FORD FOUNDATION - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director of the Ford Foundation Global Fellowship
- Director, Global Fellowship Program
- Director, Global Fellowship Program New York, USA
Adria D. Goodson is director of the Ford Foundation Global Fellowship program. She believes that every person has the capacity to develop into their best self and that every leader is a catalyst for organizations and systems to better serve human society. She is committed to coming alongside leaders, providing both support and challenge, as they create thriving and fulfilled lives.
Adria has spent almost two decades leading and designing fellowship programs grounded in social movement and leadership development theory. Most recently, she was chief program officer for the Pahara Institute, a national nonprofit organization that supports senior leaders in education. She also serves on the faculty of Harvard University's Graduate School of Education.
From 2005 to 2015, Adria was the founding director of Hunt Alternatives Fund's Prime Movers fellowship program, a program that supports national social movement leaders in the United States. She has worked with the Aspen Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's After School Project, the Hestia Fund, Resource Generation, and the Boston College Media Research and Action Project.
Adria earned her PhD from Boston College in sociology, specializing in social movement theory, public policy, and philanthropy. She was awarded the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Non-profit Opportunity Leadership fellowship and the Boston College President's fellowship. She is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, selected in 2015, has authored several published pieces on movement leadership, and was a featured speaker at TedxBeaconStreet. Adria lives in Woburn, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter. She is an avid foodie and home chef, and loves poetry and cycling in the summertime.
Job Titles:
- Director
- Director, Indonesia
- Director, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
Alexander Irwan is the director of the foundation's Jakarta office, with a focus on promoting the participation of poor and marginalized groups in public decision making, and particularly on strengthening the budgeting and accountability of nongovernmental organizations to improve their standing when seeking government transparency. His grantmaking has encouraged collaboration between central and local government, NGOs, and grassroots groups to develop models that can be replicated in other districts and cities in Indonesia.
Before joining the foundation in 2006, Alex was executive director of the Tifa Foundation, an Indonesian philanthropic organization focused on human rights and governance issues. Alex's concentration on good governance began when he joined the World Bank in 1998 and later worked as a United Nations Development Programme adviser for the Partnership of Governance Reform.
Alex holds a PhD in sociology from the State University of New York at Binghamton; a master's degree in development studies from the Institute of Social Studies, The Hague; and a bachelor's degree in sociology from the University of California, Santa Cruz.
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Investment Committee
- Member of the Mission - Related Investment Committee
- Trustee
- Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at Northwestern University
- Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Northwestern University Evanston, Illinois
Amy C. Falls, vice president and chief investment officer at Northwestern University, serves on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees. From 2011 to 2021, as chief investment officer and vice president for investments at the Rockefeller University, she oversaw the Rockefeller University Investments Office, which manages approximately $1.9 billion in endowment assets.
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager, Mission Investments
- Grants Manager, Mission Investments New York, USA
Anil V. Oommen is part of the Mission Investments team. He was a grants administrator with a focus on human rights before he assumed his current role as budget manager and grants manager for the foundation's financial assets work and for the Good Neighbor Committee. In this role he has been responsible for managing the foundation's program-related investments budget and the PRI loss reserves.
Prior to joining the foundation in 1997, Anil worked at the Population Council for five years as the manager of grants, contracts, and subcontracts. Earlier, he worked at the City University of New York for five years in grants and contracts, accounting, and budgets.
Anil is also a volunteer math tutor. He has an MBA in international finance and a bachelor's degree in economics and management.
Job Titles:
- Director of Ford 's Gender
- Director, Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice
- Director, Gender, Racial and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
Anita Khashu is the director of Ford's Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice team. She oversees the foundation's immigrant rights portfolio.
Anita has worked as a nonprofit lawyer, manager, and philanthropic advisor in the United States, Latin America, and Africa. She has managed a national funder collaborative and large and complex nonprofit programs, provided direct legal services, conducted research, and given strategic consulting services to nonprofits and philanthropies.
Prior to joining Ford, Anita was the director of the Four Freedoms Fund (FFF), the largest funder collaborative in the United States supporting the immigration field. At FFF, she worked in support of the organization's mission to strengthen the capacity of the immigrant justice movement. Before joining FFF, she was the founding director of the Vera Institute of Justice's Center on Immigration, a Fulbright Scholar, a scholar-in-residence at the Center for Inter-American Studies and Programs at the Autonomous Technological Institute of Mexico, and a staff attorney with the Legal Aid Society of New York in its criminal practice.
