News & Announcements
Renaissance is proud to co-lead the Kansas Returning Citizens Consortium (KRCC), a multi-organization initiative recently awarded a $475,000 grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. This effort is focused on building a scalable model to help justice-impacted individuals successfully reenter the workforce.
As part of this work, Renaissance is leading employer engagement—developing practical tools and training to help organizations hire, support, and retain returning citizens. The model will launch in the Kansas City region, with plans for national expansion beginning in 2026.
Organizations or associations interested in participating in pilot efforts are encouraged to connect.
New Grant-Funded Initiative Supports Second-Chance Employment
January 2025
On November 15, 2024, the Institute for Organization Management (IOM), the professional development program of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, appointed Jim Echols, Chief Executive Officer of Renaissance Community & Public Relations, LLC, Kansas City, to serve as a faculty member, effective January, 2025.
The Institute is an intensive week-long nonprofit leadership training program held across four national sites annually. Its faculty members come from varied backgrounds within the nonprofit industry, all with a commitment to providing the best education for chamber and association professionals. "Institute's faculty members are truly the experts in their respective fields," said Raymond P. Towle, IOM, CAE, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Vice President of the Institute for Organization Management. "These individuals each bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the Institute classroom that is unparalleled in nonprofit management."
U.S. Chamber of Commerce Names Jim Echols to IOM Faculty
November 2024
The Marquis Who's Who Publications Board inducted Jim Echols as a member of Who's Who In America for 2024 - 2025 in May, 2024. Inclusion is based on individuals who "possess professional integrity, demonstrate outstanding achievement in their respective fields and have made innumerable contributions to society as a whole." Mr. Echols' professional career includes service with the U.S. Army, equal employment opportunity training & administration, mentoring for "returning citizens" from incarceration and small & minority business development.
Jim Echols Named to Who’s Who in America for 2024–2025
May 2024
Jim Echols served as moderator, Workforce Development Panel Discussion, for the annual Reaching Out From Within (ROFW) Symposium for "returning citizens" from incarceration, which was held on April 8, 2024, at the Kauffman Foundation in Kansas City, Missouri. Echols currently serves as CEO, Renaissance Community & Public Relations, LLC, and Chief Development Officer for ROFW, Inc.
Echols Moderates Workforce Panel for Returning Citizens at ROFW Event
April 2024
Renaissance Community & Public Relations, LLC, was selected in December, 2023, to serve as a National Partner (Workforce Development Initiatives) by the National Association of State Chambers of Commerce (NASC) for 2024. The NASC is comprised of the CEOs of most U.S. state chambers of commerce. Renaissance will provide advisement & consultation for apprenticeships, both adult & youth, diversity & inclusion, organizational leadership & management, recruitment & retention, small & minority business development and general staff development & training.