Stories

For centuries, cultures across the world have recognized the fluidity of gender and celebrated gender nonconformity. To advance justice and truly achieve equality, we need to understand the systems and structures throughout history that have boxed people into false binaries and expand our definition of gender.

BUILD started as an experiment to reimagine philanthropy and has become our most impactful grantmaking to date. Our hypothesis that nonprofits would thrive with longer, larger, and more flexible grants had not only been proven—it defied our expectations. We share what we've learned so far in a new report.

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.

What does it take to advance justice around the world? Leaders unafraid to take on the challenges ahead. More than a year into the Ford Global Fellowship, we reflect on what we’ve learned from our Ford Global Fellows on how to help leaders survive—and thrive—during this historical moment.

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.

A powerful alliance of Indigenous peoples and local communities are showing the world a path to environmental justice with the best technology for carbon capture—their forests.

In Guatemala, Indigenous and local groups have proven that when they manage forests, it cuts emissions that contribute to climate change and strengthens the local economy—a model for countries around the world. Can this forest concession system survive forces trying to silence their achievements?

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.

We talk to Giselle Leung from the Global Impact Investing Network, about how investors are playing a key role in the response to COVID-19, and promoting equity in the process.

​As America faces a pandemic of pandemics, the very idea of democracy is being tested. As the country mourns and works to move forward, President Darren Walker makes the case for moral leadership to reimagine a future grounded in equality and justice for all.

Extracting natural resources can exacerbate climate change, but it can also lead people to develop disabilities. Around the world, there are movements led by people with disabilities emerging, proving powerful partners in the fight to protect the planet. Connecting environmental justice to disability rights is vital, but it’s just beginning.

In the wake of recent killings of black and brown people at the hands of police during COVID-19, Ford’s Tanya Coke and Nicolette Naylor pay tribute to two important holidays this week that symbolize the global movements of black resistance across the diaspora, the progress made globally and the work that still remains in the fight for racial equality.

The world has been confronted with a confluence of crises, but the economic realities brought on by COVID-19 threaten the very survival of the organizations on the frontlines, the nonprofits fighting for justice and tirelessly working toward a just, equitable recovery. Reflecting on this unprecedented moment, President Darren Walker explains why extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures, starting with a bold step from philanthropy.

COVID-19 has presented the world with an unparalleled situation.

As COVID-19 spreads globally, women and girls are shouldering the brunt, left vulnerable to violence and economic insecurity and carrying the majority of the burden at home. Ford's Nicolette Naylor, along with Jess Tomlin and Jessica Houssain of grantee Equality Fund, explain why the fight for gender equality doesn’t stop during a pandemic but is more critical than ever.

Hilary Pennington announces the philanthropy pledge, a partnership with the Ford Foundation and more than 40 organizations to urge philanthropies everywhere to commit to more flexible funding to support nonprofits navigate the impacts of COVID-19.

President Darren Walker talks about the sacrifice, struggle and the need to embrace urgency to move forward in 2020 and bring the world closer to justice.

Advances in emerging media are swiftly reshaping the landscape of storytelling, at a level and pace unseen since the invention of the moving image.

The Ford Foundation has a rich history of supporting scholarships and fellowships that have a focus on social justice, including our International Fellowships Program.

China's growing relationship with and participation in the Global South raises questions about the role of gender and sexuality issues in foreign aid, investment, and development in the region. 

While millennials are concerned about what’s going on in the world today, somehow HIV/AIDS, a disease that intersects with issues like LGBT rights, mass incarceration, gender equality, and war, has fallen off their radar.

Reflecting on the International AIDS Conference in Durban, Delane Kalembo speaks to the role that religious leaders and faith-based organizations play in turning the tide on HIV in Africa.

The global inequality of opportunity is what's driving the current migration crisis.

There is a close link between child marriage and the spread of HIV/AIDS in Africa. Yet the interventions designed to respond to these two issues are often not integrated. 

Twitter conversation with Nigerian actress and award-winning filmmaker Stephanie Okereke Linus about her film, Dry.

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.

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.

Lessons learned from Nigeria's election.