2009 Annual Report

Picking up the Pace

The nature of our work—long term, aspirational and often intangible—can sometimes make it difficult to determine how our efforts are improving the lives of the people we serve. Yet in these times of global economic uncertainty, with increasing demand for limited philanthropic dollars, assessing our effectiveness is more important than ever. Today, staying on the frontlines of social change means gauging, with thoughtfulness and rigor, the immediate and distant outcomes of our funding.

Greater Impact

Over the past two years at the Ford Foundation we’ve taken a series of steps to position ourselves to achieve greater impact. First and foremost, working with thought leaders around the world, we developed objectives for each of our initiatives and clear strategies for making grants. We established indicators of progress—short- and long-term outcomes that improve people’s lives. Every quarter we gauge where we are and make adjustments as we go. We are also working to overcome internal barriers, building multidisciplinary teams to collaborate on each of our endeavors. And we’ve formed new partnerships with other nonprofits, government and the private sector.

The impact of our funding relies not just on clear and well-implemented strategies, but also on the availability of resources. Over the past two years we have restructured the operations of the foundation to maximize the resources available for grant making, shifting over $40 million from operating expenditures to our grant budget. Similarly, we restructured how we manage our endowment, yielding strong performance in a time of continued market turbulence.

Dynamic Change

Being in a better position to assess the change we’re contributing to enables us to keep pace and respond to the dynamic changes around us. This year we began to explore the pace of technological change across the globe and its vast social ramifications. We believe that new ways of effecting social change—whole new movements and social ideas—are emerging. As we implement and refine our strategic initiatives, we are seeking partners who are looking over the horizon, who understand that technology and the unprecedented pace of change it has unleashed represent an unknown set of opportunities that we must all creatively explore. We are pushing ourselves to open our minds to these unknown possibilities and to encourage all those we support to do the same.

Optimism and Inspiration

We are in the midst of a social transformation not seen since the end of the 19th century. The speed at which societies are changing is accelerating—not always, however, benefiting the poorest and most excluded. Yet I remain profoundly optimistic. I am inspired by the individuals I have visited over the past year in Peru, Kenya, Nigeria, India, Indonesia and across the United States whose spirits, unbowed by the poverty and oppression they so often face, drive them to build enterprises, to educate their children, and to demand change in the body politic. I am inspired by our grantees, who are truly on the frontlines, sometimes at great personal sacrifice. And I am inspired by the people of the Ford Foundation with whom I have the privilege of working, leaders in their fields whose commitment to social justice is extraordinary; in particular, let me express my appreciation to Kathryn Fuller, who has been a true support during my two years here and is now ending her 17-year tenure on the Ford Foundation board.

We hope you’ll join us in embracing this era’s unique new possibilities, and the optimism they inspire.

Sincerely,

Luis A. Ubiñas
President
Ford Foundation

• Luis A. Ubiñas President

We are seeking partners who are looking over the horizon, who understand that technology and the unprecedented pace of change it has unleashed represent an unknown set of opportunities that we must all embrace and creatively explore.