Anita serves on the board of the Envision Freedom Fund and the Management Center. She holds a bachelor's degree in economics from Tufts University and a juris doctorate from Boston University School of Law.
Job Titles:
- International Program Director, Natural Resources and Climate Change
- International Program Director, Natural Resources and Climate Change New York, USA
As international program director for Natural Resources and Climate Change, Anthony "Tony" Bebbington leads the team that works to ensure natural resource governance serves the public interest and reflects the aspirations of rural, low-income, and indigenous communities who claim customary rights to their land or have secured land rights.
He also serves as the foundation's representative on the Board of the Climate and Land Use Alliance. With over 35 years of experience, Tony's work has addressed the impacts of extractive industries on community rights and territories, the role of social movements and NGOs in social and political change, and the factors driving inclusive rural development in Latin America and Indonesia.
Before joining the foundation in 2021, Tony was Higgins Professor of Environment and Society and Director of the Graduate School of Geography at Clark University, and an Australia Laureate Professor at the University of Melbourne. In addition to holding academic positions, he has worked for non-profit think tanks in the United Kingdom, as a social scientist at the World Bank, and as a research associate with NGOs in Peru and Chile. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, was a Fellow of the John Simon Guggenheim Foundation and sits on the board of Oxfam America.
Tony holds a PhD in geography from Clark University in the USA, and a bachelor's degree in geography and land economy from Cambridge University in the UK.
Job Titles:
- Director, Brazil
- Director, Brazil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Atila Roque heads the foundation's Rio de Janeiro office, overseeing all grantmaking in Brazil. Prior to joining Ford, he served as executive director of Amnesty International Brazil, leading the implementation of a comprehensive national human rights strategy. Before that, he was executive director of the Institute of Economic and Social Studies (INESC), which conducts policy analysis and advocacy on public budget and human rights, and conducts research on inequality, gender discrimination, and racial justice.
Earlier in his career, Atila served as executive director of ActionAid International USA in Washington, DC, and worked for 17 years in different roles at the Brazilian Institute of Social and Economic Analysis (IBASE), one of the most important NGOs in Brazil. He also served as director of the Brazilian Association of NGOs and as coordinator of the Brazilian chapter of the Social Watch network. Atila spent three years as a visiting researcher at the Pacific-Asia Research Center in Tokyo, studying the environmental and social impact of Japanese infrastructure investment in Brazil. He also held a guest professorship at the Rio Branco Institute-Brazilian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where he taught a course on foreign policy and civil society.
Atila serves on the board of directors for International Budget Partnership, Just Associates, and Greenpeace Brazil, and he is a director of the Brazil Human Rights Fund (Fundo Brasil de Direitos Humanos). He earned a master's degree in political science from the Instituto Universitário de Pesquisas do Rio de Janeiro (IUPERJ) and a bachelor's degree in history from the Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro.
Job Titles:
- Senior Director, Strategy and Learning
- Senior Director, Strategy and Learning New York, USA
Bess Rothenberg leads the foundation's office of Strategy and Learning. She works closely with all 10 global offices to strengthen Ford's capacity as a learning institution and ensure that learning and strategy are deeply embedded in all of its work.
Before joining the foundation in 2016, Bess served as deputy director of research and evaluation at Wellspring Advisors. In that role, she led strategic planning for international and US-based human rights work. Earlier, Bess was senior program officer for Africa at the International Women's Health Coalition, and associate director of grants at the American Jewish World Service. She has also served as assistant professor of applied sociology and African studies at Clemson University, and as associate director with Columbia University's Center for the Study of Human Rights.
Bess earned a PhD in sociology from the University of Virginia. She was a Fulbright doctoral fellow at Humboldt University in Berlin, and earned her BA in sociology from Boston University.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- Trustee
- Founder & Executive Director, Equal Justice Initiative Montgomery, Alabama
- Founder and Executive Director of the Equal Justice Initiative
Bryan Stevenson, founder and executive director of the Equal Justice Initiative, serves on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees. A renowned public interest lawyer, Stevenson began representing death row inmates in court in 1985, while serving as a staff attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights in Atlanta, Georgia. That work inspired his founding, four years later, of the Equal Justice Initiative, which seeks to strengthen the system of public defense and protect the rights of people who are too often denied proper representation.
