Leighann Thone Email & Phone Number

I am a professional researcher, writer, and editor, with a background in teaching, nonprofit administration, and nonpartisan public service. My experience has helped me develop skills in being self-motivated, critical, rhetorically aware, sensitive to the needs of others, and adaptable.I currently work at the Kansas Statehouse in the Kansas Legislative Research Department, where I staff House and Senate Committees in the areas of health and human services, insurance, and federal and state affairs. In this role, I do nonpartisan research for legislators, produce public-facing documents on legislation and policy issues, and support the day-to-day work of committees in session and during the interim.My previous work includes time at the independent nonprofit Humanities Kansas as Development Officer, where my responsibilities included assistance with fundraising and donor relations, grants, database and website management, and outreach. My work at HK allowed me to connect with nonprofit cultural organizations across the state and support the work they do, which was a dream for someone who has always loved reading, history, and learning new things!I hold a PhD in rhetoric and composition. My doctoral dissertation considered change in the televised news satire genre, which I argue was impacted significantly by audience engagement and participation. I have 8 years of teaching experience, both in the classroom and online. During my time at KU, I successfully designed, proposed, and taught two semesters of a sophomore-level course on the rhetoric of current American comedy. While at KU, I also worked at the Lied Center of Kansas as Assistant Grant Writer, where I researched and wrote grant proposals and reports. In this position, I successfully assisted with securing funds from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, and the Mid-America Arts Alliance, among others, totaling more than $500,000.

Listed skills include Writing, Research, Curriculum Development, Higher Education, and 25 others.

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  Senior Research Analyst

  Kansas Legislative Research Department

  Jun 2024 - Present - Topeka, Kansas, United States