Public Advocacy Award

2023 Recipient:

Jayme Morris-Hardeman

Jayme Morris-Hardeman serves as the Executive Director of Thrive!, a local poverty-reduction program.

Morris-Hardeman joined the staff at Thrive! in 2016 after working as the Executive Director of Sunflower CASA Project for 17 years.

Her expertise lies in the areas of non-profit management and finance, strategic planning, volunteer recruitment and retention, and trauma-informed practice.

She has conducted strategic planning sessions for local and statewide non-profit organizations and local and statewide training on volunteer retention, adverse childhood experiences and the impact of trauma on brain development, and working with individuals living in poverty.

She currently serves on the USD 383 Board of Education and served four years as a Manhattan City Commissioner and is active in political advocacy. She is the founder of True Colors, an LGBTQ+ community youth program, and of Serve, a common good incubator for local government. She graduated from K-State with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in Biochemistry.

Morris-Hardeman and her husband, Brian, have two children and have lived in Manhattan for 32 years.