A transformational leader, he is the visionary behind the Enslavement to Mass Incarceration Museum and the Memorial to the Victims of Lynching, commemorating more than 4,000 individuals who were lynched in 12 southern states between 1871 and 1950. He is also the author of the New York Times best-selling book Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption, and a professor at the New York University School of Law.
Stevenson earned a BA from Eastern College, an MPP from the Harvard University Kennedy School of Government, and a JD from Harvard University. He has received 26 honorary degrees, from institutions including Yale University, the University of Pennsylvania, Georgetown University, and Washington University.
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Ford in 2018 As a Program Assistant
- Grants Manager, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
- Manager for the Future of Work
Bryttnee Parris is the grants manager for the Future of Work(ers) team, where she focuses on securing labor and social protections for workers and helping them shape the policies and economic systems that affect them.
Bryttnee joined Ford in 2018 as a program assistant on the Civic Engagement and Government team. Before this, she worked at a New York nonprofit that served 30,000 children, youth, and families in the city's highest-needs communities, assisting with the agency's public policy and advocacy efforts. She is an active member of PEAK Grantmaking (Northeast Chapter).
Job Titles:
- Manager
- Senior Grants Manager, Philanthropy
- Senior Grants Manager, Philanthropy New York, USA
Carly Benkov is a senior grants manager at the foundation. She supports the global grants management team on training, policies, procedures, and systems. She also works directly with the philanthropy and Good Neighbor Committee teams and grantees.
Before joining Ford, Carly was the program manager of grants systems with Ford's information technology department for over five years. In this role, she worked with the programs and operations teams to streamline processes and oversaw enhancements to the grants management system. Before that, she was a senior technical project manager for Fluxx, a grants management software, where she led numerous systems implementations and consulted grantmaking organizations to identify opportunities for improvement. She also served as a grants manager at the American Jewish World Service, an international human rights organization based in New York City.
Carly is a graduate of Cornell University and holds a master of public service from the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager
- Grants Manager, Civic Engagement and Government
- Grants Manager, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Casey Stafford is a grants manager on the Civic Engagement and Government team. He oversees the interdisciplinary efforts of the Detroit Working Group and grants management for the U.S. States and Native American Working Groups.
Prior to joining Ford in 2014, Casey's work focused on educational access and success. He served as a consultant for various NGOs, as a grants and program manager at the University of Minnesota, and as managing editor of Reconsidering Development, an international development journal. Before returning to graduate school, Casey worked in higher education as the director of intercultural education at LCC International University in Klaipėda, Lithuania.
Casey has a PhD in comparative and international development education from the University of Minnesota, where his research focused on student activism and political action at Senegal's largest university, Université Cheikh Anta Diop (UCAD). He also holds a master's degree in educational policy from the University of South Carolina and a bachelor's degree in psychology from Union University, in his home state of Tennessee.
Job Titles:
- Chairman
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Trustee
- Executive Director, Disability Rights Fund Geneva, Switzerland
Catalina Devandas serves on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees. She is the executive director of the Disability Rights Fund.
Devandas has a long, distinguished history advocating for disability rights and inclusive development around the world. Born with spina bifida, she has drawn from her personal experience to tackle the injustices facing the disability community for more than 20 years. She served as the first United Nations special rapporteur on the rights of persons with disabilities from 2014-2020. Prior to that, she worked as a program officer for strategic partnerships at the Disability Rights Advocacy Fund after serving as the fund's program officer for Latin America, the Middle East, and North Africa. She also worked as an associate officer for social affairs at the Secretariat for the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities at the UN's Department of Economic and Social Affairs in New York. Earlier, she was part of the equality program at the International Centre for the Legal Protection of Human Rights in London and a disability and inclusive development consultant on Latin America and the Caribbean for the World Bank. She serves on the board of Human Rights Watch.
