Organizations Filed Purposes:
American Public Square is a nonpartisan nonprofit that seeks to change the tone and quality of public discourse. We organize programs that feature expert panelists and audience members with opposing views talking to each other, civilly, about controversial topics. Though these discussions may not always change minds, everyone walks away with a better understanding of the other side, a key step toward respect, compromise, and resolution.
American Public Square (APS) General Programming covers a wide range of topics that are important to our community. These programs are usually in the form of a moderated panel discussion that brings different perspectives together, utilizing a set of "Civility Tools" to keep the discussions fact-based and civil from all sides. Our general events are always free and open to the public, which is important because we believe access to these events is a critical piece of ensuring the citizens of our community are connected to the rights and resources that can help them actively participate in society. We hold our events at diverse locations throughout the Kansas City area to limit the geographic barriers to participation among all members of the community.
During 2019, American Public Square, in partnership with sister organization KC Common Good, produced a series of programs that address issues related to the "common good" of our community. These programs included an examination of the Pre-K measure on the June 2019 ballot in KC, a program on the subject of Affordable Housing in October, and a data-driven discussion of Medicaid Expansion in Kansas and Missouri in November.
In Spring 2019, APS worked with area high schools to bring a project-based learning assignment to their American history, English and civics classrooms. This program is designed to help build students' skills for deliberative, fact-based discourse by conducting in-classroom trainings and support in producing a public, student-led program on the topic of students' choosing. Additionally, in the fall of 2019, we began planning for an expanded student initiative that will enable APS to bring this active-learning opportunity to more classrooms in the KC Metro Area.
Executives Listed on Filing
Total Salary includes financial earnings, benefits, and all related organization earnings listed on tax filing
| Name | Title | Hours Per Week | Total Salary |
|---|
| Claire Bishop | Executive Director (May-Dec) | 40 | $65,073 |
| Margaret Beard-Fosnow | Executive Director (Jan-March) | 40 | $11,857 |
| Joni Wickham | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Alicia Starr | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Paul Russell | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Ann Regnier | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Colleen Nelson | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Leo Morton | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Rebecca Hall | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Peggy Dunn | Board Member | 0.5 | $0 |
| Irv Belzer | Secretary | 2 | $0 |
| Bill Kort | Treasurer | 2 | $0 |
| Ward Katz | Board Chair | 2 | $0 |
| Allan Katz | President | 25 | $0 |
Data for this page was sourced from XML published by IRS (
public 990 form dataset) from:
https://s3.amazonaws.com/irs-form-990/202043189349303419_public.xml