As one of the world’s largest philanthropic organizations, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has long been recognized for its support of innovative health care programs. Over the years, the foundation, which was founded in 1930, has also looked out for the interests of Battle Creek, Michigan, the organization’s hometown.
In recent years, Kellogg has supported programs that have expanded access to quality health care for low-income individuals and that have developed opportunity and inclusion initiatives for Latino families.
This past summer, the foundation helped launch the Center for Diversity and Innovation (CDI) at the Battle Creek-based Kellogg Community College with a three-year, $2.1 million grant. Unlike diversity offices and centers residing at U.S. colleges and universities, the Center for Diversity and Innovation’s mission targets not just the campus but extends to the entire Battle Creek community.
The center has been launched to “help the city of Battle Creek address institutional racism and racial inequities by building the capacity and institutions to tackle that work,” says Jorge Zeballos, the CDI executive director.
“In many ways, [launching the new center] was driven by the Kellogg Foundation who some years ago began to do some internal [review] work that led to the establishment of racial equity as one of their priorities,” he said.
“The existence of racial inequities in almost every system is something that most people acknowledge at the national level. … Now given that reality I think it’s not a big leap to also begin to understand those realities are replicated at the local level in all states and all cities,” explained Zeballos.
