seeing with
Fresh Eyes
Our DNA In Action
2019 Annual Report
seeing with
Fresh Eyes
Our DNA In Action
2019 Annual Report
“There is a responsibility with leadership that is so important in community. It takes real courage to break through the old guard.”
– Richard M. Tsoumas, Board Chair
“There is a responsibility with leadership that is so important in community. It takes real courage to break through the old guard.”
– Richard M. Tsoumas, Board Chair
“Our DNA is not something we fund, but something we do – foundational skills embedded in every aspect of our programming.”
– La June Montgomery Tabron, President & CEO
“Our DNA is not something we fund, but something we do – foundational skills embedded in every aspect of our programming.”
– La June Montgomery Tabron, President & CEO
“Our DNA is not something we fund, but something we do – foundational skills embedded in every aspect of our programming.”
– La June Montgomery Tabron, President & CEO


WKKF Priorities
& Our DNA
Our grantees recognize that children are at the heart of everything we do at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF). But they also know that children live in families and families live in communities. As a result, WKKF’s three program priorities — Thriving Children, Working Families, Equitable Communities — are intricately connected. We know that lasting, transformational change for children happens when we link their well-being to the stability of their families and the broader opportunities available across communities.
Every year, grantee experiences deepen our understanding of how to create conditions where children can thrive. When they do, they add to lessons accumulated across decades of Kellogg Foundation efforts — some of which are so consistent and profound they are embedded in all of our work. We call these fundamentals our DNA because they characterize WKKF’s commitment and codify what we understand to be necessary for creating transformational change on behalf of children.

Community
Engagement

Community Engagement

Racial
Equity

Racial
Equity

Leadership

Leadership

Priority
Places
WKKF works throughout the United States and with sovereign tribes, concentrating up to two-thirds of our grantmaking in the priority places of Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans. Internationally, the foundation’s priority places are in Chiapas Highlands and the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico, and in the Central and South regions of Haiti.
Our DNA
In Action
In the following stories, you will see the many ways grantees are embedding racial equity, community engagement and leadership into the models and approaches they create. Although each is unique, together they illustrate the growing impact of our DNA in action.
If Kids Can See It, They Can Be It
Summer Reading Club = Safe Space for Community Healing
Unlocking Opportunities for Justice-Involved People, Families
Leveraging Lived Experience to Expand Opportunity
Seeding the Next Generation of Cultural Farmers
A Landscape of Racial Healing Spaces
Five WKKF CLN Class One Fellow Profiles
Rewriting the Narrative for New Orleans Children
Haitian Scholarship Spawns Leaders for Community Growth
Equity and Leadership Spur Dental Therapy Tipping Point
A Good Career is a Good Series of Jobs
Our DNA
In Action
In the following stories, you will see the many ways grantees are embedding racial equity, community engagement and leadership into the models and approaches they create. Although each is unique, together they illustrate the growing impact of our DNA in action.
If Kids Can See It, They Can Be It
Summer Reading Club = Safe Space for Community Healing
Unlocking Opportunities for Justice-Involved People, Families
Leveraging Lived Experience to Expand Opportunity
Seeding the Next Generation of Cultural Farmers
A Landscape of Racial Healing Spaces
Five WKKF CLN Class One Fellow Profiles
Rewriting the Narrative for New Orleans Children
Haitian Scholarship Spawns Leaders for Community Growth
Equity and Leadership Spur Dental Therapy Tipping Point
A Good Career is a Good Series of Jobs
Year In Review
Financials +
Grantmaking
Financials +
Grantmaking
2019 by the
Numbers

446
New GrantCommitments

1,246
Average Number of Active Grants/Days

$7.8 Billion
Total Assets

$213,275,136
Total New Commitments

1,249
Grantees


Our Board of Trustees

Board of Trustees: Celeste A. Clark (Battle Creek, Michigan), Milton Chen (San Francisco, California), Richard M. Tsoumas (Battle Creek, Michigan), Khan Nedd (Grand Rapids, Michigan), La June Montgomery Tabron (Battle Creek, Michigan), Ramón Murguía (Kansas City, Kansas), Cathann Kress (Columbus, Ohio), Roderick D. Gillum (Detroit, Michigan)