LATEST NEWS

The George Family Foundation Establishes Fellowship in Honor of Reatha Clark King at
Women’s Foundation of Minnesota

Philanthropies Unite to Fill Leadership Gap and Honor Visionary Leader

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2007

MINNEAPOLIS - The George Family Foundation has established the Reatha Clark King Fellowship at the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota with a lead gift of $150,000. The fellowship will provide renewable, two-year fellowships to women of color in evaluation and research.

The idea for the fellowship came from mutual concern over the lack of women of color in leadership positions in Minnesota. With a focus on women’s equality and social justice, the Women’s Foundation and the George Family Foundation built a strategy to foster such leadership, and the Reatha Clark King Fellowship was born.

“This fellowship will prepare young women of color for leadership positions in philanthropy and nonprofits, creating a pipeline of future leaders to ensure that their unique cultural perspectives are included in top-level decision making,” said Lee Roper-Batker, president of the Women’s Foundation.

Reatha Clark King’s leadership is marked by tremendous contributions to the Twin Cities’ community. After serving for 11 years as president of Metropolitan State University, she was president and executive director of General Mills Foundation from 1988 to 2002. Throughout her life, Ms. Clark King has remained a tireless promoter of opportunities for minorities and women in higher education.

Penny George, president of the George Family Foundation, noted, “We recognized this as an opportunity to build authentic leaders in an underrepresented but important portion of our community — young women of color. It was natural to name the fellowship for Reatha, who serves as a role model for so many and who is an inspiration to Bill and me, and so many others.”

“Penny and Bill George’s philanthropy is already leveraging others,” continued Roper-Batker. “It inspired General Mills Foundation to honor Reatha, too, by fully funding the fellowship for the next three years.”

“I am grateful for the opportunity to work with young women of color in this unique fellowship program at the Women’s Foundation,” said Reatha Clark King.

“My special dream is that they will grow in their knowledge of philanthropy and in their commitment to people and communities. I thank Penny and Bill George and the General Mills Foundation for their vision and generous funding, and the Women’s Foundation for being the perfect host and partner for this fellowship program.”