Milestones and pivotal moments from Ewing Kauffman’s early steps to extend his outreach in Kansas City and beyond by establishing the Kansas City Royals and creating his philanthropic foundation to his death and enduring legacy. Ewing Kauffman establishes the Kansas City Royals and his philanthropic foundation with the same sense of opportunity and convictions he […]

Milestones and pivotal moments from Ewing Kauffman’s employment as a pharmaceutical salesman to receiving the Horatio Alger Award. Ewing Kauffman leaves a sales job to start his own venture and he never looks back. He has an engaging manner, charm, and gleaming blue eyes. He emerges as a legendary pharmaceutical salesman, challenges a motivated team […]

Milestones and pivotal moments from Ewing Kauffman’s birth to his release from active military duty. Ewing Marion Kauffman is born to John Samuel Kauffman and Effie Mae Winders Kauffman on Thursday, September 21, 1916, on the family farm in western Missouri about a mile southeast of Garden City. Shortly after Ewing’s birth, the Kauffman family […]

Ewing Kauffman’s life took him on an unconventional path that allowed him to enrich the lives of others along the way.

Millennials returning to their hometown of Atchison, Kansas, are investing in its success and working with the community to revitalize small-town life.

The 2020 Knowledge Challenge RFP focuses on answering questions based on real-world experience and building an inclusive research pipeline that adds perspectives, experiences, knowledge, and methodologies to better understand what can advance entrepreneurship in the U.S.

Every year, millions of the world’s innovators and job creators who launch startups that bring ideas to life, drive economic growth, and expand human welfare come together in cities and towns across the world to mark Global Entrepreneurship Week. GEW began in the Kauffman Foundation’s hometown of Kansas City, Missouri, launched by the Foundation, alongside […]

Many definitions for the work of ecosystem building are still evolving, and their meanings are sometimes imprecise. The working definitions for some key terms used in this playbook are presented below. Economic Development: The work to “create the conditions for economic growth and improved quality of life by expanding the capacity of individuals, firms, and […]

These seven goals will serve as the foundation for our collective action and build the tenants of the ecosystem building field. Goal 1: Inclusive FieldEnsure ecosystem builders with diverse perspectives lead our field. Goal 2: Collaborative CultureCultivate a culture of trust and collaboration within our field. Goal 3: Shared VisionEstablish shared outcomes and a common […]

Around the world, there is a growing number of leaders working at a systems level to remove barriers to entrepreneurship, connect disconnected resources, and cultivate a more supportive environment for the makers, doers, and dreamers. Over more than two decades, these innovators and early adopters of ecosystem building approaches have developed promising ideas, programs, and pathways […]