FOUNDING CHAPTER · EMPORIA, KANSAS

Because what you know has always mattered.

RECONOCE Institute creates pathways for internationally trained professionals to put their education, experience, and expertise back to work — while helping communities recognize the talent already within them.

Find Your Path Partner With Us

Credential Recognition

Academic Bridges

Workforce Partnerships

Economic Mobility

THE PROBLEM

Talent does not disappear at the border.

A degree does not become less valuable. Experience does not disappear. Expertise does not expire. But when professional systems are difficult to understand or navigate, years of education and experience can become professionally invisible.

THE STORY THAT STARTED RECONOCE

He was a surgeon. Here, he became a factory worker.

Dr. Sergio Ulises Gómez Medina built his career in Nicaragua as a general surgeon, with experience in robotic surgery.

When he moved to the United States, his knowledge came with him. The pathway for putting his medical training back to work did not.

By the time RECONOCE Founder Rebeca Herrera met Sergio, he was working on a factory line.

Today, he works as a medical assistant while continuing to navigate the pathway toward using more of the medical education and experience he already earned.

His story raised a question that became impossible to ignore:

"The next Sergio is already here. We just have to recognize what they know."

ONE STORY · A MUCH BIGGER ISSUE

How many Sergios are already here?

Across our communities are professionals whose education, experience, and skills may not yet be fully recognized by the systems surrounding them. RECONOCE exists to help make that expertise visible again.

Physicians Nurses Engineers Educators Scientists Accountants Skilled Trades Business Professionals

THE RECONOCE MODEL

Recognition is bigger than paperwork.

RECONOCE works at the intersection of people and systems — helping professionals understand the road ahead while building stronger connections among education, credentialing, employers, workforce organizations, and communities.

RECOGNIZE — Start with what someone already knows.

Education, professional experience, credentials, and skills should be understood before asking someone to begin again.

BRIDGE — Build the pathway between expertise and opportunity.

Identify what stands between existing expertise and the next professional opportunity, then connect people with the credentialing, academic, workforce, and community resources that can help move them forward.

ADVANCE — Turn recognition into professional and economic mobility.

Move toward meaningful work that better reflects a professional's knowledge and potential — strengthening economic mobility, employers, families, and communities along the way.

THREE WAYS INTO THE WORK

Wherever you enter, there is a place for you here.

I AM A PROFESSIONAL

Your experience still counts.

You have already invested in your education, your career, and your expertise. RECONOCE helps you better understand the pathway ahead and connect with resources that can help you move forward.

Explore Your Path →

I REPRESENT AN ORGANIZATION

The talent you need may already be here.

RECONOCE works with employers, educators, workforce organizations, credentialing systems, and community partners to create stronger pathways between existing talent and meaningful opportunity.

Build a Partnership →

I WANT TO INVEST

Help build the infrastructure for recognition.

This work is bigger than helping one professional complete one process. Early philanthropic investment helps RECONOCE build the tools, partnerships, programs, and systems needed to create lasting change.

Fund the Work →

WHY THIS MATTERS

Communities are searching for talent. Some of it is already here.

Communities across Kansas are working to recruit, retain, and develop skilled professionals. At the same time, internationally trained people may already be living and working here in roles far below their education and experience. RECONOCE connects those realities.

Before we ask communities to find more talent, we should make sure we are recognizing the talent already among us.

BUILDING AN ECOSYSTEM · NOT ANOTHER SILO

Recognition requires more than one organization.

RECONOCE is designed to connect professionals with the institutions and systems already shaping education, credentialing, workforce development, employment, and community opportunity.

Internationally Trained Professional

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RECONOCE · The Bridge

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Education Credentialing Workforce Employers Community Philanthropy

WHAT BECOMES POSSIBLE

Recognition changes more than a résumé.

Families gain greater economic mobility.

Employers gain access to skilled talent.

Communities retain human capital.

Professionals reclaim professional possibility.

Human recognition. Economic mobility. Stronger communities.

INSTITUTIONAL LEADERSHIP

Built with accountability from the beginning.

Rebeca Herrera

Founder & Executive Director

Founding Board of Directors — professional headshots coming soon

Katie Givens

President, Board Chair

Dr. Kasey Flynt

Vice President

Mike Torres

Treasurer & Secretary

Soakie Aguila

Board Member

Molly Priest

Board Member

Dr. Nyk Robertson

Board Member

Dr. Caron Daugherty

Board Member

THIS IS THE FOUNDING CHAPTER

Help us build what comes next.

RECONOCE Institute is building the partnerships, programs, tools, and infrastructure needed to turn overlooked expertise into recognized opportunity. Whether you are navigating your own professional journey, representing an institution, or investing in systems change, there is a place for you in this work.

Find Your Path Become a Partner Invest in RECONOCE

Tell us where you enter the work.

Our work begins with listening. Tell us whether you are a professional seeking a pathway, an employer or institution interested in partnership, a funder considering investment, or someone who simply wants to help build what comes next.