Contact: Joanne Krell, WKKF Communications
(269) 969-2079 office
BATTLE CREEK, Mich. – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation today announced the election of a new trustee to its board of directors, a new board chair and a new officer, as well as re-election of its trustees and officers during its annual meeting. The Foundation also reported that it awarded more than $270 million in grants during fiscal year 2008-2009.
Richard M. Tsoumas of Battle Creek, Mich., will join the board in January, bringing the number of trustees to 11. Fred P. Keller of Grand Rapids, Mich., was elected as the new chair for a two-year term, replacing Joseph M. Stewart, whose term as chair expired. Stewart was re-elected to a three-year term, as were Roderick D. Gillum of Detroit and Cynthia H. Milligan of Lincoln, Neb.
Tsoumas is president and chief executive officer of The Planning Group, a Battle Creek-based financial planning and investment management business. Previously, he spent 13 years in the tax department at Price Waterhouse, where he managed the West Michigan Tax and Financial Planning practice, and five years at the Kellogg Company, where he was director of international tax planning. He serves on the board of directors of Stewart Industries and on various community nonprofit boards and committees, including the Guido A. and Elizabeth A. Binda Foundation, Battle Creek Health System, Community Health Partners, the Calhoun County Board of Health and the Regional Health Alliance.
Other Kellogg Foundation board members are: Dorothy A. Johnson of Grand Haven, Mich.; Hanmin Liu of San Francisco; Wenda Weekes Moore of Minneapolis; Bobby D. Moser of Columbus, Ohio; Ramón Murguía of Kansas City, Kan.; and Kellogg Foundation President and Chief Executive Officer Sterling K. Speirn of Battle Creek.
Also at the annual meeting, Susan Katz Froning, previously special assistant to the president at the Foundation, was elected to an officer position as corporate secretary and general counsel. Katz Froning had been chief executive officer of the Ann Arbor-based Nonprofit Enterprise at Work, Inc., from 2001 to 2008. For five years prior to that she was a lawyer and then assistant general counsel at Ford Motor Company.
The following individuals, in addition to Speirn, were re-elected as officers of the Foundation: La June Montgomery Tabron, senior vice president/chief financial officer and treasurer; James E. McHale, senior vice president for programs; Gail C. Christopher, vice president for programs; Joanne K. Krell, vice president for communications; Anne B. Mosle, vice president for programs; Gregory B. Taylor, vice president for programs; and Joel Wittenberg, vice president and chief investment officer.
Elected to the board’s Audit Committee were Murguia (chair), Johnson, Moore, Tsoumas, Speirn (ex-officio) and Keller (ex-officio). Elected to the Board Development Committee were Milligan (chair), Johnson, Liu, Murguia, Stewart, Speirn (ex-officio) and Keller (ex-officio). Elected to the Budget Committee were Moser (chair), Gillum, Liu, Tsoumas, Speirn (ex-officio) and Keller (ex-officio). Elected to the Finance Committee were Gillum (chair), Milligan, Moore, Moser, Stewart, Speirn (ex-officio) and Keller (ex-officio).
2009 Annual Report
As detailed in the organization’s annual report, program payments during the past fiscal year included more than $252 million in the United States, including more than $49.8 million in Michigan, $19.6 million in Mississippi, and $6.7 million in New Mexico. Nearly $16 million went to programs, corporate giving and special grantmaking opportunities in the Foundation’s hometown of Battle Creek. In addition, nearly $18.2 million in grant expenditures went internationally to programs in Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Africa.
“Our mission is simple and singular,” noted CEO Speirn, in his annual message. “[We want to] help build for [vulnerable] children a solid foundation of education, health and family economic security, while liberating them from the racial bias and social dynamics that hold them back.
As detailed in the organization’s , program payments during the past fiscal year included more than $252 million in the United States, including more than $49.8 million in Michigan, $19.6 million in Mississippi, and $6.7 million in New Mexico. Nearly $16 million went to programs, corporate giving and special grantmaking opportunities in the Foundation’s hometown of Battle Creek. In addition, nearly $18.2 million in grant expenditures went internationally to programs in Latin America, the Caribbean and southern Africa.”Our mission is simple and singular,” noted CEO Speirn, in his annual message. “[We want to] help build for [vulnerable] children a solid foundation of education, health and family economic security, while liberating them from the racial bias and social dynamics that hold them back.
“Good intentions and financial resources alone don’t bring about social change”, Speirn said. “Real change begins with individuals and communities and depends on their hopes and passions to envision a better future for their children.”
The Foundation’s annual report illustrates how the organization is helping these individuals and communities stand up to make a measurable difference in the lives of children and families – around the United States, in Latin America and the Caribbean, and in southern Africa. Particular attention is given to work in Michigan, Mississippi and New Mexico.
“Foundations like ours and thousands of others are a critical fiber in the fabric that determines the strength of our nation, our society and – most important – the quality of our humanity,” wrote Stewart in his annual letter. “Foundations have the responsibility to provide the risk capital that enables societies to take a big-picture view of tough challenges, to float new and innovative ideas to support the continuing pursuit of systemic and transformative social change.”
Established in 1930, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and southern Africa.
