Board of Trustees to Search for New
President
NEW
YORK, July 22, 2024 /PRNewswire/
-- Today, Francisco Cigarroa, chair
of the Board of Trustees of the Ford Foundation, announced that
president Darren Walker has shared
his plans to step down from the foundation by the end of
2025.
The Ford Foundation Board of Trustees will oversee the
presidential leadership transition process. A search committee
composed of trustees Francisco
Cigarroa, Ursula Burns,
Laurene Powell Jobs, Tom Kempner, Lourdes
Lopez, Paula Moreno, and
Ai-jen Poo will assist the board with the search process.
"Every day, Darren brings to the role intelligence and
curiosity, strategic vision, and an infectious, positive spirit and
energy that will leave an indelible mark on the foundation. He has
guided Ford through some of the most challenging moments of our
time with grace, kindness, and empathy, and his tenure will be
remembered as one of the most consequential periods in the
institution's nearly 90-year history," said Ford Foundation
board chair Francisco Cigarroa.
"Identifying a successor who can build on Darren's legacy will be
no small task, but it's the most important responsibility of a
governing board. We are confident that we will find the right
leader who will work with our talented team as we look to this next
chapter in our mission to fight inequality and advance social
justice. The board is also confident that Darren will continue to
work with vibrant energy until his last second as president of the
Ford Foundation."
"I am incredibly humbled and grateful to have had the
opportunity and privilege to serve the Ford Foundation over these
past 11 years," said Ford Foundation president Darren Walker. "The work of the Ford
Foundation is the work of generations, and I'm proud to have played
a part in leading this storied institution. The efforts to address
the societal drivers of inequality with grantees and partners would
not have been possible without the tenacity of our incredible
program and operations colleagues. I remain steadfast in my belief
that the Ford Foundation is in the business of hope and in its
future in pursuing a more just and equitable world."
For over a decade, Walker oversaw some of the foundation's most
influential work, from the evolution of its mission to focus
squarely on inequality and social justice to changing how Ford and
many of its peer foundations conduct funding. Walker's leadership
style earned him a reputation as a visionary and pragmatic leader,
where he helped reshape philanthropic sector practices, built
bridges across multiple sectors, innovated new programs, and
contributed to how leaders think about major societal issues around
the globe.
He has been recognized around the world for his stellar
achievements, garnering 16 honorary degrees and university awards
and being awarded numerous accolades and honors, including being
listed among TIME's "100 Most Influential People" in 2016
and Rolling Stone's "25 People Shaping the Future" in 2017,
WSJ Philanthropy Innovator of the Year in 2020, and
Inside Philanthropy's Philanthropy Leader of the Year in
2023. In 2022, he was awarded France's highest cultural honor, Chevalier des
Arts et des Lettres, for leadership in the arts. In 2023, he was
also appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Order of
the British Empire for services to UK/US relations.
Walker conceived and led Ford's grantmaking in revolutionary
ways. Under his leadership, Ford established new programs like Tech
and Society to build out the field of public interest technology
and Ford's first-ever program for disability rights. He spearheaded
the strategy to provide sustained, multi-year grants and
organizational support for grantees, influencing many peer
foundations to adopt funding approaches through efforts like Ford's
$1 billion BUILD initiative and
activated Ford's endowment to invest for impact with its
$1 billion Mission Investments
program.
He also engaged leaders across the sector to create the
President's Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy, the
President's Council on Impact Investing, the Arts Foundations
Presidents Group, and the Indigenous People's Land Tenure Fund,
among others.
In 2014, he headed the philanthropy committee that helped
resolve Detroit's historic
bankruptcy through Detroit's Grand
Bargain, a landmark deal that saved the Detroit Institute of Arts
and ensured retired municipal employees would receive their
pensions. He was also instrumental in bringing the Ford family back
into the foundation with the election of Henry Ford III to the Board of Trustees, the
first family member to serve since 1976.
Walker worked in lockstep with global leaders to help launch
initiatives throughout the world, such as the Constitutionalism
Fund in South Africa to back local
organizations advocating for constitutionalism and rule of law in
the country, the Black Feminist Fund, which helps to ensure Black
femme-led movements have the resources they need to advance change,
and the Nusantara Fund, an effort to support Indigenous and local
communities in Indonesia by
improving the efficiency with which climate funds are
allocated.
In an urgent response to COVID-19 and concurrent crises, Walker
led the effort to issue a first-ever $1
billion social bond by a foundation to bolster and
strengthen nonprofit organizations. He conceived of and organized a
consortium of foundations to launch America's Cultural Treasures, a
$300 million fund to help sustain
cultural institutions during the pandemic.
Walker assumed his leadership role after overseeing grantmaking
across a range of programs as vice president. Before joining Ford,
Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing
global and domestic programs, including the Rebuild New Orleans
initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as chief
operating officer of the Abyssinian Development
Corporation—Harlem's largest community development organization—he
led a comprehensive revitalization strategy, including building
more than 1,000 affordable housing units and the first major
commercial development in Harlem since the 1960s.
For more information on the executive search process, visit
fordfoundation.org.
ABOUT THE FORD FOUNDATION
The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to
address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For more
than 85 years, it has supported visionaries on the frontlines of
social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen
democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote
international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Today,
with an endowment of $16 billion, the
foundation has headquarters in New
York and 10 regional offices across Africa, Asia,
Latin America, and the
Middle East.
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SOURCE Ford Foundation