Devandas began her career as an attorney in 1993, and holds a bachelor of law from the University of Costa Rica. She was also in the master's program for fundamental rights at the University Carlos III in Madrid and the master's program for interdisciplinary disability studies at the University of Costa Rica.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer
- Program Officer, Technology and Society New York, USA
Chancellar Williams is a program officer with the foundation's US program in Technology and Society, helping to shape and implement the team's efforts to ensure that digital technologies are designed and governed in ways that advance equity and justice. He manages a portfolio of grants and other activities to advance effective and equitable public interest technology policies, regulations, and social norms, as well as to deepen public understanding of the impact of digital communications technologies on society. Ford grantees in this portfolio work at the intersection of civil rights, social justice, and technology policy. They are challenging corporate and government surveillance and discriminatory technology tools and practices, advocating for digital rights and access, and working toward freedom of expression, digital security, accessibility, privacy, and an open internet.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer
- Program Officer, China
- Program Officer, China Beijing, China
Cheng Enjiang is a program officer in the foundation's Beijing office, developing programming focused on the impact of Chinese development finance in the Global South. Before joining the foundation in 2016, he was an associate professor at the Victoria Institute of Strategic Economic Studies at Victoria University in Melbourne, Australia, where he focused on China's economic structural change, poverty reduction, and rural finance. Earlier, he served as fellow and chief research coordinator at the International Poverty Reduction Center of China and then spent a year as senior China economist at Citibank in China.
Over the past 25 years, Enjiang's research and project work has focused on the ways in which finance-for instance, microfinance, village funds, micro- and small-enterprise, and agricultural value chain development-can be used to alleviate poverty and create employment opportunity. Through his work on China's economic transformation, such as on rural-to-urban migration and rural-urban linkages, he has built partnerships among academic researchers and the private sector, particularly the financial sector. He also has extensive experience working with donors, community-based organizations, and a variety of research institutes.
Enjiang earned a PhD in agricultural economics from the University of Melbourne and a bachelor's degree in the same field from China's Nanjing Agricultural University.
Job Titles:
- Deputy Director of the Mission Investments Team
- Deputy Director, Mission Investments
- Deputy Director, Mission Investments New York, USA
Christine Looney is deputy director of the Mission Investments team. Previously, as a senior program investment officer, she managed Ford's $280 million Program-Related Investment Fund and initiated, structured, and monitored the foundation's program-related investments to align with and complement program strategies and goals.
Prior to joining Ford in 2001, Christine was president of the Urban Business Assistance Corporation, a nonprofit consulting firm serving the minority business community of New York City. Previously, she was an assistant vice president and portfolio manager in the Fleet Financial Corporate Banking Group and an associate in Chase Manhattan's Structured Finance Group.
Christine serves on the advisory board of the CDFI Fund Assessment and Rating System, the steering committee of the PRI Makers Network, and the credit committee of the Living Cities Catalyst Fund.
Christine has an MBA in finance and management from New York University's Stern School of Business and a bachelor's degree in economics from Holy Cross.
Job Titles:
- Global Director for People and Organizational Development
Christopher Grygo is the foundation's global director for People and Organizational Development, working across the organization to create programs that enhance the foundation's culture and meet staff's learning and professional development needs.
Before joining Ford in 2015, Chris worked at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he created global training and development programs in areas including management skills, time management, conflict resolution, and grantmaking. He worked on the design and delivery of sessions to address specific strategic learning needs and worked with staff to develop individual professional development plans. Chris also facilitated team retreats to promote collective excellence throughout the foundation.
Chris has served in leadership and organization development roles throughout his career, starting at Lucent Technologies Bell Labs. He managed professional development for Columbia University's libraries and information services and has held talent development and organizational development roles at the Visiting Nurse Service of New York. He has taught graduate courses at the City University of New York's Brooklyn College and at Teachers College, Columbia University.
Chris earned his master's in organizational psychology from Teachers College, Columbia University and his bachelor's degree in psychology from Drew University. He received certification in mediation and conflict resolution from Teachers College and certification in coaching from the Gestalt Institute of Cleveland.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Investment Committee
- Trustee
- Chairman and CEO, Cisco Systems San Jose, California
Chuck Robbins serves on the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees and is chairman and chief executive officer of Cisco Systems.
Robbins joined Cisco in 1997 and held a number of global management positions before assuming the role of CEO in 2015 and chairman in 2017. In addition to leading the US-based multinational technology company, Robbins serves on the board of directors at BlackRock, the world's largest asset manager. He is also a member of the International Business Council for the World Economic Forum. He previously served on the board of Business Executives for National Security, an organization of executive leaders who volunteer their expertise to help enhance the nation's security.
