No Divide KC

Background

No Divide KC was established in August 2017 by Stacy Busch and Emily Spradling, respectively the organization’s founding executive director and board treasurer, as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization in Kansas City, Missouri. They remain in these positions as of 2025. ^{1 2}

Activities

No Divide KC hosts and cohosts arts and arts-aligned events in the Kansas City, Missouri area, including operas, visual arts exhibitions, and poetry readings. The organization supports a fellowship program in collaboration with the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, CAYA, which provides a stipend and professional development opportunities to three opera composers and three librettists. ³

The organization also provides educational programming to aligned artists and arts entrepreneurs. For instance, the organization maintains Art Sparks, a program that works closely with partners of No Divide KC that offers participants workshops, as well as networking and creative collaboration opportunities. Additionally, the organization offers an arts entrepreneurship course consisting of either a 12-week curriculum or workshop intended to teach participants business skills, information about economic development and the arts, and how to interact with government and educational institutions. ⁴

Partners

Organizations that No Divide KC has partnered with, mostly local arts and educational groups, include the Lyric Opera of Kansas City, InterUrban Arthouse, Kansas City Ballet School, Synergy Services, University of Kansas Medical Center, Care Beyond the Boulevard, Open the Doors Coaching, Charlotte Street Foundation, Don Bosco Centers, Kansas City Center for Inclusion, and the Johnson County Library. ⁵

Funding

No Divide KC charges $5 and $10 per month respectively to its student and artist members. ⁶

Nonprofit organizations and government entities that No Divide KC prominently features on its website as donors include ARTS KC Go, Frances Family Foundation, Martha Lee Cain Tranby Music Enrichment Fund, Mid America Arts Alliance, the Kansas City’s Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, Missouri Humanities, PRIDE Charitable Fund, and the Baum Family Foundation. ⁷

Leadership

Stacy Busch is a co-founder and, as of 2025, was working as the executive director of No Divide KC. She also works as a composer. Previously, she was a 2022 OneBeat virtual fellow for Global Music Leaders and a 2020 Charlotte Street Foundation generative performing artist fellow. ¹

Tyler Goff was the president of No Divide KC’s board of directors as of 2025 and held a leadership position with PRIDE, an employee resource organization focused on LGBT issues. ¹

Emily Spradling is a co-founder of No Divide KC and, as of 2025, was the treasurer of its board of directors as well as a freelance writer. For instance, Spradling contributes articles to KC Studio, a publication of the Arts Engagement Foundation of Kansas City. ^{8 1}

Waleska Rodriguez is the program director of No Divide KC as well as the founder of the organization’s Bilingual Poetry Program. ¹

Elise Gagliardi is the gallerist and curator of No Divide KC as well as the director of Other News, an art gallery. ¹