Applications from 72 countries have been winnowed down to 10 that remain in the running for a total of $90 million in funding from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation for “transformative” projects intended to sow the seeds for racial equity across the globe.
Each of the 10 teams will receive a $1 million planning grant that would allow them to further develop their projects and strengthen their applications over the next nine months. Five awards totaling $80 million will be announced next summer. Three awardees will each receive a $20 million grant, and two will each receive a $10 million grant. The grants will be paid out over eight years to coincide with W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s 100th anniversary in 2030.
“The overwhelming response of this challenge has demonstrated the urgency of racial equity in nearly every corner of the world,” said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. “Each of these visionary finalists embodies a deep commitment to community and local leadership. We’re proud to partner with them as they unveil their bold and game-changing solutions to advance racial equity in the next decade.”
The foundation’s announcement of the finalists comes as the Kellogg Co. itself has begun bringing in replacement workers to reopen plants shuttered by its striking workers over the company’s proposed two-tiered wage structure.
The finalists are advancing racial equity with their own unique approaches, tackling problems ranging from building legal aid networks for Indigenous land ownership to ending migrant worker exploitation and supporting culturally grounded restorative justice for youth, among others.
The work proposed by the 10 finalists are intended to challenge and change norms, root out racialized outcomes and create conditions in which children, families and communities can thrive long-term. Local leaders from the target communities will play a key role in setting goals and making decisions.
More information about the Racial Equity 2030 Challenge and the finalists can be found here.
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation is an independent, private entity, founded in 1930 by breakfast cereal magnate Will Keith Kellogg and seeks to help all children have the chance to thrive. The Racial Equity 2030 Challenge will be managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation.