Expanding Equity | W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Expanding Equity is a transformational program for advancing racial equity in your company. It offers the tools, knowledge and human-centered approaches for cultivating a workplace that attracts, develops, retains and promotes diverse talent – delivering benefits for both your employees and your bottom line. You are invited to join a future program cohort.

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Why Should Companies Care About Racial Equity?

Racial equity is an aspirational pursuit insisting that all people, regardless of their racial/ethnic group identification, skin color, or physical traits, will have equal opportunity to experience well-being in a just society. Achieving racial equity means that a person’s identity would not predict their day-to-day experiences or their life outcomes.

Within companies, racial equity means that all employees have equal opportunities to join, to be developed, to belong, to succeed, to progress, and to be respected in the workplace. It means that the workplace culture, systems and structures enable people from all identity groups to thrive.

There are lots of good reasons to advance racial equity in your company...

Companies in the top quartile for racial diversity are 35% more likely to have above-average financial returns.

It Makes

Business Sense

Source

It is a Business Imperative

50% of people in the U.S. workforce will be people of color by 2050. Leverage and develop this talent for a competitive advantage.

Source

It Strengthens your Reputation

80% of Americans ages 25-34 say they want to work for “engaged companies.”

Source

It Builds
your Legacy

41% of Fortune 500
CEOs say solving social problems should be “part of [their] core business”

Source

The Program

Participants will learn in a supportive environment, with access to data and coaching needed to measure and advance racial equity. Over nine months, companies receive the following:

Nationally Recognized Expertise

Access to the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s proven experience, human-centered approaches, knowledge and tools on racial equity and racial healing for organizations and leaders.

There is no fee to participate. However, participants may incur costs to travel to workshops in the future. In 2021 and 2022, all workshops are being held remotely.

The program’s curriculum is organized using four pillars:

ATTRACT

Attracting and hiring professionals of color into the company to increase representation at all levels of the organization

PROMOTE

Ensuring that professionals of color feel supported and have the same advancement opportunities as White professionals

BELONG

Ensuring that all professionals, regardless of racial/ethnic group identity, feel respected and can be successful

INFLUENCE

Advancing racial equity through the company’s products, services or relationships externally

Who Should Participate?

The program is designed for companies with at least 200 corporate employees at all stages of racial equity work, who are looking for a thorough, structured, measurable and educational program. Program participants typically include 1-2 accountable leaders from the business, 1-2 HR professionals, and 1 C-suite executive.

We are actively recruiting companies for 2022 participant cohorts from the following industries: Consumer Goods, Hospitality and Retail. We encourage inquiries from interested companies in other industries (e.g., Banking, Business/Professional Services, Financial Services, Publishing/Media/Entertainment, Technology, etc.), as we will launch additional cohorts in 2023.

In 2020, WKKF piloted Expanding Equity with five financial services firms. In 2021, WKKF added four more cohorts to the program spanning 50+ companies from Financial Services, Consumer Goods, Retail, Advanced Industries, Travel Transportation and Logistics, and Professional Services. Here’s what they had to say about the program:

…The quality of the speakers, messages, content and goals are all excellent.”

It was a very thought-provoking workshop and set the stage well for the work that needs to be done. I thought the breakout sessions were extremely valuable and look forward to working on action items for our organization.”

“This partnership advanced our efforts in immeasurable ways. I really appreciated hearing about the practical and concrete things the Kellogg Foundation has done in your journey.”

CURRENT & PAST PARTICIPANTS:

About The
W.K. Kellogg Foundation

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) is committed to ensuring all children, families and communities – regardless of race or income – have opportunities to reach their full potential. Companies play an essential role in creating those opportunities for people of all backgrounds in their workplaces and communities. Over the next 10 years, WKKF wants to help more workplaces transform into more equitable places of opportunity.

WKKF has been on its own decades-long journey to create a more equitable workplace and lean into our 2007 commitment to being an “effective anti-racist organization that promotes racial equity.” We bring knowledge, experience, a network of relationships, and a collection of proven tools and human-centered approaches on racial equity and racial healing to share with organizations and leaders seeking to do similar transformational work. Read more about our journey here.

As a private foundation, Expanding Equity puts WKKF’s capital, influence, knowledge and reputation to work in a new way. By sharing action-oriented tools, we can help advance racial equity by transforming policies and practices in the industries and systems that shape society; drive better results for companies; and ultimately build equitable communities and a just economy where all children and their families can thrive.