In 2019, we celebrated Engagement Week. Our events were so popular that this year we have expanded the concept to a full month, to give as many people as possible multiple opportunities to participate in events. All the information you need to participate in UMKC- and UM System-hosted events can be found on the Engagement Month web page.

One highlight of the month’s events will be the launch of a new series of programming devoted to urban issues, produced jointly by UMKC and the University of Missouri-St. Louis, called UniverCities Exchange. The inaugural event will be a Virtual Town Hall on Urban Health Disparities in the Time of COVID-19. UMKC alumnus Alexander Garza, M.D. (B.S. ’90), Chief Community Health Officer for SSM Health, will present on the current state of public health in St. Louis and Kansas City. A panel discussion with moderator Steve Kraske of KCUR’s “Up to Date” will follow.

Participants include:

  • Jannette Berkley-Patton, M.A., Ph.D., Professor, UMKC School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Health Informatics; Riisa Rawlins-Easley, Chief of Staff, St. Louis Regional Health Commission; Qiana Thomason, President/CEO, Health Forward Foundation; Diego Abente, President/CEO, Casa de Salud

UMKC Engagement Month activities are produced by the Division of External Relations and Constituent Engagement. UM System Engagement and Extension Week, and UMKC Engagement Month, are designed to showcase the impact university engagement and extension programming have on addressing our state’s grand challenges in economic opportunity, educational excellence and access, and health and well-being.