Northern California Grantmakers

Kellogg President and CEO Sterling Speirn has responded a Washington Street Journal opinion piece that described the foundation’s new America Healing initiative, “the largest single boondoggle ever created for the racial-grievance industry” with a Letter to the Editor.

Sterling’s rebuttal, entitled “Structural Racism Still Abounds and We’re Fighting It,” outlines the case for why Kellogg believes working to address structural racism is necessary to make our nation “truly successful.”

Each day, vulnerable children of color confront invisible barriers that impact their lives. Foremost among these are the quality of their education, their health care and their food availability. As a result, these children are less likely to have an equitable and promising future…

…Many Americans are simply unaware of the link between structural racism and disparities in education, health care and employment opportunities. Even the author knew that when he suggested we put our investments into charter schools. In fact, this past year alone, we have made commitments for more than $30 million for innovative education practices which include charter schools. We see these not as separate fields of activity, rather as a “both and,” not an “either or” strategy.

Read NCG’s original post on Kellogg’s America Healing initiative.

Read the Wall Street Journal Opinion piece.

Read Sterling’s Letter to the Editor.

NCG member the W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced yesterday the launch of American Healing, a five-year $75 million initiative that “aims to improve life outcomes for vulnerable children and their families by promoting racial healing and eliminating barriers to opportunities.”

“The Kellogg Foundation’s vision is for a nation to marshal its resources to ensure that all children in America have an equitable and promising future,” said Sterling K. Speirn, president and CEO. “That is simply not the case in many communities across the country today. The goal of the America Healing initiative is to help make that vision a reality by engaging communities and supporting them in the hard work of racial healing and addressing the effects of historic and contemporary structural issues, such as residential segregation and concentrated poverty.”

During the first phase of the initiative, over one hundred organizations will receive grants that total more than $14 million that will support healing efforts “among racial and ethnic groups that address historic burdens, disparities and barriers to opportunity.”

Learn more about the America Healing initiative.

Watch the signature video produced by the Kellogg Foundation to highlight the spirit of the initiative.

NCG member The James Irvine Foundation announced late last week that its board of directors had approved 13 new grants totaling more than $9 million.

“Of the $9 million, $4.5 million will fund the expansion of the California Linked Learning District Initiative as part of Irvine’s Youth program. $750,000 from the California Democracy program grant will fund Strategic Concepts in Organizing and Policy Education to conduct outreach related to state budget and fiscal issues. Additionally, a grant in the Arts program provides $300,000 to the East Bay Center for the Performing Arts to expand programming and audiences following the renovation of its facility.”

Read the full press release online.