2000-2015

A mix of Black men and Black women sit at long tables in a classroom. A Black person in a neon green button-down shirt confers with a white man in a dark green polo.
Nita Barrow, co-founder of the Global Fund for Women.
Stephane de Sakutin/AFP via Getty Images

2000

Unlocking education opportunities for African women

In 2000, the Partnership for Higher Education in Africa launched with a commitment of $150 million from Ford to strengthen Africa’s universities and broaden opportunities for women. In 2005, the foundation renewed the partnership with an additional commitment of $200 million. Today, the partnership has improved conditions for more than four million African students enrolled at 379 universities and colleges across Ghana, Uganda, Egypt, Madagascar, and more.

Bringing a gender perspective to workers’ rights

In the early 2000s, Ford began to partner with and support organizations like the Annie E. Casey Foundation, the National Domestic Workers Alliance, and the Restaurant Opportunities Centers United that were putting women’s needs and voices, especially those of women of color, at the center of the debate around labor, workers’ rights, and social protections. Over the years, their efforts have been instrumental in achieving a string of victories to further opportunities for women’s economic equality.

Kimberlé Crenshaw speaks at a podium that is labeled "The New York Women's Foundation"

Examining the different contexts of global violence against women and girls

Ford launched a global study—led by Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw, one of the founders of intersectional feminism—looking at violence against women and girls in Brazil, South Africa, India, East Africa, and the US. Its aim was to better understand the contexts that lead to violence in different countries and develop more effective programming specific to geographical region.

2007

Elevating the voices of the Global South in the fight to end HIV/AIDS

In 2007, Ford launched an international initiative in Abuja, Nigeria, bringing together partners from the US and the Global South to influence the HIV/AIDS architecture to ensure the people most deeply affected, particularly women and adolescent girls, are part of the conversation and their rights and dignity are respected.

Two black people sit across from each other at a table. A poster and medication are in front of them.Malcolm Linton/Liaison
Mary Robinson and Desmond Tutu sit next to each other in front of a blue backdrop that has the Clinton Global Initiative logo on it.Ramin Talaie/Bloomberg via Getty Images

2011

Girls Not Brides makes ending child marriage a global priority

In 2011, Ford expanded its efforts to combat child marriage, dedicating $25 million to help create Girls Not Brides—and joining Desmond Tutu and Mary Robinson to introduce the effort at the Clinton Global Initiative. Today, the global partnership has grown to become a full-fledged cooperative of more than 1,300 organizations from over 100 countries.

2015

Ford supports the growth of women leaders with BUILD

In 2015, Ford launched BUILD, a $1 billion, five-year initiative to build the capacity of the foundation’s grantees worldwide, putting a special emphasis on supporting the growth of women leaders working on social justice as well as women’s rights organizations.