Community Builders of Kansas City (CBKC)’s newest tenant at The Shops on Blue Parkway, Black Leaders Advancing Quality Urban Education Kansas City (BLAQUE KC) is a nonprofit, 501(c)4, organization committed to improving the academic, economic, social, emotional and life outcomes of African American children in public schools. Its driving tenets are highlighting the needs of students and the belief that parents and family voices are essential and should be working with, not doing to, the communities it serves. BLAQUE previously officed at 5008 Prospect and had outgrown their space.

“BLAQUE KC is exactly the kind of like-minded organization dedicated to serving the urban core that CBKC strives to curate for its office and retail space,” said Shannon Hesterberg, chief operations and real estate officer. “Our values and mission align with those of BLAQUE KC, we support their efforts and congratulate them on their growth.” 

BLAQUE KC has developed the following principles to guide its work:

  • Parents and Family – be at the forefront of advocacy for your child by building trusting relationships between families, schools and communities. Parents are urged to get involved through BLAQUE’s Power Lab PopUps, a parent movement to transform education for our kids. 
  • Policy – codifying our agenda through legislation. Power is built through a bold and comprehensive policy agenda to address Black achievement.
  • Polity – support innovative leadership to improve outcomes by cultivating a pipeline of qualified candidates.
  • Public Engagement – address out-of-school factors that affect education by becoming more informed and influencing public decisions.
  • Allyship – lifelong process of building relationships based on trust, consistency and accountability with marginalized individuals and/or groups of people.
  • BLAQUE Brand Ambassador – whether through wearing BLAQUE merchandise or sharing BLAQUE’s stories, BLAQUE is successful because of its supporters.

Dr. Cokethia Hill founded BLAQUE KC in 2020, drawing on her more than 15 years of experience in the non-profit sector organizing communities, building collaborative partnerships and strengthening assets in urban communities. She is a native of Kansas City, earned her undergraduate degree from Central Missouri State University, a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Avila University, and a doctoral degree from the University of Kansas in educational leadership and policy studies. 

Dr. Hill has served on the Kansas City Public School Board and Kansas City City Council and currently is chair of the Urban League of Greater Kansas City, vice-chair of the Kansas City City Plan Commission and board member of Turn the Page KC and The Urban Neighborhood Initiative.

For more information or to support BLAQUE KC, visit https://www.blaquekc.com/.