W.K. Kellogg Foundation Latin America Program Administration in Transition

BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation has announced changes in the administration of its Latin America programming. In keeping with an organization-wide transition to a mission to create conditions that propel vulnerable children to success, the Foundation will open a new regional office this year, and has announced the retirement of its regional director.

Francisco B. Tancredi oversaw the Foundation’s grantmaking and program development for Latin America and the Caribbean in a relationship that began when he was a study grant fellow and consultant in the 1980s. He joined the Foundation in 1994 as a program director in São Paulo, Brazil, before becoming regional director of Latin America and Caribbean Programs in 1999.

“This has been the best job I have had in my life. To work for the Kellogg Foundation is to be empowered to really do what you think is right. It has been the perfect setting to try to realize my ideals for a just society, and opportunity for people. This is an organization that really believes and practices and pursues its ideals. The Foundation will always be part of me,” Tancredi said.

Previously, Tancredi was head of planning for the Department of Health for the state of São Paulo, and a faculty member at the University of São Paulo’s School of Public Health. He holds a degree in medicine, and master’s and doctoral degrees in public health. Tancredi will continue to consult with the Foundation on social development projects, while he pursues travel, volunteering, and a return to university teaching.

“Francisco has always championed the emergence of new ideas and initiatives. He combines a balance of micro- and macro- perspectives, resulting in a world-view that encompasses his heart and his mind, “said Gail McClure, vice president for international programs at the Kellogg Foundation.

“He displays an instinctive appreciation for teamwork and supportiveness that has manifested itself in deep loyalty among his peers and those he supervises. Colleagues have lauded him as a great motivator, leader, teacher, and a ‘dream encourager’ who has had an important role in improving the quality of lives and communities in Latin America.”

The Foundation has a long-standing policy of staffing its international offices with professionals from the countries where it operates, and will be naming a new regional director from Mexico, where a new central office will open later this year. The Foundation’s current central office in São Paolo, Brazil, will close on August 31, 2009.

The Kellogg Foundation’s work in Latin America began in 1941. During more than six decades of partnership, nearly 2,000 projects in Latin America and the Caribbean were supported through more than $600 million in funding.

Currently, a new strategic plan is in development that will refocus programming around a commitment to young people in Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, El Salvador, and Northeast Brazil. All existing work and grants will be honored as new work gets under way.

Established in 1930, 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. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa