The William T. Grant Foundation is delighted to announce the return of Kimberly A. DuMont in the role of Senior Vice President of Program, effective October 1, 2022. Kim was previously employed at the Foundation from 2011-2020 as program officer and senior program officer. She was instrumental in the 2015 reshaping of the Foundation’s initiative to support research to improve the use of research evidence, and in the 2014 launch of the reducing inequality initiative. She developed, designed, and implemented the Institutional Challenge Grant, one of the Foundation’s most widely heralded programs today. Kim also led shifts that addressed bias in grantmaking practices and co-constructed two funder collaboratives, one to better support policymakers and practitioners in child welfare and the other to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in funding and career advancement.
“I am thrilled that Kim is rejoining the Foundation,” stated Adam Gamoran, President of the William T. Grant Foundation. “She is an effective leader, a wise judge of scholarship, and a creative thinker, who has launched innovative programs here and elsewhere. Kim’s return will enable us to develop further the grantmaking programs we have pursued over the past decade. She will bring innovative ideas from her experience outside the Foundation that will enrich our approach to funding and expand our grantee base.”
Looking forward to her move, Kim commented that she is “honored to again contribute to the William T. Grant Foundation’s efforts to advance high-quality research focused on reducing inequality and the use of research evidence in decisions that affect young people in the United States.” She added, “I am also eager to partner with my colleagues to further the Foundation’s commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion in grant making practices. Supporting research to improve the lives of youth will require continued attention both to the principles informing how the work is funded and the questions motivating the research.”
Since 2020, Kim has served as Vice President and Managing Director of the Equity Initiative at AIR and as a member of AIR’s Executive Leadership Team. She was the inaugural leader of the Equity Initiative, which aims to contribute to society through substantive and systemic improvement in the lives of workers, students, and communities. Informed by the portfolio of work she previously led on the use of research evidence, she built strong, strategic partnerships inside and outside of AIR; and oversaw the design and implementation of an ambitious portfolio of research and technical assistance work that is exploring viable solutions to address segregation and its harmful consequences. Earlier in her career, Kim worked as a research scientist at New York State Office of Children and Family Services and on the research faculty at New Jersey Medical School. Kim just completed her term on the board of directors for the Society for Prevention Research. In all roles, Kim has sought research-informed approaches to disrupt and redirect practices and policies that contribute to inequities. She received her Ph.D. in community psychology from NYU in 2001.
Kim will succeed her former colleague Vivian Tseng, who will be moving to the role of President of the Foundation for Child Development
