Stories of Philanthropic Leadership in Advancing Regional and ...

III. E. UNITING THREE STATESFOR ONE VISION: THE MIDSOUTH DELTA INITIATIVEFunder Highlighted:W.K. Kellogg Foundation“We spent a great deal of time networking theteams with each other across the region andbuilding a web of relationships and learning.There are so many similarities across state lines inthe Delta that it made sense to connect the dots.”— Frank Taylor, W.K. Kellogg FoundationThe Mid South Delta Initiative, supported by theW.K. Kellogg Foundation, is a regional partnershipjoining organizations and communities in the Deltato enhance regional economic opportunities for allresidents. 48 This profile demonstrates a foundation’srole as a powerful catalyst and the far-reaching resultsthat can generate when a funder takes a place-basedregional approach with an economic developmentfocus to select and disburse resources. This fundingapproach enables a new regional perspective inproblem-solving and creates opportunities to buildbridges and partnerships among diversecommunities, shift paradigms, and generate a host ofequity-based initiatives that cut across stateboundaries.Project ProfileThe Mid South Delta Initiative (MSDI) wasestablished by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in 1997Bridges over the Mississippi River between Vidalia, La., and Natchez, Miss.(Source: Mid South Delta Initiative).to strengthen communities in the Mississippi Deltaand create positive social and economic change forvulnerable populations. Spanning the states ofMississippi, Arkansas, and Louisiana, the Initiative—a long-term economic, community, and leadershipdevelopment effort—impacts 1.4 million residentslocated in 55 contiguous counties and parishes alongthe Mississippi River. The MSDI connectsindividuals with job opportunities, nurtures anddevelops local community leaders, creates andstrengthens businesses, builds regional networks, andrevitalizes neighborhoods.The Initiative seeks to overcome race and genderobstacles in the region and build a new spirit ofinclusiveness and diversity into the entire spectrumof leadership and development in the region. 49 Thecore principles of capacity building, civicparticipation, collaboration, shared leadership, andsustainability guide MSDI. The Initiative hascompleted its planning phase and is currently in itsimplementation phase, with a planned completiondate of August 2006. Subsequently, the goal for thenext phase is to focus on further developing theregional economic agenda. The Initiative’s efforts andaccomplishments are linked to a range of regionalpartnerships such as Emerging Market Partnerships(EMP) managed by the Enterprise Corporation ofthe Delta (ECD), Good Faith Fund (GFF), MidSouth Delta LISC, Foundation for the Mid South(FMS), Delta Regional Authority (DRA), andPeople’s Institute.Funder InterestThe development of MSDI marked a programmingshift for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, according toFrank Taylor, program director in Food Systems andRural Development and the lead program directorfor the Initiative. Prior to MSDI, W.K. Kellogg hadnot engaged in economic development grantmaking.A change in leadership, however, precipitated a newdirection for W.K. Kellogg. “There was a growingsense that [the Foundation] wanted to have someimpact in a specific geographic area,” Taylor explains.Numerous possibilities were explored, and the Delta48The Mississippi Delta region of the United States includes portions ofthe states of Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi along the MississippiRiver.49“Ripples of Change in the Delta 2003-2004,” available atwww.msdi.org/documents/ripplesofchange.pdf.REGIONAL OPPORTUNITYPart III: Section 3: Connecting to Regional Opportunity 110