The National Issues Forums Institute (NIFI) has announced the recipients of this year's Taylor L. Willingham Legacy Fund awards. This year's recipient is Heidi Holliday.

Taylor L. Willingham Legacy Fund grants are provided to individuals to enable them to develop an understanding of deliberative democracy and launch one or more deliberative dialogues in their communities and organizations in order to advance NIFI’s overall mission, which is to promote public deliberation about national issues and to coordinate the activities of the National Issues Forums network.

Meet this year's recipient:

                    Heidi Holliday

Heidi Holliday is the executive director of Consensus KC, a Kansas City–based nonprofit dedicated to “engaging the public for the public good.” Consensus KC believes that, through community engagement focused on giving people a voice in the decisions that affect their lives, we can strengthen the civic fabric. Consensus KC facilitates dialogue and public engagement on issues in Kansas City and the surrounding region. Holliday is also the founder and CEO of The Idea Loom, LLC, a consulting firm focused on building the capacity of organizations so they can focus on advancing their mission. 

Prior to joining Consensus KC, Holliday served for two years as the executive director of the Kansas Center for Economic Growth, where she led efforts to pass comprehensive tax reform legislation and put Kansas on a path to fiscal stability. In that role, she worked closely with policymakers, advocacy groups, and Kansans to promote economic equity and shared prosperity for every Kansan.

Holliday’s passion for innovative community engagement efforts on public policy efforts began during her seven years at Rosedale Development Association in Kansas City, Kansas, first as a program director and later as executive director and CEO. There, she worked to create a community where “the healthy choice is the easy choice” through the development of community master plans, changes to the built and social environment, and policy change. While at Rosedale, she led the development of an innovative new community master plan and worked closely with local government, residents, businesses, universities, and other nonprofits to advance community initiatives. 

Holliday was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas. She received an MPA from the University of Missouri–Kansas City and a BA from Bethel College. She is a graduate of Wyandotte Leadership 2000. She’s an avid gardener, and enjoys exploring Kansas City by foot and bicycle. In her spare time, she enjoys living room dance parties with her toddler and baby, craft projects, and spending time with her family and friends.

Click here to read more about the Taylor L. Willingham Legacy Fund grants.