Ford Foundation Unveils 7-Level Funding Realignment

(picture from fordfoundation.org)

The Ford Foundation in New York City unveiled a brand new strategic course to help what its leaders referred to as the preconditions vital for democracies to thrive. The basis will refocus its institutional mission to guard and strengthen democratic values, basic freedoms, and inclusive economies worldwide, so individuals are empowered to form their futures.

Developed in response to what basis officers referred to as unprecedented geopolitical, financial, and societal elements of this second, the brand new technique is meant to guard and strengthen the core ideas that maintain democracy and the rule of legislation. 

The basis reported whole belongings of $17.5 billion, income of $1.15 billion and bills of $1.04 billion throughout FY 2025. Annual grantmaking and different presents common simply wanting $1 billion at $973 million to roughly 2,000 grantees.

The transition comes one 12 months after Heather Gerken was appointed the muse’s eleventh president. The technique options seven interconnected funding areas: Protecting Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law; Building Just and Inclusive Economies; Defending Information as a Public Good; Securing Safety, Justice, and Fairness; Accelerating Gender Equality; Fostering Global Cooperation; and Advancing Racial Justice.

The methods for every space can be launched and carried out on a rolling foundation through the course of 2027. This would be the first strategic refresh of the muse’s areas of labor in additional a decade. Starting January 2027, program workers throughout the muse will shift to 3 useful items targeted on technique design, transitional grantmaking, and accountable sunsetting of areas of labor. It will permit program workers to develop full methods shortly whereas making certain ongoing grantmaking continues.

The public report, “How We Meet This Moment,” outlines the technique and its improvement and displays on Ford’s historical past in crucial moments alongside its present work. Senior leaders on the basis carried out the evaluate, in partnership with workers and consultants throughout the sector, to set the course for the muse’s subsequent chapter.

“The Ford Foundation’s new imaginative and prescient is an evolution, not a revolution, of our work, and a mirrored image of this period’s quickly altering international panorama,” Gerken mentioned by way of a press release.

The seven new funding areas deal with what basis leaders describe as the required preconditions for democracy in a interval marked by rising autocracy, intensifying inequality, and the general erosion of public belief. Following are descriptions of the initiatives supplied by the muse.

Protecting Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law: The Ford Foundation will work to make sure democracy lives as much as its promise and that folks and communities are in a position to form the insurance policies that have an effect on their lives. This is dependent upon the rule of legislation, vibrant democratic illustration, civil rights and civil liberties, and efficient governance to deliver folks again into the political course of, restore belief in authorities, and rebuild governing establishments which were dismantled or degraded.

Building Just and Inclusive Economies: Severe financial inequality is each a product of democratic decline and a drive that accelerates it. The Ford Foundation will prioritize approaches that create fairer financial guidelines, advance alternatives for folks with disabilities, and assist staff and marginalized communities adapt to fast-changing realities, whereas addressing the focus of financial energy that leaves too many behind.

Defending Information as a Public Good: A wholesome democracy requires an knowledgeable citizenry, and the erosion of shared, reliable info has undermined public religion in authorities itself. The Ford Foundation will defend an info and media surroundings to strengthen relatively than undermine democracy. The technique will work to vary how digital applied sciences are designed, deployed, and ruled so that they serve the general public good.

Securing Safety, Justice, and Fairness: There is robust public help for a realistic strategy to security and justice that strikes past the false binary of tough-on-crime versus mushy. The Ford Foundation will advance options that maintain communities secure, scale back criminalization and incarceration, and guarantee folks obtain the help and justice they want and deserve.

Accelerating Gender Equality: Democratic backsliding has gone hand in hand with assaults on gender equality worldwide, depriving most of the fundamental dignity and important freedom to construct steady, significant lives. The Ford Foundation will shield the rights and autonomy of ladies and LGBTQ+ folks, together with increasing to help the complete spectrum of reproductive well being care whereas shifting social norms and shutting gaps within the legislation that permit gender-based violence to persist globally.

Fostering Global Cooperation: The multilateral establishments constructed for the earlier planet order have misplaced energy and legitimacy at a time when cross-border challenges like local weather change, synthetic intelligence, and sovereign debt demand international cooperation. The Ford Foundation will work to rebuild efficient multilateralism and help regional coalitions and plurilateral partnerships that make sure the Global South has a seat on the desk.

Advancing Racial Justice: Building on the Ford Foundation’s legacy within the fights for civil rights and in opposition to apartheid, the muse will proceed that custom by establishing a racial justice fund. Ford will deploy devoted workers to help the sphere and combine this work throughout the muse’s whole portfolio. To counter a rising disaster of historic erasure and retreat from trustworthy reckoning, this institution-wide dedication will function throughout the entire Ford Foundation’s grantmaking.

“Our dedication to social justice and to communities which were pushed to the margins, denied equal justice or financial alternative, will stay a throughline throughout all of our areas of labor,” mentioned Gerken. “Those commitments are important to constructing wholesome, vibrant democracies and societies.”

Starting January 2027, program workers throughout the muse will shift to 3 useful items targeted on technique design, transitional grantmaking, and accountable sunsetting of areas of labor.