Press Releases

Ford Foundation Appoints Mark Willis as Resident Scholar

Leading Economist Focuses on Housing and Community Development

NEW YORK, 16 October 2008—The Ford Foundation has appointed national housing and community development expert and economist Mark A. Willis as resident scholar to draw upon his decades of experience in the public, private and philanthropic sectors.

For more than 30 years, Mr. Willis has held a number of leading positions in the field. He currently co-chairs Housing First, a coalition of more than 300 organizations that advocates for more resources for affordable housing. He is a past chair of the Community Reinvestment Committee of the Consumer Bankers Association and a past co-chair of Living Cities: The National Community Development Initiative, a public-private partnership to strengthen marginalized urban neighborhoods. Over the past 15 years, Living Cities has invested more than $543 million in 23 cities.

"We are pleased to welcome Mark to the foundation. His extensive knowledge and expertise on housing and community development is so important at this critical time, and will further support our efforts to meet the needs of low and moderate-income people," said Pablo J. Farías, Ford's vice president for Asset Building and Community Development.

The Ford Foundation resident scholar program enables unique individuals who have distinguished themselves in fields related to the foundation's mission to pursue independent projects that contribute to their areas of expertise and bring new perspectives to the work of the foundation.

During his tenure at the foundation, Mr. Willis will be working to identify best practices for the financial services sector and new ways in which it can better serve the low- and moderate-income people who are suffering the most in the volatile economy. He will work with foundation staff to determine how the financial services sector can become more responsible and accountable and to develop recommendations for stabilizing the housing market. He will also research and develop a plan for the Community Reinvestment Act to further ensure that banks and savings and loan institutions are providing credit opportunities to all members of the communities they serve.

Mr. Willis previously served as executive vice president of JPMorgan Chase Bank and as head of its community development group. There, he coordinated a national community development program that focused on increasing affordable housing and growing small businesses. In addition, he oversaw community relations and corporate oversight of the Fair Lending and Community Reinvestment Act compliance.

Before joining JPMorgan Chase in 1989, Mr. Willis was deputy commissioner for development of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development and served as senior economist for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Mr. Willis also previously chaired the New York Community Investment Company, a consortium of banks that provides long-term capital to emerging businesses in New York City, and the advisory board of the Community Development Research Center. He was also a member of the Bankers/Community Collaborative Council of the National Community Reinvestment Coalition and a member of the boards of the National Equity Fund and Social Compact. He continues to serve on the boards of the Center for Housing Policy, the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, the Greater Harlem Chamber of Commerce, the Community Preservation Corporation and the Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy at New York University. He has recently joined the board of the National Jazz Museum in Harlem and is a member of the board of the Skyscraper Museum, founded by his wife Carol. He holds a B.A. in economics from Yale University, a J.D. from Harvard Law School and a Ph.D. in urban economics and industrial organization from Yale.

Previous resident scholars and artists have included: Albie Sachs, human rights and anti-apartheid activist and justice of the South African Constitutional Court; Abdullahi Ahmed An-Na'im, professor of law and a leading scholar of Islam; former UN High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata; South African writer and educator Njabulo Ndebele; actor and playwright Anna Deavere Smith; and Sir Brian Urquhart, former UN Under-Secretary-General for Special Political Affairs.

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The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.