“Mission Driven Investments is the Kellogg Foundation’s way of saying we’re going to change the investment world and have them focus on the things that really matter: children, families, and communities.”
Carla Thompson Payton, VP for Program Strategy, W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Children are at the heart of everything the W.K. Kellogg Foundation does. And children live in families and families live in communities. Those communities must have equitable access to opportunity for children to thrive and right now, too many communities do not.
Through their Mission Driven Investments program, the Kellogg Foundation seeks to maximize the full potential of the capital markets through a systems level approach that ensures all people have access to capital, goods and services that address the racial wealth gap.
Through this initiative, the Kellogg Foundation invests in for profit and nonprofit entities and funds that are systematically addressing positive impact for families and communities in their focus areas of education, health, financial security, employment equity, and community and civic engagement. In June of 2019 the Kellogg Foundation held a Mission Driven Investment Portfolio Summit in Detroit. The event brought together the Foundation’s sixty investees–organizations representing over $3 billion in assets under management.
Commitment in Action
The Kellogg Foundation has long been a leader in impact investing. In 2007 when the Kellogg Foundation first announced that $100M of the endowment would be dedicated to creating impact through Mission Driven Investment, the move was considered revolutionary. As impact investing has evolved and been more widely adopted, the Kellogg Foundation has continued to demonstrate leadership in a variety of ways, including supporting the Racial Equity tracks at SOCAP17 and SOCAP18, and the recent SPECTRUM event co-produced by SOCAP and Conscious Company Media in Atlanta.
At their own Mission Driven Investment Portfolio Summit in June 2019, the Kellogg Foundation shared information about their own portfolio activities and industry insights. In collaborative sessions, foundation leaders and attendees explored how to infuse racial equity in rigorous management practice to improve outcomes, performance and opportunity.
As Carla Thompson Payton, the Vice President for Program Strategy, said, “What we really want folks to walk away knowing is that the Kellogg Foundation is committed to this work. We’re committed to being leaders in this work. We want partners and if you want to work with us, be ready to walk that journey with us, because we’re not compromising. We are in this for the children, the families and the communities that we represent.”
Resources for Additional Learning
- Investments in Racial Equity: Leadership and Commitment from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
- In New Brand of Philanthropy, Nonprofits Invest in For-Profits, By Stephanie Strom for The New York Times
Cynthia Muller, the Kellogg Foundation’s Director of Mission Investment, was interviewed on the topic of using a racial equity lens as part of a SOCAP produced video series on Advancing Racial Equity.
