Southern Africa

Russell Ally

Program Officer Johannesburg

Russell Ally works on governance issues from the foundation's Johannesburg office. His grant making supports Southern African nongovernmental organizations and community groups to improve the transparency, effectiveness and integrity of governance processes. The focus of this work is to ensure that the interests of the poorest and most vulnerable communities are addressed in decisions about service provision, local economic development, revenue collection and resource allocation.

Before joining the Ford Foundation in 2007, Russell was the director of the South African office of the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, a private foundation based in the United States. Prior to this, Russell was the human rights projects manager for the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights. During this time, he also served as the national coordinator of the South African Government's National Action Plan for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights.

Russell was appointed to South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission in 1995 and served on its Human Rights Violation Committee. Earlier, he taught in the history department at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa. He has a Ph.D. from Cambridge University, a bachelor's and master's degree from Rhodes University, and a bachelor's degree and Higher Diploma in Education from the University of Cape Town.