Kellogg Foundation to give $2 million to St. Paul Foundation to help fight racism

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation announced Wednesday that it is giving nearly $24 million to organizations across the country to fight racism, including $2 million that will support the work of the St. Paul Foundation.

In a news release announcing the grants, the Kellogg Foundation said the death of Philando Castile, a black who was shot by a police officer during a traffic stop last summer and caught national attention, "unmasked the racial bias in the Twin Cities area."

The money from the Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation initiative will help improve "our ability as communities and as a country to see ourselves in each other, so that we can share a more equitable future for all children to thrive," said La June Montgomery Tabron, president and CEO of the Kellogg Foundation.

"This work is essential because we must bridge the divides in our country," she said. "Now more than ever, we must all act in big and small ways to help people heal from the effects of racism."

Nadege Souvenir, associate vice president of community impact for the St. Paul Foundation, said the money will be used for work in the community.

Castile's death "is certainly a flash point in this community," Souvenir said. "Really, this Truth, Racial Healing and Transformation work is bigger than that."

The St. Paul Foundation will receive the money over two years and plans to use $1 million on "narrative change" work and $1 million for an endowment. Details about the foundation's efforts will be announced during its annual Facing Race Awards ceremony in September.

Outside St. Paul, other groups receiving Kellogg Foundation funding for racial healing are in Alaska; New Orleans and Baton Rouge, La.; Buffalo, N.Y.; Chicago; Dallas; Los Angeles; Richmond, Va.; Selma, Ala.; and Battle Creek, Flint, Kalamazoo and Lansing, Mich.

Faiza Mahamud • 612-673-4203