Stories

Economic justice organizations are always subject to volatility due to the economy’s cyclical nature. But when faced with a pandemic, they have struggled to survive. Thanks to BUILD’s unique approach to funding, they have become armed to take on today’s challenges and build a worker-led economy.

As Russia escalates its attacks on Ukraine, we are being confronted once again with the defining conflict of our time: the great contest between authoritarian rule and democratic values. Ukraine holds a warning for the world over and we must act now to protect the future of global democracy.

In 1979, Franklin Thomas became the first Black president of the Ford Foundation, taking the helm of the philanthropy at its most perilous hour. Over the next 17 years, he would transform the foundation, establishing himself as an iconic figure not just in Ford’s history but around the world through his efforts to drive human progress and advance justice.

AMAN supports over 17 million Indigenous people across Indonesia, protecting against threats to their land from extractive industries and supporting education, food sovereignty, and traditional culture. Through a BUILD grant, AMAN was able to create a technology infrastructure to connect disparate communities—key to surviving COVID-19.

Ashé Cultural Arts Center is the beating heart of the Black community in New Orleans. When activist and poet Asali DeVan Ecclesiastes took over in 2020, she faced an uphill financial battle. Through a BUILD grant, she found the support, tools and words to succeed.

The intersecting crises of climate change and inequality threaten to make an outmoded vision of perpetuity, at best, obsolete—and, at worst, destructive. We must join together, with urgency and purpose, to ensure the work of justice lives on in perpetuity, as does the planet on which our very survival depends.

Around the world, Black feminists are leading intersectional movements for social justice—but they are drastically underfunded. The new Black Feminist Fund will support this powerful global community long overlooked by philanthropy. The fund’s three founders outline why now is the time to back Black feminists.

On the 20th anniversary, we reflect on what we’ve learned since 9/11, the movement for justice led by Black, Arab, Middle Eastern, Muslim, and South Asian communities to combat the xenophobia that followed, and how we can apply those lessons to the crises facing America today.

Ten years after the Arab Spring, lingering injustices and continued conflict test and inspire artists across the Middle East and North Africa. Meet six artists who tell the story of the region and remind us that humanity transcends borders.

At Ford, we’re no strangers to the heat. But we know what we’re fighting for—a democracy that fulfills the American founding ideal of representation. Inclusion is patriotic, and together, we can build a truly equal society that extends the promise of America to all.

A son of the South, Darren Walker reflects on the US South, both past and present, and its role in catalyzing social justice movements that have shaped the region—and America at large.

When a South Africa organization suddenly found itself without a leader, its top researcher stepped up and steered the organization through the crisis—all with a little help from BUILD.

The Always Essential campaign brings together a broad, game-changing coalition of activists, organizations, and working people to advance economic justice, and improve wages, working conditions and bargaining power for essential workers. Pandemic or no pandemic, working people are Always Essential.

On the first anniversary of George Floyd’s murder, Darren Walker reflects on his death as a reaffirmation of our shared humanity and calls for us to carry on the work to dismantle systemic racism in solidarity.

Care work makes all other work possible, but it’s not treated that way. For years, advocates have called to redefine care in America and reimagine an economy that works for everyone, especially essential workers. A new fund, seeded by Ford, builds on those efforts to support a future grounded in care.

Vartan Gregorian’s life and career helped shape higher education and philanthropy—and had a profound impact on Darren Walker.

How does a social justice organization successfully expand across the US in a few short years? See how BUILD helped Alliance for Safety and Justice become resilient enough to make a bold expansion work, taking their successes in California across the country.

We share a singular and sacred duty to protect the right to vote—to safeguard our government of the people, by the people, for the people. In response to Georgia’s restrictive voting laws, Darren Walker joins more than 700 leaders in defense of democracy to protect every American’s right to vote.

In the midst of one of history’s most tumultuous years, president Darren Walker sat down with 60 Minutes’ Lesley Stahl to talk about the challenges facing the world and how we must reimagine philanthropy to answer the call for justice.

Darren Walker digs deep with authors and thinkers who help us understand our history—and inspire us with big ideas for taking on today’s challenges.