Robbins has taken the lead in addressing the homelessness crisis in Santa Clara County with Cisco's $50 million commitment to Destination: Home, a public-private partnership that aims to significantly reduce homelessness in the region. Born and raised in Georgia, he has served as a member of the Partnership Against Domestic Violence, the largest nonprofit dedicated to preventing domestic violence in the state of Georgia, and served on the advisory board for the president of Georgia Tech.
Robbins holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics with a computer science concentration from the University of North Carolina.
Job Titles:
- Technology Fellow With the Future of Work
- Technology Fellow, Future of Work ( Ers )
- Technology Fellow, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Danica Yu is a technology fellow with the Future of Work(ers) team, where she works at the intersection of technology and building worker power.
Before joining Ford, Danica worked on product development as an engineering program manager on Google Maps, focused on building tools for small businesses. She also contributed to hardware products at X, the moonshot factory, and to sustainability tools for policymakers on Google Earth. Outside of product development, she worked on staffing, diversity, and racial equity efforts for the company.
After working at Google, Danica pursued a master's degree and completed her capstone research on AI ethics in Kenya, in collaboration with the Mozilla Foundation. She also worked with Asian Americans Advancing Justice on facial recognition policy, immigration rights, and anti-hate advocacy.
Danica has a bachelor's degree in environmental policy and anthropology from Washington University in St. Louis and a master's degree in public policy from the Harvard Kennedy School.
Job Titles:
- Member of the Executive Committee
- President
- President of the Ford Foundation, Addresses Staff
- President, Ford Foundation New York, USA
Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy with offices in the United States and ten regions around the globe. He chaired the philanthropy committee that brought a resolution to the city of Detroit's historic bankruptcy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first non-profit in US history to issue a $1 billion designated social bond in US capital markets for proceeds to strengthen and stabilize non-profit organizations in the wake of COVID-19.
Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs including the Rebuild New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina. In the 1990s, as COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation-Harlem's largest community development organization-he led a comprehensive revitalization strategy, including building over 1,000 units of affordable housing and the first major commercial development in Harlem since the 1960s. Earlier, he had a decade-long career in international law and finance at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton and UBS.
Darren co-chairs New York City's Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and serves on The Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform and the UN International Labour Organization Global Commission on the Future of Work. He co-founded both the US Impact Investing Alliance and the Presidents' Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy. He supported his friend Agnes Gund in creating the pioneering Art for Justice Fund and serves on many boards, including Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, the High Line, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. In the private sector he is on the boards of Ralph Lauren, PepsiCo and Bloomberg Inc. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and is the recipient of 16 honorary degrees and university awards, including Harvard University's W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. In 2022, he was awarded France's highest cultural honor, the Chevalier des Arts et des Lettres for his leadership in the arts. In 2023 he was also appointed by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II to the Order of the British Empire for services to UK/US relations.
Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren was a member of the first class of Head Start in 1965 and received his bachelor's and law degrees from The University of Texas at Austin, which in 2009 recognized him with its Distinguished Alumnus Award-its highest alumni honor. He has been included on numerous leadership lists, including TIME's annual 100 Most Influential People, Rolling Stone's 25 People Shaping the Future, Fast Company's Most Creative People in Business, Ebony's Power 100, and Out magazine's Power 50. In 2020 Darren was named Wall Street Journal's 2020 Philanthropy Innovator of the Year and 2023 Foundation Leader of the Year by Inside Philanthropy.
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Chief Operating Officer
- Treasurer
- Vice President
- Founder and President of Moms of Black Boys United
- Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Treasurer New York, USA
Depelsha is the founder and president of Moms of Black Boys United and MOBB United for Social Change, sister organizations dedicated to positively influencing how black boys and men are perceived and treated by law enforcement and in society. She serves on the boards of Howard University, Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, the Billie Holiday Theatre, the Harvard Business School Club of New York, Oaktree Capital Management, and Classy. She holds a BA from Howard University and an MBA from Harvard Business School.
Job Titles:
- Chief People Officer
- Vice President
- Vice President and Chief People Officer New York, USA
As vice president and chief people officer, Diane Samuels leads the organization's efforts to cultivate a fair and fulfilling workplace. With a commitment to advancing people and culture, Diane brings her knowledge and expertise to every step of the employee experience - strategy development, recruitment of new talent, people and organizational development and employee benefits and compensation. Diane has been at the forefront of driving staff diversity, building equity, and advocating for inclusive organizational practices at the foundation. She plays an integral role in holding the organization accountable to our social justice mission by ensuring that our own policies, practices, and values reflect the just world we strive to create.
