The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) with the Center for Creative Leadership (CCL) announced their latest round of class fellows of the WKKF Community Leadership Network.
The Network will stand as a model program aimed for strengthening leadership in local communities striving to create transformational change for children and families.
The fellowship runs 18 months and unites 80 leaders from diverse backgrounds from the foundation’s priority locations across the nation, including Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans.
According to a release, the fellows will grow their skills in leadership, and work to advance equity at local, state, and national levels.
“These leaders are all deeply committed to making positive changes in communities,” said Paul Martinez, WKKF’s chief leadership and human capital strategist. “Our founder, Will Keith Kellogg, would be inspired to meet this new class and see how his vision of investing in local leaders is being realized.”
“The heart of this fellowship is the leaders and the relationships they build across different cultures, sectors and geographies to work in solidarity for authentic change,” said Shera Clark, program director at CCL.
The class features a leaders from varied backgrounds, from educators, youth mentors and health practitioners; to businesspeople and social entrepreneurs; to tribal leaders and elected officials. Some of the selected class are leaders from right here in Detroit.
RACIAL EQUITY PROMOTER
Nkechi O. Mbanu
Throughout her career, Nkechi O. Mbanu has focused on equipping companies with the right tools to be engines of positive transformation for their workforces. Nkechi is currently the Detroit CARE (Cummins Advocating for Racial Equity) city leader for Cummins, Inc., where she specializes in public policy, corporate responsibility, communications and stakeholder engagement. In this role, she applies her skills toward her passions of racial justice, economic empowerment and the enfranchisement of communities marginalized by society.
She received her bachelor’s in economics from the University of Michigan, a master’s in dispute resolution from Wayne State University, and a master’s in international affairs from Columbia University. When she is not working, Nkechi is an avid reader, loves traveling the world, and visits art galleries and museums.
COMMUNITY HEALTH ADVOCATE
Bennetta Thomas
Detroit, Michigan
A global public health practitioner, Bennetta Thomas loves serving in the trenches with the community, and is dedicated to bridging health inequities through education, advocacy, service and partnership. She has worked in public health for more than 10 years, and is experienced in HIV prevention, medical case management and parent education. Bennetta is currently a public health consultant with the Michigan Public Health Institute and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Tobacco Section, where she is responsible for contract monitoring, technical assistance, educational training and treatment services using innovative culturally centered approaches.
Bennetta is also a member of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and community outreach chair for the Liberian Association of Michigan. In her spare time, she enjoys traveling, partaking in international mission trips, dancing and listening to Afrobeats.
MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORTER
Kamilah Henderson
Detroit, Michigan
Kamilah Henderson is a social worker who specializes in infant and early childhood mental health, both as director of PEDALS Michigan and as a clinical therapist in private practice. She is curious about the transformation that can happen when Black children and families come into relationship with liberation-centered mental health supports.
Kamilah works with children from birth through age eight, parents and teachers to strengthen attachment relationships and build social emotional learning skills. She is committed to serving, comforting and healing her community. She currently serves on the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health Centering Equity Committee, and is a co-founder of the Detroit Waldorf School Black Families Collective. Kamilah lives on the northwest side of Detroit with her husband and her beautiful daughter.
This new class of the WKKF Community Leadership Network will kick off with a virtual session in September 2023 and an in-person gathering in October 2023, where the fellows will have a chance to meet each other and begin their journey of self-discovery and transformation.
CHANGE ORCHESTRATOR
Lisa Leverette
Detroit, Michigan
A provocateur for radical change, Lisa Leverette serves communities, leaders and organizations that develop and practice alternative, transformative approaches to liberating groups marginalized by society. She generates awareness of how oppressive thoughts and actions can unwittingly disrupt progressive change work and embraces democratic participation to identify equitable paths forward. Lisa is the executive director of the Community Connections Grant Program that centers participatory grantmaking as an equity-driven approach to philanthropy, civic engagement and leadership development.
Lisa currently is on the board of Leadership Learning Community. She previously served on the boards of Grassroots GrantMakers and on Self Development of People, where she led grantmaking efforts in Belize.
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