Improving economic, educational and employment opportunities

Mississippi

Jackson Public Schools, a WKKF grantee, will receive the 2024 American Public Health Association Presidential Citation for excellence in public health leadership. Serving nearly 18,000 students in Mississippi, the district has partnered with local organizations to provide essential social services and health care. Addressing both physical and mental health needs, these efforts have helped drive improvements in student success and district performance.

Racial Equity

Aisha Nyandoro, founding CEO of WKKF grantee Springboard to Opportunities, is a recipient of the prestigious 29th Heinz Award in the Economy category. Recognized for her work in helping families escape poverty, Nyandoro launched Magnolia Mother’s Trust (MMT), the longest-running guaranteed income program in the U.S. and the first to target extremely low-income families led by Black mothers. Since 2018, MMT has expanded from 20 to more than 430 mothers, providing $1,000 per month for one year and inspiring similar programs nationwide.

Education

Louisiana Policy Institute for Children, a WKKF grantee, announced its groundbreaking Early Childhood Education Fund Dashboard. Updated monthly, this free resource informs parishes of their current fund balance and revenue sources, and identifies which parishes qualify for matching funds. The tool revolutionizes access to critical information for organizations that depend on funding. The Early Childhood Education Fund matches dollar-for-dollar grants to local organizations working to expand access to high-quality childcare for children from birth to age three.

Jobs

Grand Rapids-based grantee, The Right Place, has been working since 2021 to bring 20,000 new tech jobs to the local economy, which has long been known as a manufacturing hub. So far, it has brought 3,754 new jobs to the community, and there are currently more than 6,500 available tech jobs with a median salary of $83,300. West Michigan Center for Arts and Technology, another Grand Rapids-based grantee, is running a tuition-free cybersecurity training cohort to train people of color and people with low incomes to fill those high-paying jobs. 

Michigan

Several WKKF Detroit-based grantees and partners are collaborating to uplift the city’s Cody Rouge neighborhood by addressing critical needs like education, safety and child well-being. Data Driven Detroit provides essential data on poverty and educational challenges, while Brilliant Detroit creates safe, supportive community hubs to offer solutions to families experiencing those challenges. Hope Starts Here coordinates efforts to foster neighborhood-driven solutions, like the work Detroit Champions for Hope and Detroit Parent Network do to empower parents as advocates for their children’s health and education.

Policy

When employers offer comprehensive reproductive and maternal health (RMH) benefits, workers are healthier. Plus, data shows the benefits improve employee productivity, loyalty, retention and hiring. RMH Compass, a WKKF grantee, recently released the RMH@Work Corporate Index, a first-of-its-kind evaluation of RMH benefits provided by the 100 largest U.S. employers. Although more than half of these employers offer paid parental leave and benefits to help employees grow their families, they could still be more transparent and expand their offerings.