Kansas City Connection

06/11/2026

When the kids are at the forefront, it’s only right to collaborate with people in community who share the same energy and purpose.

Yesterdays session with Coach Steve Dulley was B1G TIME⚡️🤝

Fundamental skill development followed by pizza, fellowship, and meaningful conversation. Great to see the youth at Operation Breakthrough receive the additional training and mentorship they deserve.

It’s bigger than basketball. Thanks to all for pouring into the youth. Inviting others to do the same.🤝⚡️. 🏀💯

06/05/2026

The HeLeads with Integrity workshop at Operation Breakthrough on May 29th was a powerful day of leadership, mentorship, and growth. Youth boys strengthened their character, accountability, and mindsets while connecting with role models in the community and you can’t forget getting some buckets! 😊 🏀 ⚡️

Thank you to everyone investing in the next generation of leaders. ⚡️🙏

The Village that assisted with ex*****on at the session

⚡️OPERATION BREAKTHROUGH
Well Yoga [Debonie Lewis]
JE Dunn Construction[Michael Esselman & Team]
CBFit [Colby & Tiffany Broadnax]
The Porter House KC [Dan Smith Co Founder]
The Kansas City Chiefs [Ish Shumate Philanthropy Manager]
🎥 Can Do: Kendall Blakeney 🔥
🎶 DJ Aimee
👕 Deep Rooted Clothing Company

Next up: HeLeads returns to Operation Breakthrough on June 26th with an emphasis on INTEGRITY. Let’s keep building the right way. ❤️💛💪

06/01/2026

Operation Breakthrough HeLeads with Respect Workshop 5-29-26 ⚡️🙏🏽

Mindfulness with Debonie Lewis ( ), movement with Coach Colby & Coach Tiffany Broadnax ( ), basketball skill development, and an impactful EmpowerZone panel with Dan Smith (Co-Founder, ) and Ish Shumate, Manager of Community Impact, ).

Big thanks to our partners at Operation Breakthrough for continuously pouring into youth and families across the community. continues to fuel the youth and DJ Aimee helps create an amazing vibe. 🎶

Special thanks to , Michael Esselman, and Reggie Jefferey for bringing together volunteers to support the workshops.

Building leaders. Strengthening community. Creating opportunities. ⚡️

Next Up: HeLeads with INTEGRITY Workshop at Operation Breakthrough on Friday, June 26th. ⚡️🤝

👕

🙏🏽🤝🏀⚡️

05/17/2026

Back at it this summer with UpperRoom KC at Garrison Community Center for RESPECT & INTEGRITY workshop sessions! Bringing together hoops, leadership, wellness, and empowerment. ☀️🏀🩵🖤

Each session at UpperRoom will include:
🏀 Basketball + skill development
🧘🏾 Wellness and mindfulness with
💬 Empowerment activities + real conversations
🥗 Nutrition to-go
🤝 Mentors, leaders, and positive energy in the gym

Middle school and high school students are also encouraged to get involved through leadership, mentorship, and ambassador opportunities throughout the summer.

Good energy. Real community. Meaningful impact.
Can’t wait to see everybody back in the gym this summer. ⚡️🩵🖤

05/15/2026

HeLeads Workshops 🤝Collaboration in full motion. Excited to help serve, lead, and empower the next generation of elementary boys. The combination of sports + enrichment and aligned community partners is what creates lasting impact. 🙏🖤💛⚡️

04/30/2026

Gearing up for the FREE HeLeads Workshops this summer with our friends at DeepRooted!

5 workshops scheduled. 2 impactful nonprofit partners Operation Breakthrough & UpperRoom KC both committed to empowering underserved youth.
This is bigger than the game.

Focused on collaborating with the right partners and empowering the next generation — on and off the court. All for the best interest of the kids and community. Give from the 💛🖤🩵🤍

04/25/2026

Intentionality in every detail from logo design to activation implementation and follow up. ⚡️

The HeLeads Workshop ™️, established by Kansas City Connection, is more than a sports clinic. It’s a free, social-emotional learning initiative leveraging the game of basketball to instill respect, integrity, teamwork, and excellence in the next generation of underserved boys grades 1–6 across Kansas City.

No need to reinvent the wheel we’re focused on adding value to organizations already serving youth across the metro.

Each workshop includes a basketball skills clinic, yoga and mindfulness, an empowerment panel, and nutrition to-go—plus more. ⚡️🏀🧘‍♂️ 🧠🤝

Summer sessions will be held at Operation Breakthrough and Upper Room KC. 🙏🤝

04/09/2026

The power of collaboration! Excited to bring our HeLeads Workshop back to Upper Room KC youth. 🤝🙏⚡️

🗓️ 🗓️

Today's has us looking back at the students playing basketball during the HeLeads Workshop at our Garrison site last year.

The HeLeads Workshop will be back at our Garrison site during the FREE 2026 Summer Academic Program!

You can enroll your child today at: https://upperroomkc.org/summer-program/registration/

08/22/2025

Movement changes lives. 🙌

This summer, FREE HeLeads activations went beyond any one organization—it was about adding value to what already exists. Together with our amazing partners, we reached 100+ young boys across the KC metro through pilot summer programs. 💪

Special thanks to:
✨ Temple Made Fitness
✨ Kansas City Connection
✨ Operation Breakthrough
✨ UpperRoom KC
✨ Mindfulness Yoga
✨ DeepRooted KC
✨ Ruby Jeans Juicery

Our theme was “HeLeads with Integrity”, and every session reminded us: all kids deserve access to quality sports and enrichment opportunities.

We’re just getting started—looking forward to building more consistent activations in the future. Onward and upward, together! 🤝🙏

08/12/2025

💭 Reflection in Motion – HeLeads Workshop at Operation Break July 25th 2025

Always good to pause, reflect, and course-correct. Instilling the right values in future generations is key — and it’s a beautiful thing to hear the takeaways.

During our “Reflection Zone” at the HeLeads workshop, participants created their own vibe 🎨 and shared personal statements around our theme: INTEGRITY. The takeaways with Operation Breakthrough were inspiring:

✨ “When I walk out of here I am going to stay on my grind and do the right thing when no one is watching.”
✨ “I am going to be respectful and kind.”
✨ “What I am going to do today is be nice to my class and to the teachers.”

Proud moments like these remind us why it’s important for organizations aligned with one another to collaborate putting the kids at the forefront! It takes a village! 🤝🙏


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