Welcome to the Pioneers in Health podcast. In this podcast, we share inspiring stories of pioneering leaders from our nation and from your backyard who are working to improve health.
In episode 32, we interview Mark McCormick, New York Times bestselling author, award-winning journalist, advocate and consultant.
Mark, a Wichita native, most recently served as the first-ever executive director of the Kansas Black Leadership Council (KBLC) in 2024-25. The statewide organization was established in 2015 to advance meaningful change for Black or African Americans living in Kansas. KBLC works to empower Black communities through civic engagement, leadership development and community advocacy.
Prior to KBLC, Mark spent two years at the ACLU of Kansas as deputy director of strategic affairs and as communications director and nine years as the CEO of The Kansas African American Museum. He also served as director of communications for the Kansas Leadership Center and worked as a writer for The Wichita Eagle and the Louisville Courier-Journal.
In this episode, he discusses his journey into storytelling. He also talks about how much journalism has changed since he began his career. He discusses how society used to operate from a shared truth, but how over time, different news outlets created different truths and society became segmented.
“We really need a shared reality that we’ve all bought into,” he said. “And it’s one of the things that I would like to see happen in journalism, and it’s one of the things that from now until I’m no longer writing, I’ll be advocating for some kind of shared experience, because it’ll be hard to manage our democracy without that shared experience and those shared ideas.”
He also discusses:
- How a lack of health care access impacts communities
- What led him back to Wichita after moving away earlier in his career
- Friendship and how that led to breaking the news of Barry Sanders’ retirement
- His experience at the Kansas African-American Museum
- His current book project
- The need for storytelling to open people’s hearts
- What gives him hope
And much more! Listen now, and learn more about how Mark is an innovative leader in Kansas.
Listen now
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