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz champions the inventive ways communities are negotiating the pressures of the global marketplace while protecting traditions and natural ecosystems.

In our “post-truth” world, we are all overwhelmed by information. In-person interactions struggle to compete with the ceaseless barrage of push notifications popping up on our mobile devices. Attention, trust, and full presence are now among our scarcest resources.

A growing number of foundations around the world are experimenting with new approaches to philanthropy. Our new paper explores what we can learn from them.

Kevin Ryan joined the Ford Foundation’s Equitable Development team earlier this year, leading our grant making in Detroit. Here, the Detroit native talks about his family’s history in the city and region, the changes he’s seen in Detroit over the years, and the shape and scope of the foundation’s grant making there.

Around the world, corporations are using Strategic Lawsuits Against Public Participation (SLAPPs) to silence environmental activists. 

The Ford Foundation is committing up to $1 billion from its $12 billion endowment over the next 10 years to the nascent investment field known as mission-related investing.

Communitas is the Coalition for Sustainable Cities and Regions in the new UN Development Agenda.

The Ford Foundation is looking for technologists to join our grant-making teams and help them advance social justice and challenge inequality.

According to a new research report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy, 67 percent of foundations say they should listen more to grantees.

The Culture Lab and Race Forward offer five questions and a tool kit to help social change and media makers become better storytellers. 

Darren Walker on how ignorance can fuel inequality, and learning from our oversights can forge a way towards justice.

Foundation presidents acknowledge the courageous organizations working every day to push past despair and create change. #reasonsforhope

The Movement for Black Lives has created an opportunity for philanthropy to see and learn from new and dynamic forms of social justice leadership and infrastructure.

The Ford Foundation's new strategy to support institutions and networks, and to strengthen civil society, ensuring that the courageous people within it have what they need to fight for a more just and equitable world.

an excerpt from The Shrinking Space for Civil Society: Philanthropic Perspectives From Across the Globe, a new report from the European Foundation Centre (EFC)

Unlike traditional scholarships based primarily on academic achievement, social justice fellowships use non-traditional ways to recruit talented individuals and extend higher education opportunities to leaders from marginalized communities.

The Ford Foundation is looking for technologists to join our grant making teams and help them advance social justice and challenge inequality.

Darren Walker announces the launch of #InequalityIs, a conversation about inequality in all its forms.

The New Yorker profiles Darren Walker and his leadership in rethinking philanthropy and defining a new strategy to combat inequality.

We're transforming our landmark building into a center for philanthropy and civil society.

Ford Foundation awarded the Kumquat Prize by Chinese NGOs.

With the announcement of our new programs, we know many of you have questions. We answer some of them here.

Today, the Ford Foundation’s two-year transition is over. Darren Walker explains the details of FordForward.

Ford's president takes question on a live facebook chat.

A new tool from the Foundation Center—"Foundations Funding US Democracy”—allows funders and civil society organizations to align, collaborate, and coordinate better.

In his annual message, Darren Walker explains why now is the time for philanthropy to reimagine the "gospel of giving."

Supporting institutions at their core, through critical general support, is the key to building durable, resilient institutions that can take on inequality and advance justice.

As we celebrate Independence Day, we reflect on the lessons about working for freedom and justice over the past months.

We are making some big changes—but what will never change is our commitment to supporting those closest to the problems, engaging collaboratively with every sector, and pursuing the cause of justice and dignity for all people.

Peer-review grant making provides philanthropy with an innovative way to challenge the donor-grantee power dynamic.

Learn about Ford's commitment to Detroit.

Learn more about the four social justice leaders who received the 2014 MacArthur Fellowship.

Fund for Shared Insight is a collaborative effort to make grants to improve philanthropy.

Darren Walker reflects on his first twelve months as president of the Ford Foundation, and provides his thoughts for the future of the organization.

President Darren Walker shares his 2014 summer reading list.

Read one program officer's process of trying to articulate his work's theory of change.

Learn how and why Ford used crowdsourcing to help frame its new website.

Read Darren Walker's response to a series of articles found in the Standford Social Innovation Review where the authors argue that foundations can employ a more nuanced model of strategic giving that better suits the complexities of making change in the real world.