A view from America’s heartland where the heart and soul of entrepreneurs drive innovation and renewal When Victor Hwang, vice president of Entrepreneurship, came to the Kauffman Foundation earlier this year, it became very clear to him that there was a renewal happening in the heartland. “You see entrepreneurs bursting in Kansas City. You see […]

The ESHIP Summit 2017 was the Kauffman Foundation’s inaugural global gathering of leaders working to facilitate and spread entrepreneurship through the creation of entrepreneurial ecosystems. 450 attendees from 48 states and 9 countries – entrepreneurs, mayors, economic developers, grassroots community leaders, university leaders, academics, philanthropists, corporate leaders, and media – collaborated to create actionable plans […]

The Kauffman Foundation’s annual Mayors Conference on Entrepreneurship brings mayors, entrepreneurs, and entrepreneurship experts together to discuss ways to promote startup activity and encourage higher levels of entrepreneurship in their cities. Mayors and entrepreneurs collaborate and align their objectives, creating a new national community where the most difficult problems are addressed using the best aspects […]

Please note that the following content is specific to the 2018 Mayors Conference on Entrepreneurship. Updates for the 2020 convening can be found here. In 2018, more than 142 city officials, including 102 mayors, attended the Mayors Conference on Entrepreneurship in Kansas City, Missouri. The themes of the conference included: mayors understanding their own data […]

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.