Deborah McDowell is elected a trustee. The daughter of Bruce Kresge, she is the first fourth-generation member of the Kresge family to join the Board.

The Partnership to Build Community Capital launches (1999-2005). The $18 million, five-year initiative helps six community foundations at a key point in their development. Participating are the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore (MD), Sioux Falls Community Foundation (SD), Wyoming Community Foundation, Community Foundation of South Alabama, Saginaw Community Foundation (MI) & Community Foundation of … Continue reading 1999

Endowment surpasses $2 billion. Jill Conway is elected chairwoman of the Board (the second consecutive female chair).

The Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Initiative launches to help build fundraising capacity at five HBCUs. The five-year program runs through 2005 and awards $18 million. Participating institutions include Bethune Cookman College (Daytona, Florida), Dillard University (New Orleans, Louisiana), Johnson C. Smith University (Charlotte, North Carolina), Meharry Medical College (Nashville, Tennessee), and Xavier University … Continue reading 1999

Annual grants awarded surpass $100 million. The foundation extends the terms and doubles its commitment to the Detroit Initiative with $75 million (in advance of its 75th anniversary in 1999) for new programs and projects through 2003. To further build up Detroit-area nonprofit endowments following the conclusion of the Van Dusen Endowment Challenge (see 1991), … Continue reading 1998

Trustees approve a special five-year funding program for Metro Detroit organizations. The Detroit Area Special Grants Program (the “Detroit Initiative”) offers grants to help revitalize the city. During the program’s first five years, it awards $34.45 million. Total foundation giving since inception surpasses the $1 billion mark.

A New York Times Magazine article offers a somber exploration of Detroit’s economic, social, and political factors that contributed to the decline of the once-thriving American city. The piece prompts Trustee Margaret Smith to suggest the foundation should be more heavily involved in rebuilding the city.

With the Community Foundation of Southeast Michigan, Kresge launches a six-year, $18.4 million Van Dusen Endowment Challenge (named for Trustee Richard Van Dusen, who died in 1991), which allows grants to be used to build endowments for Detroit area nonprofit organizations. When it ended in 1997, 38 Detroit nonprofits increased their endowments by $50 million … Continue reading 1991

Trustees approve the first statement on diversity, equity and inclusion. It reads: “The Foundation’s Trustees believe that American Philanthropy should serve the needs and concerns of our diverse nation. Accordingly, The Kresge Foundation’s review of grant requests takes into account the event to which potential grant recipients demonstrate, through their governance, staff, and individuals served, … Continue reading 1993