The Battle Creek-based W.K. Kellogg Foundation has named 22 leaders from Michigan to its Community Leadership Network to help prepare them to create transformational change for children, families and communities.
Those leaders are among 80 selected from the foundation’s geographical focus areas of Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans.
Now in its third year, the 18-month fellowship program offers hands-on development, personalized coaching, peer networking and practical experience.
It emphasizes racial equity and racial healing, community engagement and collective leadership, the things Kellogg calls “its DNA.”
Through a variety of activities, fellows deepen their understanding of the embedded racism in systems and hone their skills for navigating differences and bringing people together around solutions. They learn about themselves and each other, grow their leadership skills and build a strong, connected network to advance equity at local, tribal, state and national levels.
This year’s class includes educators, youth mentors and health practitioners, social entrepreneurs, tribal leaders, elected officials and among others, leaders from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services.
“Fellows go on to serve their communities in phenomenal ways,” Paul Martinez, Kellogg’s chief leadership and human capital strategist, said in a news release.
Alumni of the program are facilitating diversity, equity and inclusion work within their institutions; connecting students who are undocumented with legal representation and writing books on economic opportunities for people post-incarceration.
Others have successfully been elected as state legislators and tribal council members to create equitable policies that benefit entire communities, he said.
After completing the program, alumni stay connected through the Global Fellows Network, which has more than 1,100 leaders across 44 countries in the U.S. and beyond.
The new cohort will kick off with a virtual session in September and an in-person gathering in October.
Michigan leaders participating in the program this year include:
- Adam Schumaker, director of education, Gilmore Piano Festival, Kalamazoo
- Dondrea Brown, founder and executive director, 1428 Financial Wellness and Young Money Finance, Grand Rapids
- Karen Garcia, facilitator of breastfeeding cafe, Milk Like Mine, and founder, in-home, breastfeeding medicine service, Battle Creek
- Ricardo Benavidez, associate director, Ktisis Capital,Grand Rapids
- Widad Luqman, co-founder, Coding Out Of Poverty, Saline
- Kelsey Wabanimkee, doula policy community coordinator, Miigwech Inc., Peshawbestown
- Bennetta Thomas, public health consultant, Michigan Public Health Institute and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Section, Detroit
- Nikki Elder, special projects coordinator, Grand Valley State University Battle Creek Regional Outreach Center, Battle Creek
- Scott Rumpsa, CEO, Community Action House, Holland
- Yilin Wendland-Liu, director, adult tutoring program, Literacy Center of West Michigan, Grand Rapids
- Ashnee Dunning, CEO and lead project director, Power Initiative; executive director, Flint Freedom Schools Collaborative; education and outreach manager, Legal Services of Eastern Michigan, Flint
- Ericka Thompson, poet laureate of Grand Rapids; youth experience expert, The Diatribe Inc., Grand Rapids
- Stacy Stout, director of family-centered philanthropy at the Steelcase Foundation, Grand Rapids
- Lorena Aguayo-Márquez, program manager for the Strengthening Community Colleges Healthcare Grant, Grand Rapids Community College, Grand Rapids
- David Kemp III, relationship banker, Old National Bank, Battle Creek
- Mary Kay Murphy, managing director, Leading Educators, Grand Rapids
- Jose Orozco, executive director, Voce, Battle Creek
- Devon Wilson, founder and CEO, Sunlight Gardens, Battle Creek
- Nkechi Mbanu, Detroit CARE (Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity) city leader, Cummins Inc., Detroit
- Michelle Salaza, co-president, Ignite BC, Battle Creek
- Lisa Leverette, executive director, Community Connections Grant Program, Detroit
- Kamilah Henderson, director, Pedals Michigan; clinical therapist in private practice, Detroit.
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