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Foundation names Robb Gray as director of policy-advocacy
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Dec. 17, 2019
Contact:
Kathy Reincke
269.969.2079
kar@wkkf.org
BATTLE CREEK, MI – The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF) is pleased to announce the selection of Robb Gray as the director of policy-advocacy, beginning Jan. 21, 2020.
In this role, Gray will lead all activities and stakeholder engagement on policy issues serving the foundation’s priorities of thriving children, working families and equitable communities. He will lead the creation and execution of policy-advocacy strategies in partnership with grantees, community leaders, industry groups, coalitions and other networks that serve to improve the lives of children, families and communities. He will work across WKKF’s U.S., Mexico and Haiti cross-functional teams to manage policy-advocacy efforts on behalf of the foundation.
“Robb Gray brings such a wealth of expertise to the foundation,” says Carla Thompson Payton, WKKF vice president of program strategy. “We are excited at the opportunities ahead to build relationships with grantees that activate and coordinate their engagement in policy issues toward achieving greater outcomes for all children and families.”
Most recently, Gray was vice president of policy and advocacy for Arnold Ventures in Washington, D.C., where he was responsible for designing, developing and executing national and state policy advocacy strategies to promote economic and social justice. He also spent more than a decade at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities as the senior director of state strategies and engagement. During his tenure, he built and led their national and state policy advocacy and outreach programs, collaborating with its 42 affiliated state nonprofit policy groups; executing strategic advocacy and communication campaigns; and coordinating efforts with trade associations, foundations and national organizations across the country.
He also held several policy advocacy and leadership positions in Oklahoma, including executive director and chief of staff/legislative liaison for Oklahoma’s Tourism and Recreation Department, senior fiscal agent for Oklahoma State Senate and human rights representative for Oklahoma Human Rights Commission.
Early in his career, he was an intelligence analyst for the CIA, accountable for various political, military, economic and humanitarian issues in Latin America.
Gray has served on numerous committees and boards for several organizations including foundation board chair and treasurer for the Ballot Initiative Strategy Center and board officer for Citizens for Tax Justice. He participated in Leadership Oklahoma (Class XVIII) and was recognized as one of Oklahoma’s Forty Under 40 by Oklahoma Business News.
Gray holds a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Florida and a Master of Public Policy and Administration from the University of Oklahoma. He is proficient in Spanish and Portuguese.
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About the W.K. Kellogg Foundation
The W.K. Kellogg Foundation (WKKF), founded in 1930 as an independent, private foundation by breakfast cereal innovator and entrepreneur Will Keith Kellogg, is among the largest philanthropic foundations in the United States. Guided by the belief that all children should have an equal opportunity to thrive, WKKF works with communities to create conditions for vulnerable children so they can realize their full potential in school, work and life.
The Kellogg Foundation is based in Battle Creek, Michigan, and works throughout the United States and internationally, as well as with sovereign tribes. Special attention is paid to priority places where there are high concentrations of poverty and where children face significant barriers to success. WKKF priority places in the U.S. are in Battle Creek, Detroit and Grand Rapids in Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti.
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