Marci Penner challenged the audience Thursday to be more receptive to change and to break away from being “a culture of ‘no.’”
Sometimes what’s needed is to “break up the power paradigm of the older generations,” who tend to have a negative knee jerk reaction to change. “We must have a culture of ‘yes,’ or at the very least not saying no.”
Penner is the executive director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, a nonprofit that works to promote small towns across the state. She was one of several presenters participating in the program, “Resources for Revitalizing Southeast Kansas Communities,” sponsored by Kansas State University, Thrive Allen County and the KDHE Brownfields Program.