Kellogg Foundation Launches Development Fellowship Program

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation recently launched its WKKF Community Leadership Network, a three-year fellowship program for community-based leaders.  According to a report in today’s Philanthropy News Digest, the iniaitive “aims to develop the leadership skills of individuals working to help vulnerable children and families achieve optimal health and well-being, academic success, and financial security.”

To that end, every WKKF fellow will receive an annual stipend of $20,000 and be reimbursed for travel expenses as they enhance their leadership skills through quarterly meetings with fellow community leaders.  The Digest continues:

The initiative aims to support an inclusive, intergenerational mix of emerging and established leaders who can unify diverse communities into a cohesive whole dedicated to the advancement of at-risk children and their families. For each cohort, a hundred fellows will be selected from the foundation’s geographic focus areas in the U.S. — Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and New Orleans — while another twenty will be selected from outside these regions to serve as a national cohort whose work will focus on racial healing and equity. Fellows will be required to participate in individual and group learning activities that foster ongoing connectedness beyond the three-year program. 

Commenting on the launching of the new program, WKKF president and CEO, Sterling K. Speirn, said: “The initiative is meant to advance our goal of leveraging community leaders to find and implement lasting solutions for improving the lives of vulnerable children and their families. During the program, fellows will develop skills directly applicable to addressing the needs of vulnerable children and the structural disparities that disrupt their lives and well-being.”

VEJ