W.K. Kellogg Foundation December 2020 Grants

January 12, 2021

The list of W.K. Kellogg Foundation grants approved in December 2020.

Community Engagement; Early Childhood Education; Employment Equity; Food Systems; Health Equity; Impact Investing; Maternal and Child Health; Racial Equity and Healing

W.K. Kellogg Foundation August 2020 Grants

September 3, 2020

The list of W.K. Kellogg Foundation grants approved in August 2020.

Community Engagement; Early Childhood Education; Employment Equity; Food Systems; Health Equity; Impact Investing; Leadership; Maternal and Child Health; Racial Equity and Healing

Lessons Learned and Best Practices for Advancing Employment and Economic Mobility for Families: Integrated Service Delivery

April 1, 2020

The Working Families Success Network report highlights best practices and lessons learned from 15 years of programming related to bundled, integrated services toward advancing employment, financial health and economic mobility for jobseekers.

Employment Equity; Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Seeing with Fresh Eyes: Our DNA in Action, 2019 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Annual Report (An Kreyòl)

February 1, 2020

More than a dozen stories illustrate how grantees are advancing racial equity and racial healing, building trust through community engagement and demonstrating courageous leadership to widen equitable opportunities for children and their families.

Community Engagement; Early Childhood Education; Employment Equity; Food Systems; Health Equity; Impact Investing; Leadership; Maternal and Child Health; Racial Equity and Healing

Enhancing Health and Well-Being via the Built Environment: Investing in Green Schoolyards

January 31, 2020

This brief describes the multiple co-benefits of green schoolyards for communities; provides a case study of the Space to Grow model; and offers practical suggestions to policymakers and advocates interested in beginning, expanding and making the case for a green schoolyard initiative.

Impact Investing

The Mission Aligned Framework for Investing: Maximizing the Impact of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Mission Driven Investment Portfolio

July 2, 2019

The Mission Aligned Framework for Investing, introduced in this report, is a management and governance tool created by KKS Advisors on behalf of the Kellogg Foundation. It offers a set of determinants related to our programmatic strategy and desired outcomes. As we evaluate our investments, this analysis is contributing to our thinking and ongoing measurement of sustained impact. We offer this report as a resource for the field and a tool for other organizations exploring mechanisms to evaluate the social effect of investments in pursuit of deep impact.

Impact Investing

Invest for Impact: Maximizing the Impact of W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s Mission Driven Investment Portfolio

June 10, 2019

Impact investing is an exciting, fast-growing field that holds promise to generate both social and financial value. However, its full potential has yet to be released. For that to happen, impact investors would need to adopt a systems perspective when allocating capital. Only by adopting a systems perspective, investors can catalyse change that has the potential toproduce disruptive change.The imperative to disrupt and catalyse positive change, has guided the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) to expand their innovative work to deploy more of their endowment for impact through the creation of their Mission Driven Investment portfolio. The Invest for Impact Framework, introduced in this report, is a management and governance tool created by KKS Advisors on behalf of WKKF and seeks to help mission driven investors in four ways. First, as an assessment tool for systems-level impacts duringinvestment due diligence. Second, as a diagnostic tool post investment to understand portfolio level interactions and synergies across investments. Third, as a monitoring tool for assessing whether investees are delivering the expected impact. Fourth, as a collaboration tool where different teams working across investment and grant making teams could have a platform for cross-learning, information exchange and collaboration.While there are tremendous data deficiencies plaguing the field, we find promising pathways for aligning mission and investments with rigor. Therefore, the framework is evidence-based and research driven. It focuses on the assessment of the following four categories; alignment and evidence, measurement quality, scalability of impact and potential for disruption. We apply the framework in the case of three investees to verify and showcase its practicality and decision usefulness. This could not have been done without the help of the investees who provided us with value insights, data and their time.The framework can enable all types of mission-oriented investors to better weigh up alternative opportunities for impact in the marketplace. Although originally developed for WKKF's Mission Driven Investment Portfolio, the learnings and approach are designed to be applicable to any impact investor. We hope you will find it useful.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Promoting Thriving Families and Equitable Communities through Small Business Lending in Detroit

June 10, 2019

Like many U.S. cities, the majority of Detroit's residents – 86% – are people of color. Unlike many cities, more than 50,000 own small businesses, making Detroit the fourth largest city in America for entrepreneurship by individuals of color. Though they are major drivers of economic growth in the area, Detroit's entrepreneurs of color struggle to secure the financing necessary to start or grow their businesses.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Increasing Access to College for Low-Income Students

June 6, 2019

Students of color represent roughly 45% of American undergraduate students, but make up 60% of the 7 million low-income students who receive a Pell Grant from the U.S. Department of Education to help finance their education. Because Pell Grants – and federal student loans – are capped at approximately $6,000, many first-generation students and students of color admitted to selective four-year public and private colleges often still can't afford to go. To help close that financing gap, Sixup provides responsible, affordable student loans to high-achieving, low-income students, many of whom are either the first in their family to go to college, students of color or lack a qualified cosigner. In addition to financing, Sixup provides education workshops, free tutoring, personal wellness support and next-step career coaching to help students complete school and successfully transition to the workforce.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Promoting Entrepreneurs of Color Through Venture Capital Investments

June 4, 2019

Impact America is a venture capital manager that invests in early stage companies reaching large, underserved markets, with an emphasis on enterprises led by women and/or people of color. Like the investment team at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), managers at Impact America believe that tremendous opportunities exist in communities of color that have been overlooked and undervalued by traditional venture capital managers. To seize those opportunities, Impact America invests in enterprises that use technology to address the needs of underserved consumers and expand economic opportunities for marginalized Americans.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Closing Mississippi’s Racial Wealth Gap Through Safe, Affordable Banking Services

June 4, 2019

In Mississippi, disparities in wealth are enormous and breakdown largely by race. White households have a median net worth $54,000 greater than households of color in Mississippi, and 47% of Black children live in concentrated poverty, as compared to 10% of White children.While the need is great, so too is the opportunity. By 2050, Mississippi stands to realize a $54 billion gain in economic outputby eliminating the disparities that limit the human potential and economic contributions of people of color.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

Promoting Thriving Families and Equitable Communities through Small Business Lending in Battle Creek

May 31, 2019

Battle Creek is the home of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), where cereal entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg invented cornflakes, launching the modern cereal industry. More than 100 years later, this spirit of entrepreneurship remains central to the Battle Creek economy, with small businesses employing 35 percent of the area's 50,000 residents and creating two out of every three net new jobs in the United States.To ensure that all residents of Battle Creek can prosper, families must be able to support themselves and communities must be equitable places of opportunity. In support of that vision, in 2018 WKKF launched the Battle Creek Small Business Loan Fund (the "Fund"), committing $10 million to provide start-ups and growing businesses with a wide range of financing and technical assistance. The Fund is a response to BCVision, a community-wide effort launched by WKKF in 2014 to better understand the needs of the people of Battle Creek. Canvassers knocked on 30,000 doors, spoke with 8,200 residents, and engaged thousands more through online surveys and social media. Across all demographic groups, residents identified the need for more employment and entrepreneurial opportunities.

Impact Investing; Racial Equity and Healing

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