Diane immigrated to the US from Jamaica in 2000. She brings over 20 years of experience in the philanthropic, for-profit, and government sectors. Prior to joining Ford, Diane served as managing director of operations at the New York State Governor's Office of Storm Recovery. In that capacity, she oversaw human resources, strategic planning, and operational management for facilities and Information Technology. Diane also held positions in human resource management at the Rockefeller Foundation for 13 years. While at Rockefeller, she established the strategic framework for the organization's first global diversity and inclusion program. Diane began her career in human resources working for Jamaica Broilers, one of the country's largest employers.
Diane holds a master's degree in human resources management from the New School and a bachelor of arts in psychology from Brooklyn College.
Job Titles:
- Assistant
- Program Assistant, Mission Investments New York, USA
Dionaris Henriquez is a program assistant with the foundation's Mission Investments team. She supports them with core operations, event planning, administrative tasks, and team projects surrounding program-related and mission-related investments.
Job Titles:
- Technology Fellow
- Technology Fellow, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Dizzy Zaba is a technology fellow on the Civic Engagement and Government team. Their work focuses on threats posed by technology against marginalized communities.
Job Titles:
- Program Associate
- Co - Chair of the New York Chapter of the Emerging Practitioners
- Program Associate, Civic Engagement and Government
- Program Associate, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Ebony Wilkinson is a program associate on the Ford Foundation's Civic Engagement and Government team. She works to advance the foundation's efforts to use place-conscious strategy to strengthen ecosystems of state-based and regional social justice organizations. Her interdisciplinary background helps her support a cross-thematic team of grantmakers leading the Foundation's Detroit and US States programming.
Ebony joined the foundation in 2017 as an administrative professional and has since worked with various program staff to drive strategies that center youth opportunities, civic engagement, and community development. Prior to her time at Ford, Ebony worked in curriculum design, implementation, and facilitation in the field of youth leadership and development.
Ebony currently serves as a co-chair of the New York Chapter of the Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), a national network of changemakers who aim to empower emerging leaders and elevate philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world. She is trained in equity-driven facilitation and holds leadership positions with internal employee resource groups advocating for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging at the Ford Foundation.
She holds a Bachelor of Arts in interdisciplinary studies from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, South Carolina, and a Masters of Science in nonprofit leadership from Fordham University in New York City.
Job Titles:
- Director, China Beijing, China
Eric Doppstadt - Chief Investment Officer, VP
Job Titles:
- Chief Investment Officer
- Vice President
- Vice President and Chief Investment Officer New York, USA
Eric Doppstadt is vice president and chief investment officer of the foundation. He is responsible for managing the foundation's investment portfolio.
Eric joined Ford in 1989 as resident counsel, working closely with the investment team. He held the position for six years, before assuming senior positions managing the foundation's alternative investment portfolio over the next 15 years. During this time, from 2000 to 2009, he was director of Private Equity Investments, managing the foundation's investments in private equity, venture capital, growth equity, distressed investments, and hedge funds. He was appointed to his current post in 2009.
Prior to joining the foundation, Eric practiced corporate finance, mergers and acquisitions, and international law with the New York firm of Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison. He is a director of Arch Capital Group, Ltd., Harvard Management Company, and Makena Capital Management, LLC.
Eric received his undergraduate degree with honors in social science from the University of Chicago, studied international economics at the Walsh School of Foreign Service at Georgetown University, and received a law degree from New York University School of Law. He also holds the CFA (chartered financial analyst) designation from the CFA Institute.
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- Data Governance Manager, Strategy and Learning New York, USA
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- Senior Program Officer, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Brazil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
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- Program Officer, Technology and Society New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
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- Chairman of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Investment Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- Chairman, Board of Trustees Director, the Malú and Carlos Alvarez Center for Transplantation, Hepatobiliary Surgery and Innovation San Antonio, Texas
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- Program Assistant, Brazil Office Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
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- Program Officer, Brazil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
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- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Mission - Related Investment Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- Senior Adviser, Two Sigma Impact Chair, Global ESG Advisory, Teneo New York, New York
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- Program Associate, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice International New York, USA
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- Program Assistant, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
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- Chairman of the Mission - Related Investment Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Investment Committee
- of Counsel, Aluko & Oyebode Lagos, Nigeria
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- Program Associate, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
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- Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Neuberger Berman New York, New York
Ford Foundation trustees set policies relating to grantmaking, geographic focus, spending, investment, management, governance, and professional standards, and review the performance of the president. The Audit Committee of the board oversees independent audits and sets the compensation of all officers.
