April 30, 1999
Battle Creek, MI — The W.K. Kellog Foundation today announced a major program to strengthen the education pipeline and increase opportunities for Latinos to enter and complete college.
ENLACE — Engaging Latino Communities for Education aims to serve as a catalyst to strengthen partnerships involving higher education institutions, K-12 school districts, community organizations, businesses, and other funders that are working to increase opportunities for Latinos to enter and complete college.
To achieve sustainable improvements, ENLACE activities will be concentrated in areas of the United States where it can have the greatest potential to inform, impact and leverage sustainable change. The initiative anticipates clustering its work in California, the Southwest (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona), Texas, Florida, New York, and the Midwest (Michigan and Illinois).
"The education gap between Latinos and other U.S. citizens dramatically impacts communities, states, and American society —socially and economically," said Geraldine Kearse Brookins, vice president for programs at the Kellogg Foundation. "Narrowing that gap is essential if we are to improve youth skills for the 21st century, increase access and equity, and create a just society."
ENLACE, a five year, multi-million initiative, has five primary objectives.
1. Strengthen select Hispanic-Service Institutions2 (HSI) and other qualifying higher education institutions to serve as catalysts and models for educational and community change.
2. Support higher education/community coalitions and partnerships that increase educational success and community involvement for Latino and other students.
3. Support the creation or adoption of educational models based on best practices that improve enrollment, academic performance, and graduation of Hispanic high school and college students.
4. Facilitate successful programs through strategic planning, networking, leadership development, and policy efforts.
5. Infuse into key stakeholder groups information and models that stimulate changes in policies and practices related to the education of Latinos.
"To become more relevant in the future, higher education institutions must engage communities as catalysts, anchors, and conveners for a broader dialogue aimed at educational change," said Betty Overton-Adkins, director of Higher Education programming.
ENLACE will have three phases.
Phase I —Identifying and Developing Partnerships— The Foundation will seek proposals from HSIs and other qualifying higher education institutions for strengthening the educational pipeline for Latino students within the six targeted regions. Ten to 12, one-year planning grants of up to $100,000 will be provided. The deadline is October 25, 1999.
Phase II —Implementation— The Foundation will support eight to 10 partnerships/coalitions with grants of up to $2 million each over four years. Funding priority will be given to partnerships/coalitions designed to create systemic change for improving the access and success of Latino youth in higher education. Grantees will be expected to participate in a series of networking meetings and leadership symposia sponsored by the Foundation.
Phase III —Dissemination and Impact— The focus will be on assessing and disseminating information on impact. A goal will be to achieve sustainability of the partnerships.
Eligible grantees for this program include two- and four-year public and private institutions of higher education within the target regions that fit the federal definition of a Hispanic-Serving Institution; institutions that are associate members of the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities, or institutions with at least 2,500 Latino students currently enrolled and with a documented history and commitment to Latino education and outreach to the Latino community. Non-HSIs applying for funding must include in their proposals explicit plans for partnerships with HSIs.
Planning grants will be awarded through institutions of higher education, but K-12 schools and/or districts, community-serving institutions, or higher education institutions may serve as the lead organizations and fiscal agents as agreed upon through the planning process for Phase II activities. Grantee coalitions must include a college(s), K-12 school(s), community organizations, and the business community.
The W.K. Kellog Foundation was established in 1930 "to help people help themselves through the practical application of knowledge and resources to improve their quality of life and that of future generations." Its programming activities center around the common vision of a world in which each person has a sense of worth, accepts responsibility for self, family, community, and societal well-being; and has the capacity to be productive, and to help nurturing families, responsive institutions, and healthy communities.
To find our more about the Kellogg Foundation and to obtain more information on ENLACE, visit us on the Internet at www.wkkf.org.
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