Kansas City Kansas Community College

Karisse Whyte is an Assistant Professor in the Victim Services and Educational Programs in the Social and Behavioral Sciences department at Kansas City Kansas Community College (KCKCC). She is also the Victim Services Coordinator for KCKCC. Ms. Whyte’s educational background includes matriculation through Stanford University as an undergraduate, earning an A.B. in Political Science. She also holds a masters degree in education from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA) where she was a Dean’s Scholar and recipient of the prestigious Madeline Hunter Scholarship. She has completed post masters coursework in educational administration through Emporia State University.  Ms. Whyte earned her Victim Services Certification at California State University – Fresno in June of 2007.  She currently serves on the M.O.C.S.A. (Metropolitan Organization to Counter Sexual Assault) Wyandotte County Advisory Committee and is a member of the Mayor’s Council Against Domestic Violence in Kansas City, Kansas.

Her professional experience includes five years as Associate Director of the Greater Kansas City Public Achievement (GKCPA) program, a youth civic education and engagement initiative aligned with the University of Minnesota. GKCPA’s mission is to empower youth with the skills and desire to become involved, responsible citizens in their communities. Youth work in small groups to identify public issues in which they have concern, conduct research on that issue, develop a plan, and execute action around the issue. Ms. Whyte’s position with Public Achievement allowed her collaboration involving faculty from Kansas City Kansas Community College, the University of Missouri – Kansas City (UMKC), Rockhurst University, William Jewell University, Avila University and teachers in the K-12 public and private school systems throughout the greater Kansas City area. All of these partnerships with universities included working directly with social science or education degree-seeking students as an instructor and supervisor within their service-learning practicum assignments.

Moreover, the execution of Karisse Whyte’s duties as Associate Director of GKC Public Achievement allowed multiple experiences in program coordination. She has had successful enterprises in program marketing and recruitment through development and distribution of print, video, and digitized media; in addition to engaging in face-to-face, small-group, and large assembly interactions. Her work with Public Achievement directly impacted issues facing many vulnerable populations: the elderly, children, women, the poor, the homeless, those with limited English proficiency, and individuals without U.S. citizenship status. Raising awareness of common Public Achievement issue group topics such as drug abuse, child abuse, crime, school and community violence, sexual harassment, elderly care, homelessness, poverty, and STDs/AIDS has required coordination and collaboration with multiple entities such as law enforcement, mental health agencies, departments of social work, housing authorities, local health departments, the court system, legislative advocates, government, and varying community organizations.

Prior to her Public Achievement experience, for seven years Ms. Whyte was a teacher leader in the urban public school systems of Kansas City, Kansas and Los Angeles, California. Her most recent K-12 teaching assignment was as a middle school communication arts instructor in the Park Hill School District. Additional professional experiences include district-wide presentations and leadership activities; service as a quality performance accreditation trainer; organizational and event planning in collaboration with student advisory boards and boards of directors; assessment and evaluation of program services and client progress; and organizational database creation and maintenance. Her undergraduate, masters, and post-masters coursework has included multiple classes covering the foundations of education, educational psychology, and educational theory and practice.

Since September of 2001 Karisse Whyte has been happily married to Jordan Whyte, one of her very best friends whom she has known since high school. They enjoy travel, fine dining, Christian fellowship and Bible study, and simply spending time with one another. It is their hope that God will bless them with long, happy, and fulfilling lives together.