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BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation today announced the election of a new trustee to its board of directors, a new board chair, as well as the re-election of its trustees and officers during its annual meeting.
Dr. Cathann Kress of Ames, Iowa, will join the board in January, bringing the number of trustees to nine. Ramón Murguía of Kansas City, Kansas, was elected as the new chair for a one-year term, replacing Bobby Moser of Columbus, Ohio, whose term as chair expired. Trustees re-elected to a new three-year term include Cynthia Milligan of Lincoln, Nebraska; Roderick Gillum of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan; and Richard Tsoumas of Battle Creek, Michigan.
Kress is the vice president of extension and outreach and a tenured professor in the school of education at Iowa State University. She is a lifelong educator with more than 25 years experience leading change for youth through 4-H on state and national levels, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Defense and in university extension programs. She was raised in a military and government service family and lived outside the U.S, primarily in the Middle East and South America, until she entered middle school in Iowa. Kress brings a unique perspective that blends sociology, education and agriculture practical experiences to her work.
“We are extraordinarily pleased to have Cathann join the Kellogg Foundation board,” said La June Montgomery Tabron, WKKF president and CEO. “Youth development has been a consistent theme and driver throughout her career. Her focus on the changing demographics of youth in the U.S., systemic changes in the way people work and who does the work, are crucial connection points toward the Kellogg Foundation’s mission of changing conditions to improve children’s lives.”
Prior to her role at Iowa State University, Kress was a senior policy analyst in the Office of Family Policy at the U.S. Department of Defense, the director of youth development at the USDA’s National 4-H, and before that in roles at Cornell University, Iowa State University and Miami University of Ohio. Kress serves as a trustee of the National 4-H Council, as a director for Silos and Smokestacks at the National Heritage Foundation board, as a designee of the STEM Advisory Council on the Iowa Governor’s Stem Initiative, and as a director of the United Way of Story County, Iowa, board. She earned both a doctorate and master’s degree in education from the University of Iowa, and a bachelor’s of science in social work from Iowa State University.
“We are pleased to welcome Cathann to the board of trustees and look forward to the experience, knowledge and perspective she will bring to our work,” said Bobby Moser, WKKF board chair.
“This is such an important time of change and transformation, both for the foundation and the world, and it is precisely why we need dynamic leaders like Cathann. I am so pleased and eager to see the important contributions she will make. And, as incoming Board Chair Ramón Murguía assumes his new role, I extend my best wishes for his leadership during this exciting period.”
Other Kellogg Foundation board members include: Fred Keller of Grand Rapids, Michigan; Hanmin Liu of San Francisco; Celeste Clark and Kellogg Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer La June Montgomery Tabron, both of Battle Creek, Michigan.
The following individuals, in addition to Tabron, were re-elected as foundation officers: Barbara Ferrer, chief strategy officer; Linh Nguyen, chief operating officer; Gail C. Christopher, vice president and senior policy advisor; Kathryn Krecke, corporate secretary and general counsel; Joanne Krell, vice president for communications; Carla Thompson, vice president for program strategy; Don Williamson, vice president for finance and treasurer; and Joel Wittenberg, vice president and chief investment officer.
Boardspan Inc. advised the Kellogg Foundation in the appointment of Dr. Cathann Kress.
About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, founded in 1930 by breakfast cereal pioneer Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Based in Battle Creek, Michigan, WKKF works nationally and internationally, and engages with communities in priority places in across the U.S., Mexico and Haiti, to create conditions that propel vulnerable children to realize their full potential in school, work and life. To learn more, visit www.wkkf.org or follow WKKF on twitter at @wk_kellogg_fdn.