NEWS

WRiTE BRAiN Book Vending Machine Unveiling

UNI Staff & TaKeisha Brown – Principal, Wendell Phillips Elementary
Jordan Gordan – Chief Operating Officer, Kansas City Public Schools & Sakina Moore – Interim President & CEO
Jordan Gordan, TaKeisha Brown – Principal, Wendell Phillips Elementary, & Sakina Moore

On Tuesday, August 19th, 2025, UNI proudly revealed its first-ever UNI x WRiTE BRAiN book vending machine at Wendell Phillips Elementary at Attucks. This book vending machine is completely free and allows young authors and their peers to “purchase” books using tokens provided by school staff.

Press Release - August 11, 2025

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Path to Homeownership - Emmanuel Cleaver's Press Release

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UNI Receives 2024 Community Champion Award for Youth Engagement Excellence

UNI was awarded the 2024 Community Champion Award by Dr. Jennifer Collier, Kansas City Public Schools, and the KCPS Board of Directors

Give Up Your Cup

Give Up Your Cup - UNI mug

Connecting in Kansas City

Shalaunda Holmes, UNI's Housing & Real Estate Development Director was recently part of a panel for Central Bank's realtor luncheon. The topic was affordable homeownership for low to moderate-income families.

UNI Featured on KSHB 41​

Urban Neighborhood Initiative is working to unlock the potential of Kansas City youth by giving them and others in the community a space to dream big at the Wendell Phillips School.

UNI recognized as 2022 recipient of Rebuild KC Neighborhood Grants program

UNI's portion of the Rebuild KCgrant - dedicated to investing over $22M in urban neighborhoods - will support development of the recently announced Wendell Philips Accelerator program

Urban Neighborhood Initiative Launches the Mobile Leadership and Arts Building (mL.A.B.)

The launch of the mL.A.B. marks a significant milestone for UNI's mission to empower communities, inspire curiosity, and cultivate a passion for STEAM-E2 education. UNI would like to thank Capitol Federal for their generous $75,000 donation, a crucial contribution to UNI's continuing efforts to meaningfully engage urban youth.