Improving equity across workforce, education and health

June 1, 2022

The WK Kellogg Foundation convened a roundtable at the 2022 McKinack Policy Conference of the Detroit Regional Council on June 1 to discuss “promoting a fair workplace strategy for Michigan’s success.” The roundtable featured public and private sector executives who demonstrated their commitment to supporting the state workforce. It was moderated by Candice Fortman, Executive Director of Outlier Media, and the panel included La June Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO of WKKF. Cheryl Bergman, CEO of the Michigan Women’s Committee. Shanna Luis, Vice President of the Trinity Health Talent and Labor Development Program.

A recent newsletter from the WKKF-sponsored Community Analysis Center at New Mexico State University highlights the ongoing issue of modern school separation, especially in Las Cruces. As stated in the newsletter, school catchments and the resulting student population are separated by race and socio-economic class due to racist housing policies and the legacy of income inequality. Tends to mimic existing areas of the world. Colored students and other marginalized students are disproportionately assigned to poor schools that lack the funds and resources to serve them.

The City of Grand Rapids Oversight and Public Accountability Department will more than double its staff after the city increases its budget and receives a grant from WKKF. Offices that monitor police and fire departments and engage with the community on public security policies are expanding their staff after local police officers shot and killed Patrick Lyoya during a traffic outage in April. The increased staff will include two full-time judicial analysts who will incorporate fairness into the city’s public security department, programs, and policies to raise the voice of residents.

Forbes’ article on heroic engineers in public health featured WKKF-sponsored Build Health International (BHI). This work cites BHI’s Oxygen Engineering Director, who was urged to quit his job in corporate engineering after reading about Haiti’s BHI founder Jim Ansara’s “great job” and the funded Partners In Health. ..

Speaking of Partners in Health, its late co-founder, Dr. Paul Farmer, a pioneer in global health, received the World Health Organization (WHO) Posthumous Excellence Award. According to Le Nouvelliste, Farmer’s wife, Didibertland, gave a vibrant speech in receiving the WHO Secretary-General’s Global Health Leader Award for his tireless efforts to ensure the fairness of Farmer’s health. Did. “We have a duty to keep Paulo’s heritage together,” she said.

Congratulations to Donna Ladd, a Class 1 Fellow of WKKF’s Community Leadership Network with a Creative Leadership Center. She was recently named one of the 2022 Editors Extraordinaire in Editor & Publisher Magazine. Rudd, executive director and co-founder of Mississippi Free Press (MFP), was nominated by her colleagues for building an outlet that says, “It’s a critical voice for those who don’t get enough feedback in Mississippi.” it was done. Changes and progress of the people of the state. “

..