The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) has announced 10 finalists for Racial Equity 2030, a global challenge in honor of the foundation’s 90th anniversary. WKKF shared that Racial Equity 2030 is a call for bold solutions to drive an equitable future for children, their families and communities.

The challenge, announced by La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of WKKF, in a press release last year, is awarding $90 million to help build and scale actionable ideas for transformative change in the systems and institutions that uphold racial inequities.

Applications were submitted from 72 countries and were evaluated during a five-month review process based on four criteria: whether they were game changing, equitable, bold and achievable.

“The overwhelming response of this challenge has demonstrated the urgency of racial equity in nearly every corner of the world,” Tabron said in a press release. “Each of these visionary finalists embodies a deep commitment to community and local leadership. We’re proud to partner with them as they unveil their bold and game changing solutions to advance racial equity in the next decade.”

The work of each finalist works to achieve racial equity and create structural changes including access to economic opportunity, improved governance and justice and social well-being. 

The finalists include: 

•    574+ Strong: Creating Regenerative Food Economies in Indian Country: The Intertribal Agriculture Council and partners will address poverty and food insecurity in Native communities through programmatic and policy solutions that build regenerative and just food economies.

•    50,000 Pastoralist Women: Agents for Change, Transforming Communities: Pastoral Women’s Council, Ujamaa Community Resource Team and Engishon Microfinance Ltd., will support pastoralist women in Tanzania to address root causes of oppression.

•    Building a Bigger Table for Latinos in the South: The Latino Community Development Center and Latino Community Credit Union will ensure a seat at the table for Latinos in the New South by leveraging this model of financial inclusion, civic engagement and cultural pride.

•    Building an Anti-Racist Public Education System in Brazil: ActionAid, the Brazilian National Campaign on the Right to Education, CONAQ, UneAFRO Brasil, Geledés and Ação Educativa will work together to transform the Brazilian school network into the world’s first anti-racist education system.

•    Ending Systemic Labor Exploitation: This project will enable migrant worker-led community-building, advocacy and activism to end migrant worker exploitation and achieve greater racial equity.

•    Healing Through Justice: A Community-Led Breakthrough Strategy for Healing-Centered Communities in Illinois, U.S.A.: Communities United and Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago will bring to scale a youth-led movement for healing to make breakthroughs in supporting and sustaining community-led approaches to healing-centered communities.

•    High Road Kitchens for Racial Equity and One Fair Wage in the U.S.: One Fair Wage will expand its High Road Kitchens program to provide restaurants with subsidies if they commit to its Racial Equity Toolkit & Training Program, which trains restaurants to desegregate their staff racially and raise wages for workers of color. 

•    Indigenous Lands Initiative: Securing Land Ownership Rights for Indigenous Communities in Mexico and Central and South America: The Indian Law Resource Center, the Interethnic Association of the Development of the Peruvian Amazon, and the Coordination of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon will design and build an indigenous-led institution that provides essential technical and legal assistance to help Indigenous peoples secure ownership of their lands.

•    Kawailoa: A Transformative Indigenous Model to End Youth Incarceration in Hawai’i and Beyond: Partners In Development Foundation and several partners will replace youth incarceration with a Native Hawaiian restorative system that trains youth and empowers community.

•    Overcoming Environmental Racism by Knowing, Using, and Shaping Law in Kenya, India, Sierra Leone and the U.S.: Namati, its partners and members of the Legal Empowerment Network equip frontline communities with the power of law, so they can protect their own well-being and, ultimately, make systems of environmental governance more equitable.

According to the press release, each of the 10 finalist teams will receive a one-year $1 million planning grant, which includes nine months of capacity-building support to further develop their project and strengthen their application.

Among the finalists, five awards totaling $80 million will be announced in the summer of 2022. Three awardees will each receive a $20 million grant and two awardees will each receive a $10 million grant. Grants will be paid out over eight years to coincide with WKKF’s 100th anniversary in 2030.

On Tuesday, October 19 at CMF’s Annual Conference, Tabron will join Darren Walker of the Ford Foundation, Rip Rapson of The Kresge Foundation, and Melanca Clark of the Hudson Clark Foundation on the main stage for Catalyzing Change for Resilience and Racial Justice to discuss what catalyzing change can and does mean for philanthropy and the bold action needed to achieve racial justice.

Want more? 

Read the full press release. 

Learn more about Racial Equity 2030 Challenge.