas City leadership conference co-hosted by KU
LAWRENCE — The University of Kansas School of Public Affairs and Administration is co-hosting the 22nd annual Social Equity Leadership Conference from June 12-14 at the Westin Crown Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
KU joins Mid-America Regional Council (MARC) and the National Academy of Public Administration’s (NAPA) Standing Panel on Social Equity in Governance for the conference, which will be both in-person and have a virtual option. The three-day schedule will have presentations and discussions centered on the idea of “Social Equity in Action.”
The inaugural keynote address for the George Frederickson Social Equity Lecture Series will feature commentator, journalist and novelist Leonard Pitts speaking at 9 a.m. June 13. Media interested in attending Pitts’ lecture or any conference session can RSVP to Ruth DeWitt at rdewitt@ku.edu for press pass information.
Kansas City, Missouri, Mayor Quinton Lucas will add his voice to the conference at a panel titled “One Nation, Many Publics: The Challenge of Governance.” That session will be at 3:45 p.m. June 13 and will be convened by David Warm, executive director of MARC, and will include Doug Linkhart of the National Civic League and Sylvya Stevenson of Jackson County, Missouri.
The full conference programming schedule can be found online.
The conference is expected to draw more than 200 people to Kansas City, with some participants attending virtually. The standing panel has been hosting the conference for 21 years to discuss how public administrators can develop a broader understanding of social equity and recognize its implications within the administrative context.
Marilu Goodyear, interim director of the School of Public Affairs & Administration, said this year’s programming offers a unique flavor.
“We are excited to have added a strong practitioner focus to this year’s sessions,” Goodyear said. “Our school has a reputation for combining a practitioner focus with academic rigor. This conference will send participants home with actionable ideas and steps to advance the cause of social equity in their communities.”
Frederickson, after whom the lecture series is named, is often deemed the “father of public administration.” He was the school’s Edwin O. Stene Distinguished Professor for nearly 25 years until his death in July 2020.
Frederickson challenged the field of public administration to address social inequities he saw in his early career. NAPA established the lecture series upon his death, hoping to raise enough money to sustain the series for 10 years. However, contributions poured in from colleagues and friends from around the world, and NAPA was able to endow the series in perpetuity.
“For us to kick off the Frederickson lecture series in Kansas City with a renowned speaker like Leonard Pitts in front of the community George so often challenged to do more feels like a full-circle moment,” Goodyear said. “George’s research, writing and advocacy added social equity as a pillar of public administration. I have to think George would find it fitting that a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer like Leonard Pitts, who also calls us to see injustice and work to combat it, would inaugurate the series named after him.”