Introduction to Terry Woodbury
President of Kansas Communities, LLC

Terry Woodbury is the product of “deep rural” western Kansas: a wheat & cattle ranch 25 miles from town, a one-room school house, a small country church and an active 4-H Club. After graduating from Sterling College in central Kansas and from Princeton Seminary, five denominations selected Terry to organize an ecumenical church in suburban Kansas City.

Five years later, he moved to the inner city to work with neighborhoods and businesses trying to combat the changes brought about by urban flight and economic decline. For 26 years, Terry invested himself in every aspect of Wyandotte County’s development: renovating and transforming a closed school into a community center; starting a neighborhood grocery and restaurant; consulting in the private, public and non-profit sectors; serving on many community boards; and leading United Way to a prominent role in community development both in Wyandotte County and greater Kansas City. He retired as United Way’s CEO in March of 2004. 

Terry is a teacher and frequent public speaker on that which he has modeled for many years: Community Leadership. He organized and directed a 500-voice choir singing his original song, Together, adopted as Wyandotte County’s official song after its use in helping win the coveted All-America City award in 1992. After creating the video Partnerships for Life about the resurgence of Wyandotte County, Terry was named “Tourism Advocate of the Year” by the Visitors and Convention Bureau. And in 2004, the Best of Wyandotte Celebration awarded him “Citizen of the Year.” 

Meanwhile, Terry’s rural roots are alive and well. For a dozen years, he has crossed Kansas monthly to oversee the ranch where he was raised. Going from far west to far east, from deep rural to inner city, from Republican to Democrat country, he sees similar struggles – health care, economic development, property taxes, keeping young people and sustaining community leaders. To address those challenges, Terry founded Kansas Communities LLC to “build and rebuild community across Kansas.” He is working with communities in both eastern and western Kansas, leading workshops across the state, and speaking to organizations about how to provide community leadership.