The April 2026 W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) fellows gathering in Washington, D.C. highlighted the role of trust in leadership. Fellows explored how building trust can enhance individual growth and drive equitable community outcomes. We spoke with two pairs of accountability partners on the role of trust in their work and communities: how they build it and maintain it and why it is an essential part of creating an equitable future for children and families. The first pair of accountability partners included Elizabeth Schultheiss from Michigan and Sarah Sattlemeyer from Washington, DC; the second pair of accountability partners included Sia Y. Magadan from California and Yaha Aguilera from New Mexico.

It starts with trust

During its 96-year history of supporting the health, happiness and well-being of children and families, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) has always centered community as the true leaders of the work. From the time he established the foundation, Mr. Kellogg and his advisors recognized that communities know what their children need in order to achieve success and are in the best position to improve conditions. Since that time, the foundation has woven cooperative planning, intelligent study and group action into a unique community engagement approach — one which integrates community voice with lived experience, data, research and analysis.

At the second in-person gathering in Washington, D.C., fellows from each of WKKF’s U.S.-based priority places (Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans) and the national cohort gathered to discuss how WKKF’s community engagement approach informs their community-based work on behalf of children and families. We heard from Christina Andrews, executive director and assistant professor for the University of Arizona’s Wassaja Carlos Montezuma Native American

Three months into the fellowship, we interviewed five fellows from around the country to share what they have learned so far. Several noted the shift from focusing on learning new leadership skills to considering who they are as leaders—a process that requires them to slow down. The fellowship has given them a chance to take that time, as well as engage with assessment tools like the Center for Creative Leadership’s DAC framework, which stands for Direction + Alignment + Commitment, and the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to support reflection on their leadership skills and potential for growth.

Learn more about the fellows’ journey from Yaha Aguilera, New Mexico state director for Save the Children;

As part of their second in-person gathering in Washington, D.C., class four fellows in the WKKF Community Leadership Network fellowship had the opportunity to visit several museums in the D.C. area, including the National Museum of the American Indian, the National Museum of American History, the African

In April 2026, class four of the WKKF Community Leadership Network fellowship met in Washington, D.C. for the second in-person gathering. We asked several of the fellows to reflect on their own respective communities and the unique challenges that children and families face, as

Class four of the WKKF Community Leadership Network kicked off in February with its first in-person gathering in Battle Creek, Michigan. This fellowship brings together 80 dynamic leaders in local communities and the national child- and family-serving ecosystem to connect, grow and lead collaborative, transformational change on behalf of children, families and communities.

As part of the program, each fellow has the opportunity to choose an accountability partner from a different

Class four of the WKKF Community Leadership Network kicked off in February with the first in-person gathering in Battle Creek, Michigan. This fellowship brings together 80 dynamic leaders in local communities and the national child- and family-serving ecosystem to connect, grow and lead collaborative, transformational change

“I am saying that a journey is called that because you cannot know what you will discover on the journey, what you will do with what you find, or what you find will do to you.”

— James Baldwin

Meeting the challenges and opportunities of an increasingly complex and interconnected world requires a new leadership journey, one which connects and equips diverse local leaders to be effective agents of collective community-led change. The W.K. Kellogg Foundation Community Leadership Network with the Center for Creative Leadership® has responded to this need with its innovative fellowship for leaders in local communities and the national child- and family-serving ecosystem to connect, grow and lead collaborative transformational change on behalf of children, families and communities.

As the fourth class of the 18-month fellowship got underway in Battle Creek, Mich., home of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), president and CEO La June Montgomery Tabron shared that,

Over the course of 18 months the WKKF Community Leadership Network with the Center for Creative Leadership program convened leaders from across the country to connect, grow and develop their leadership skills.

From Albuquerque, to New Orleans, from Michigan to Mississippi, these leaders were challenged to dig deep and unearth new understandings of themselves and how they show up in community.

During class three’s final gathering in Detroit, Michigan, fellows participated in panel discussions to

Many of the issues children, families and communities face do not have one simple solution.

Effective leadership requires understanding the difference between solving a problem and managing a polarity. Within the WKKF Community Leadership Network with the Center for Creative Leadership, a problem is defined as a situation with one answer and a definable end point. A polarity is a situation where two or more right answers are interdependent with no identifiable end point that must be managed over time.

Leveraging polarities is an ongoing practice of holding multiple realities and perspectives at the same time, even when they appear to be in opposition. During the class three gathering in New Orleans, fellows were encouraged to explore the polarities active in their communities and apply new tools and strategies for leading through polarity management.

We facilitated a roundtable conversation with Caitlin Brooking of Jackson, Mississippi; Shay Everitt of New Mexico; Dr. Allisyn Swift of New Orleans; and Kamilah Henderson of Michigan on how polarities are showing up in their work and how their learnings from this fellowship have changed their