Kellogg Foundation Sets Grantmaking Record

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

December 17, 2007   

Contact:    Dianne Price, Director of Public Affairs

                (269) 969-2148

Kellogg Foundation Sets Grantmaking Record and Announces A New Statement of Mission

BATTLE CREEK, Michigan – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation reported today that it awarded nearly $335 million in grants during fiscal year 2006-07 – the largest annual total in the organization’s history and a nearly 17 percent increase over last year.

The organization has also adopted a new mission statement and will soon launch an online public dialogue to engage others in a conversation about this work. 

“When Mr. Kellogg established the Foundation in 1930, he told his staff to ‘use the money as you please, as long as it promotes the health, happiness and well-being of children.’” said Sterling Speirn, the Foundation’s president and chief executive officer.  “As stewards of this legacy, we have a special responsibility to periodically review our work and to consider how we can best have a positive effect on children.  We have been doing that over the past several months.  Our new statement of mission re-focuses our work on helping vulnerable children succeed and re-aligns us with the original intent of our founder.”

The new mission statement reads:

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families, and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society.

This mission, along with other considerations that are expected to influence the Foundation’s future work, are discussed in 2007 W.K. Kellogg Foundation Annual Report, which will be available online in mid-January 2008 at www.wkkf.org.

“We invite others who are committed to the success of all our children to explore the annual report, as well as related videos and other material posted on our Web site,” Speirn said.  “We’re also encouraging them to share their ideas through the online forum, which we hope sparks a lively conversation that results in new ideas and new partners in our work.”

More information about the forum can be found in mid-January 2008 at www.wkkf.org.

Philanthropy in the Spirit of Our Times

The theme of this year’s Kellogg Foundation annual report is “Philanthropy in the Spirit of Our Times.”  In his message, Speirn explains that the organization’s staff and trustees have asked themselves how – in the spirit of our times – they might best focus resources to promote the health, happiness and well-being of children.

“We’ve asked ourselves what the world needs from us today,” Speirn writes. “We live in a time when national needs are again being strongly felt and the future of our children is very often at the center of these concerns.  The spirit of our times calls directly to foundations such as ours to confront the challenges we face with renewed hope and vision.  We cannot let a nation at risk become a nation divided, or in decline.  As stewards of the resources and legacy bequeathed by W.K. Kellogg, we will expect better and demand better.”

Over the past year, the Foundation’s primary program areas focused on Health, Food Systems and Rural Development, Youth and Education, and Philanthropy and Volunteerism.  As detailed in the annual report, program payments during the past fiscal year included more than $284 million in the United States (including nearly $58 million in Michigan); nearly $29 million were made in southern Africa; and nearly $22 million were made in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In Greater Battle Creek, Michigan – the Foundation’s hometown – nearly $13.9 was invested.  This included $11.3 million through its Greater Battle Creek program area and the rest via other program areas, corporate giving, and special grantmaking opportunities. 

Annual Meeting Activities

During its annual meeting in December, the Foundation’s Board of Trustees named Joseph M. Stewart of Battle Creek as its new chair and announced the retirement of Shirley Bowser of Williamsport, Ohio.  Bowser had served as a trustee since 1986.

Three trustees – Dorothy A. Johnson of Grand Haven, Michigan; Ramón Murguía of Kansas City, Kansas; and Bobby D. Moser of Columbus, Ohio – were re-elected to three-year terms.

Other Foundation Board members are:  Roderick D. Gillum, Detroit, Michigan; Fred P. Keller, Grand Rapids, Michigan; Hanmin Liu, San Francisco, California; Cynthia Milligan, Lincoln, Nebraska; Wenda Weekes Moore, Minneapolis, Minnesota; and Sterling K. Speirn, Battle Creek, Michigan.

Re-elected as Foundation officers were Speirn, president and chief executive officer, Gregory A. Lyman, senior vice president and corporate secretary; James E. McHale, senior vice president for programs; Paul J. Lawler, vice president and chief investment officer; La June Montgomery-Talley, senior vice president and treasurer; Mary Carole Cotter, general counsel and assistant corporate secretary; Gail C. Christopher, vice president for programs; Richard M. Foster, vice president for programs; Gail D. McClure, vice president for programs; Anne B. Mosle, vice president for programs; and Gregory B. Taylor, vice president for programs.

Elected to the Board’s Audit Committee were Johnson, chair; Liu; Moser; Murguía; Speirn (ex-officio); and Stewart (ex-officio).  Elected to the Board Development Committee were Moore, chair; Murguía; Gillum; Milligan; Speirn (ex-officio); and Stewart (ex-officio).  Elected to the Budget Committee were Liu, chair; Milligan; Keller; Moser; Speirn (ex-officio); and Stewart (ex-officio).  Elected to the Finance Committee were Keller, chair; Gillum; Johnson; Moore; Speirn (ex-officio); and Stewart (ex-officio).

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930 to “help people help themselves.” Specifically, the organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe.

For more information, visit the Foundation’s Web site at www.wkkf.org.  The site offers in-depth information about the Foundation’s programming interests; details about the Foundation’s grant application process; a database of current grant recipients; access to publications which report on Foundation-funded projects; and opportunities to interact with the organization around a variety of important topics.