NEW YORK – The Ford Foundation today announced the appointment of Nicholas Turner as the executive vice president for programs. Turner will join Ford’s executive leadership team in May to steward the strategic impact of Ford’s programmatic work across its New York headquarters and ten regional offices.

“It is an honor to join the Ford Foundation, a storied organization that has had an indelible impact on communities worldwide,” said Nicholas Turner, incoming executive vice president for programs at the Ford Foundation. “I look forward to working with colleagues around the world to ensure Ford’s global programmatic strategies remain cohesive, ambitious and well-resourced.”

“I am thrilled to welcome Nicholas Turner to the Ford Foundation as the newest member of our executive leadership team,” said Heather Gerken, president of the Ford Foundation. “Nick has an exceptional combination of visionary leadership and operational experience to translate high-level strategy into meaningful impact.”

Turner joins the Ford Foundation from the Vera Institute of Justice, where he has served as president and director since 2013. In that role, he led Vera through a significant transformation—marked by a focus on racial justice, building capacity to move innovative policy change at scale and shape public debate, and a commitment to assert itself as a field anchor and defender.

Prior to Vera, Turner was a managing director at The Rockefeller Foundation, providing leadership and strategic direction on key initiatives, including transportation policy reform and redevelopment in New Orleans to advance racial and socioeconomic justice.

Turner began his career as an attorney and associate in the litigation department of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison in New York and served as judicial clerk for the late Honorable Jack B. Weinstein, United States District Judge in Brooklyn. In addition, he worked with court-involved, homeless, and disconnected young people at Sasha Bruce Youthwork, a youth services organization in Washington, DC.

Turner holds a BA in history from Yale University and a JD from Yale Law School. He is a current trustee for Activating Change, the Council on Criminal Justice, and The Joyce Foundation, and is chair of the Advisory Board of the Policing Project at NYU Law. Turner serves on the Leadership Advisory Council for the Tsai Leadership Program at Yale Law School and the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform.