Demise of Kellogg leadership program

[Judith Thompson]

I think Kellogg is on the right track to think about leadership in the context of the community. Kellogg funded a 20-year project in the area where I lived (Marquette/ Alger Counties in northern Michigan) and one of the problems I saw was the disconnect between the leadership and the grassroots. There were several factors that entered into that and my experiences were certainly limited, but Kellogg's new emphasis is good.

As a society, we are have lost the balance between the individual and the community. New communication and trade patterns mean barriers between people and places are happening at a dizzying rate. Thus, important changes--and challenges--are happening everywhere and real participation and leadership in this process is central. The days of the Lone Ranger are definitely over, and Kellogg knows that.

The new pattern of leadership will contain more elements of representing the community, a sense of being "called to serve," and this will result in a new dynamic of power. My hope is that, if such renewed communites become the norm, the foundation will exist for a cross-cultural dialogue, a critical element in a unprecedented globalized world.

[Andy Marks]

Of course there is a place for leadership-development programs and clever proposals to solicit those programs for your location. I hope Kellogg has the courage to just select a couple of the most needy counties in the country and go to them and attempt to build local nonprofit leadership. The recent census is a good source. On second thought, perhaps the "Lone Ranger" model is needed -- he rode into a distressed situation and pulled the people together for their own good.

[Jerry Strand]

As has always been the case, the Kellogg Foundation has made a bold decision that is both correct and prudent; such action is leadership. The National Area Health Education Centers Program learned long ago that when aspiring health professionals are trained outside of their home communities, they seldom return home when their training is complete . . . and if they do return home, it's generally only long enough to repay a loan or to tread water until a better opportunity presents itself. To reverse this trend, the National AHEC Program redesigned medical education so that much of it could be delivered at the local level, yet use national, state and foundation resources (Kellogg funds were/are critically important in many AHEC initiatives). The success of the AHEC Program speaks for itself.

Kellogg is on the right track, especially since the purpose of leadership training is to improve leadership at the local level. I've worked with Kellogg-funded "community" efforts since 1972, from Maine to North Carolina. In every instance, the funded project had a laudable purpose that was supported by well-meaning and hard-working people. I strongly believe that these individuals will welcome Kellogg's new direction -- they hunger for new knowledge about effective leadership, collaboration, consensus building, partnering, and multidimentional, multilevel, multiyear strategic planning.

[Annette Greer]

It is not a demise but a rebirth. A re-creation of knowing that leaders at the grass-roots level are needed to sustain and bring energy into our communities, whether urban or rural. It was a fiscally sound response to corporate accountability while remaining committed to the national need for training leadership.