Dr. Marijata C. Daniel-Echols

Dr. Marijata C. Daniel-Echols is a program officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Battle Creek, Michigan. In this role, she works in the foundation’s priority place of Michigan to support thriving children, working families and equitable communities.

Serving under the direction of the vice president for program strategy, Daniel-Echols is responsible for identifying and nurturing opportunities for effecting positive systemic change within communities, executing programming efforts that are aligned with the organizational direction and works closely with other staff to ensure the integration and coordination of efforts as it relates to the mission of the foundation. Specifically, Daniel-Echols supports the foundation’s efforts in health equity.

Marijata brings nearly 20 years of experience in research, program evaluation and consultation to state departments of education, facilitation and strategic planning. She has content expertise in poverty policy, the intersection of race and class, health equity, early childhood education and nonprofit management.

Prior to joining the foundation, Daniel-Echols served as the director of the Center for Health Equity Practice at the Michigan Public Health Institute. Prior to this, Daniel-Echols worked in several roles related to early childhood policy and health equity; including CEO of the Early Childhood Investment Corporation; vice president of early childhood policy and programs at Starfish Family Services; senior director of education, family and communities at the Families and Work Institute and director of research and research associate at the HighScope Educational Research Foundation.

Daniel-Echols is a member of BUILD Equity Leaders Action Network, a national cohort of professionals working towards race equity within early childhood systems. She currently serves on the Board of Directors for both the Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health and Starfish Family Services.

Daniel-Echols holds a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor, a Master of Arts in sociology from the University of California, Los Angeles; and a Master’s in public policy and a Ph.D. in political science, both from the University of Michigan – Ann Arbor.

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 Michigan, Mississippi, New Mexico and New Orleans; and internationally, are in Mexico and Haiti. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org.