Our Board of Trustees is currently composed of 16 members, including the president. Nominated by the Nominating and Governance Committee and appointed by the full board, trustees may serve up to two six-year terms. The board, board committees, and individual trustees are evaluated on a regular basis by the Nominating and Governance Committee.
Foundation trustees bring a vast range of knowledge and experience to the task of governing the foundation. Over the years, trustees have hailed from five continents, and they have extensive experience in the worlds of higher education, business, law, government, technology, health care, nonprofit management, the arts, and the civic sector.
Job Titles:
- Investment Officer, Mission Investments New York, USA
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- Senior Program Officer, Future of Work ( Ers ) International Cairo, Egypt
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- Program Associate, Office of the President New York, USA
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- Program Associate, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
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- Senior Program Officer, China Beijing, China
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- Program Assistant, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
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- Program Assistant, Technology and Society New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt
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- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Finance Committee
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- Executive Vice President of Programs New York, USA
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- Grants Manager, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
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- Senior Program Officer, Civic Engagement and Government International New York, USA
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- Director, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
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- Director of the Office of the Vice President, US Programs New York, USA
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- Grants Manager, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
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- Director, Ford Foundation Catalyst Fund New York, USA
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- Director, Grants Management New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
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- Program Officer, Civic Engagement & Government New York, USA
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- Program Assistant, Civic Engagement and Government International and Gender Racial and Ethnic Justice International New York, USA
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- Director, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
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- Senior Program Officer, Office of the President New York, USA
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- Program Associate, Technology and Society New York, USA
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- Director, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
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- Evaluation and Learning Officer, Strategy and Learning New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Natural Resources and Climate Change New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Civic Engagement & Government New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Civic Engagement and Government and JustFilms New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- Director, Ford Motor Company Detroit, Michigan
Job Titles:
- Program Associate, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, China Beijing, China
Job Titles:
- Program Manager, Ford Global Fellows New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Director, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- Artistic Director, Miami City Ballet Miami, Florida
Job Titles:
- Grantmaking Effectiveness Officer, Strategy and Learning New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Grants Manager, International Programs New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Mission Investments New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice International New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Vice President, International Programs New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Indonesia Jakarta, Indonesia
Job Titles:
- Senior Cybersecurity Program Manager, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Technology Fellow, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Brazil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Job Titles:
- Mission Investments Officer, Mission Investments New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, U.S. Disability Rights New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Vice President and Chief Communications Officer New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Manager, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Natural Resources and Climate Change New York, USA
Job Titles:
- International Program Director, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Director, President 's Office New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Civic Engagement and Government International New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Member of the Finance Committee
- Member of the Nominating and Governance Committee
- President, Manos Visibles Bogota, Colombia
Job Titles:
- Program Associate, Brazil Rio De Janeiro, Brazil
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice International New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, U.S. Disability Rights New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Technology Fellow, Mission Investments New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager, Creativity and Free Expression New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Grants Manager, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Director, Mission Investments New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Director, Middle East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Future of Work ( Ers ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Civic Engagement and Government New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, International Cooperation New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Middle East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt
Job Titles:
- Program Assistant, Technology and Society New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Vice President, US Programs New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Middle East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt
Job Titles:
- Strategy and Evaluation Officer, Strategy and Learning New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Investment Committee
- Member of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Member of the Mission - Related Investment Committee
- Retired Executive Managing Member, Davidson Kempner Capital Management Southampton, New York
Job Titles:
- Chairman of the Audit Committee
- Member of the Executive Committee
- Founding Partner, Integrum Holdings Executive Chair, Teneo Holdings LLC Retired Executive Chair and CEO, Xerox Corporation and VEON, Ltd. New York, New York
Job Titles:
- Senior Program Officer, Building Institutions and Networks ( BUILD ) New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Program Officer, Natural Resources and Climate Change New York, USA
Job Titles:
- Grants Officer, Middle East and North Africa Cairo, Egypt
Job Titles:
- Grants Manager, China Beijing, China