Twenty-six years after joining the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, one of the largest private philanthropic foundations in the United States, La June Montgomery Tabron made history when she was named the organization’s first female and first African-American CEO in 2013. Established in 1930, the Kellogg Foundation works to encourage the education and development of children across the United States and also provides programs and grants in Mexico and Haiti.
Under Montgomery Tabron’s decisive leadership, the foundation has spearheaded numerous initiatives to improve the quality of life for chronically underserved populations and bridge the rifts engendered by racial and socioeconomic inequality. Its $50 million Hope Starts Here initiative, launched in collaboration with the Kresge Foundation, has allowed the program to provide access to affordable and equitable early childhood experiences for children in Detroit. This past year, in Detroit alone, the foundation’s investments have made possible a new birth center called Birth Detroit as well as a $5 million expansion of the city’s Riverwalk into lower-income neighborhoods. The foundation also provided the funds and resources for the construction of the Detroit Food Commons, a model for community-based food initiatives that will provide healthy, affordable nutrition to those in need.
