Kalamazoo Community Foundation (KZCF) is one of five community foundations nationwide recently selected for the Coalition for Inclusive Communities (CIC), a project of the Boston-based organization Community Foundations Leading Change (CFLeads). 

CIC will work to advance equity in the workplace and build community cohesion. KZCF and other participating foundations will develop local employer networks to identify and promote practices that improve workplace equity.

The Economy Design Team of Truth, Racial Healing & Transformation (TRHT) Kalamazoo, hosted by KZCF, will implement this work in Kalamazoo County.

TRHT Kalamazoo is a community-based movement to bring about transformational and sustainable change to address the historic and contemporary effects of racism. Kalamazoo is one of 14 TRHT locations nationwide, and one in four in Michigan. TRHT was launched in 2016 by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In this initiative, Economy Design Team of TRHT Kalamazoo’s goals include developing an equity standard certification, developing a network of employers committed to this process and creating a targeted effort to support and provide access, mentorship and resources to people of color.

"We're honored to be selected as a part of this coalition," Sholanna Lewis, a KZCF community investment officer working as TRHT Kalamazoo lead said. "Operating as an interactive learning lab, this collaborative effort will share best practices with an impact going beyond these five communities. And this work aligns nicely with our efforts to increase equity throughout Kalamazoo County and help us reach a sector that we don't often engage with in this way."

CFLeads, a national network of community foundations committed to building stronger communities through community leadership, sees community leadership as a key strategy for delivering community impact.

File: 

 CMF Comments to Treasury

 CMF Memo on Excise Tax

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