Panelist – Racquel Thiesen

• Director of Community Partnerships
• Kansas Leadership Center

As Director of Community Partnerships at the Kansas Leadership Center, Racquel Thiesen works to support and strengthen the network of local leadership programs throughout the state that collaborate with KLC. As a lead member of the civic engagement team, she also develops and executes strategies that mobilize KLC alumni who serve in elected and appointed roles to help build the civic culture for better progress on the tough community challenges in Kansas.

Racquel has worked with community leadership programs in some capacity for more than 25 years and cares passionately about elevating the support and services available to community programs from KLC. She particularly enjoys energizing leadership development directors and volunteers to consider new ideas and dream larger for their local programs.

KLC’s civic engagement initiatives connected to alumni serving in elected and appointed roles is familiar work to Racquel. She was an elected official for 12 years and understands the challenges of exercising leadership while working from a position of authority on community issues. Racquel still enjoys serving in her home community of Newton as a board member of the Newton Healthcare Corporation and member of the Central Kansas Community Foundation’s scholarship selection committee.