The W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan, has announced the launch of the WKKF Community Leadership Network, a three-year fellowship program for community-based leaders.

The initiative — to which the foundation has committed at least six years of support for three cohorts of a hundred and twenty fellows each — aims to develop the leadership skills of individuals working to help vulnerable children and families achieve optimal health and well-being, academic success, and financial security. To that end, every WKKF fellow will receive an annual stipend of $20,000 and be reimbursed for travel expenses as they enhance their leadership skills at quarterly meetings with peers in their fellowship cohort. In the third year of the program, each fellow also will receive $5,000 to execute his or her action plan.

The initiative aims to support an inclusive, intergenerational mix of emerging and established leaders who can unify diverse communities into a cohesive whole dedicated to the advancement of at-risk children and their families. For each cohort, a hundred fellows will be selected from the foundation’s geographic focus areas in the U.S. — Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico, and New Orleans — while another twenty will be selected from outside these regions to serve as a national cohort whose work will focus on racial healing and equity. Fellows will be required to participate in individual and group learning activities that foster ongoing connectedness beyond the three-year program.

"Leadership, community, and networking form the basis of this new program," said WKKF president and CEO Sterling K. Speirn. "The initiative is meant to advance our goal of leveraging community leaders to find and implement lasting solutions for improving the lives of vulnerable children and their families. During the program, fellows will develop skills directly applicable to addressing the needs of vulnerable children and the structural disparities that disrupt their lives and well-being."