Kellogg Foundation Promises $75-Million to Counter Racial Inequity and Heal Racial Divides

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation plans to announce today that it will give $75-million over five years to fight racism, a commitment it is calling the most ambitious ever by a philanthropy to promote racial equity.

The money will support efforts to reduce gaps in education, health care, and economic opportunity for people of minority groups and to raise awareness about the effects of racism.

Approximately 119 nonprofit organizations in 29 states and the District of Columbia are currently receiving money through the grant program, called “America Healing.” The foundation will announce additional grantees this fall.

Grants will support a range of activities that include storytelling and documentation of local racial histories, outreach to the news media, and efforts to influence policy in areas such as education and health care.

For example, the Metropolitan Tulsa Urban League is receiving a two-year, $150,000 grant to develop a school curriculum about race riots and teach children about resolving conflict.

The Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, in Dearborn, Mich., is getting $100,000 over four years to improve relations between Arabs and other Americans, and People’s Grocery will use $10,000 to organize people in West Oakland, Calif., to demand better access to healthier foods.