Subscribe to learn more from WKKF
Δ
W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) Vice President for Transformation & Organizational Effectiveness Dr. Alandra Washington, along with 17 other senior leaders, recently graduated from the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program. They join more than 100 U.S. executives from multiple sectors as graduates of this prestigious year-long leadership development program.
Throughout the year, Washington explored all aspects of leadership through the lens of the Baldrige Excellence Framework, the world’s gold standard for performance excellence. The fellowship emphasizes hands-on training in operational, customer and employee excellence and engagement.
“This fellowship was transformative,” said Dr. Washington. “I learned so much through the sessions, the presenters and from my peers. And, most importantly, the practices and insights I’m bringing back home to the Kellogg Foundation are going to further move us toward operational excellence so that we can best serve children, families and communities.”
Inspired by the Baldrige framework’s category focused on customers, Washington’s fellowship capstone project designed and piloted a Grantee Feedback System to help the foundation request feedback and listen to grantees and grantseekers more effectively.
The project built upon a set of commitments WKKF recently established to guide its relationships with grantees and grantseekers. The ultimate goal is improved experiences and stronger, authentic relationships for all involved.
The commitments focus on transparency, responsiveness, trust and communication and are published on the Grantees and Grantseekers pages of wkkf.org and inform the questions asked in each Grantee Feedback System survey.
“Alandra’s leadership continues to guide our efforts to deepen connections with Kellogg Foundation grantees and partners,” says La June Montgomery Tabron, WKKF president and CEO. “Now more than ever, philanthropic organizations have to walk our talk to be effective partners. The work she’s done through the fellowship is already expanding our operational capacity to gather feedback from grantees and strengthen our practices in service of children, families and communities.”
Washington currently leads WKKF’s overall organizational transformation including the shift and sustainability to a more agile and networked structure. She is responsible for the development, implementation and oversight of quality improvement and organizational performance efforts. Previously, she served as director of the foundation’s Family Economic Security and Education & Learning teams and program director for Philanthropy & Volunteerism. She has more than 25 years of experience managing national initiatives and leading nonprofit and philanthropic organizations.
About the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program Created in 2010, the Baldrige Executive Fellows Program is recognized as one of the best continuing education programs in leadership development. In conjunction with the National Institute of Standards and Technology and the private sector, the Baldrige Program manages the fellowship, with some support from the Baldrige Foundation; the Baldrige Program is named for Malcolm Baldrige, the 26th Secretary of Commerce. The Baldrige Excellence Framework has empowered organizations to accomplish their missions for more than 30 years.
About W.K. Kellogg Foundation The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the U.S. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children, so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life. WKKF is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the U.S. and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special emphasis is paid to priority places, where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.