The Kresge Foundation

This is fantastic news! A big congratulations to Warwick Sabin and the entire Deep South Today team on the partnership with The New York Times, as well as the beginnings of a regional investigative journalism model that is needed now more than ever. 

How the Detroit Tax Credit Coalition recovers millions for families. The City of Detroit and a coalition of community partners help are helping families claim an estimated $80 million in tax credits that would otherwise go unclaimed each year by offering free preparation services. With more than 40% of Detroit children living in poverty, these credits can return thousands of dollars to eligible households. The coalition's approach centers on awareness, trust and access, with a unified scheduling system and dozens of convenient locations ensuring help is close to home. https://lnkd.in/eF2gfsqr

Health in Partnership (HIP) is seeking applications from existing partnerships between community power-building organizations and governmental health agencies for the 2026 Power-building Partnerships for Health program. Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-RWJF and Kresge, the program will select four partnerships that will receive $25,000 in flexible funding, coaching support, and join a national cohort working to address health inequities and align movements and government for transformational change. Applications are due Oct. 27. How to apply: https://lnkd.in/e3RKyda8

A little over a year ago, I addressed 300 partners, peers, staff and friends at The Kresge Foundation’s Our Urban Future conference, the last of several events marking the foundation's Centennial. The event was deeply substantive, provocative, and productive. The premise was that we would draw on the experiences and insights of the conference’s participants to explore what the next generation of urban practice might be. I told the group: "Let's use our time together to fire our imagination to conceive of a bolder, more equitable urban trajectory."   Since then, the last year has provided innumerable invitations to pessimism, resignation, even despair. I acknowledge the accumulated and deep losses and remaining challenges, but still, I stand by the spirit of my words. We can conceive of a bolder, more equitable urban trajectory that amplifies and honors the gifts of our cities: diverse populations, neighborhood assets and unbowed civic and community leaders. We see people envisioning and implementing this trajectory every day.     In this new report, a summation of our Centennial year convenings, we highlight three core priorities:   • A multi-sectoral, pluralistic approach and the right leadership to organize and maintain it; • Community self-determination and creative use of assets; and • New and strengthened systems to deliver diverse forms of capital.   Over the past year, we’ve seen continued progress on each of these themes. Our grant partners tell us they are putting more energy into convening, collective action, collaboration and building stronger networks, especially with groups that have not historically engaged with their issues.    The document does double-duty: as an analysis of the impact of our various Centennial convenings and as a roadmap of what smart and visionary policy work in cities can and should be. And it is, at core, a reminder that as difficult as the work is, it is vital to the long-term health and vitality of American cities. https://lnkd.in/gfwxFmJP

Today, The Kresge Foundation is closed in honor of #IndigenousPeoplesDay. Detroit occupies the contemporary and ancestral homelands of three Anishinaabe nations of the Council of Three Fires: the Ojibwe, Ottawa, and Potawatomi. The Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) is honoring the history and artistic contributions of the tribes via a new exhibit: Contemporary Anishinaabe Art: A Continuation. The exhibit celebrates the enduring cultures and creative achievements of over 60 Anishinaabe artists from across the Great Lakes region. According to the DIA, it is one of the largest presentations of contemporary Native American art in the Midwest and the first major Native American exhibition at the museum in 30 years. The exhibition challenges perceptions about what Native American art can be, how it should be seen, and how it can be interpreted. https://lnkd.in/eAtkWzTJ

An alarming 22,810 instances of book bans have occurred across 45 states since 2021, with 6,870 new bans just in the 2024-2025 school year alone. PEN America's latest report, "The Normalization of Book Banning," reveals how censorship has become routine in American education, with federal efforts now amplifying state and local banning campaigns. #BannedBooksWeek

Even as challenges mount for American cities amid funding whiplash and political headwinds, Kresge President & CEO Rip Rapson is optimistic in a new commentary about the foundation’s commitment to an equity-focused urban vision. In the report, "100 Years of Grantmaking: Lessons Learned from The Kresge Foundation’s Centennial Convenings," Rapson outlines three themes for city building and civic problem-smashing that cities need: • A multi-sectoral, pluralistic approach and the right leadership to organize and maintain it  • Community self-determination and creative use of assets  • New and strengthened systems to deliver diverse forms of capital "This summation of our Centennial year convenings is not a postcard from a vanished era," Rapson wrote. "Instead, I hope it is a galvanizing reminder of the variety of ways that people across the country are still, continually moving every day towards great equity and opportunity, and even joy, in America’s cities." https://lnkd.in/eBipFX2T

I’m tremendously excited to share the news that Saunteel Jenkins has officially rejoined The Kresge Foundation’s Board of Trustees. Saunteel initially joined our board in August of 2022; we couldn’t be more pleased that she is rejoining the foundation. Saunteel temporarily stepped away from her Kresge responsibilities to run for mayor of Detroit. Saunteel’s decision to navigate all the complexities and difficulties of a race for public office says legions about her dedication to public service and devotion to Detroit, her hometown. Saunteel’s policy platform struck a tone of helping those less fortunate find their way into the city’s economic and social mainstream. The dignity of how she conducted herself in the rough and tumble of electoral politics was inspiring to witness.  Please join me in welcoming Saunteel back! 

Last year alone, Americans endured 27 major weather disasters costing $180 billion and claiming 568 lives. This sobering reality demands we move beyond resilience as a buzzword — overused to the point of meaninglessness and co-opted by the very industries driving climate chaos — to meaningful action. But true resilience means something profound, as Laurie Mazur explores in a Nonprofit Quarterly article: https://lnkd.in/guT-HyQq A new report, "Realizing Resilience: Toward a Fairer, Greener Future," published by Island Press and Kresge, offers guidance to funders and others working to support innovative local solutions that connect climate action to health and economic opportunity. 

The Stanford Social Innovation Review recently published an incredibly thoughtful, and thought-provoking, piece written by The Kresge Foundation's Aaron Seybert, and our friend and former vice-president of program Ari Simon, about the assaults on science proliferating in every corner of this administration’s agenda. It provides a suite of recommendations about how to reinforce and reinvent American research science during such a difficult time. https://lnkd.in/gt4vUa4W