(image from fordfoundation.org)
The Ford Foundation in New York City unveiled a new strategic direction to support what its leaders called the preconditions necessary for democracies to thrive. The foundation will refocus its institutional mission to protect and strengthen democratic values, fundamental freedoms, and inclusive economies worldwide, so people are empowered to shape their futures.
Developed in response to what foundation officials called unprecedented geopolitical, economic, and societal factors of this moment, the new strategy is intended to protect and strengthen the core principles that sustain democracy and the rule of law.
The foundation reported total assets of $17.5 billion, revenue of $1.15 billion and expenses of $1.04 billion during FY 2025. Annual grantmaking and other gifts average just short of $1 billion at $973 million to approximately 2,000 grantees.
The transition comes one year after Heather Gerken was appointed the foundation’s 11th president. The strategy features 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 strategies for each area will be launched and implemented on a rolling basis during the course of 2027. This will be the first strategic refresh of the foundation’s areas of work in more a decade. Starting January 2027, program staff across the foundation will shift to three functional units focused on strategy design, transitional grantmaking, and responsible sunsetting of areas of work. It will allow program staff to develop full strategies quickly while ensuring ongoing grantmaking continues.
The public report, “How We Meet This Moment,” outlines the strategy and its development and reflects on Ford’s history in critical moments alongside its current work. Senior leaders at the foundation conducted the review, in partnership with staff and experts across the sector, to set the course for the foundation’s next chapter.
“The Ford Foundation’s new vision is an evolution, not a revolution, of our work, and a reflection of this era’s rapidly changing global landscape,” Gerken said via a statement.
The seven new funding areas address what foundation leaders describe as the necessary preconditions for democracy in a period marked by growing autocracy, intensifying inequality, and the overall erosion of public trust. Following are descriptions of the initiatives provided by the foundation.
Protecting Democratic Governance and the Rule of Law: The Ford Foundation will work to ensure democracy lives up to its promise and that people and communities are able to shape the policies that affect their lives. This depends on the rule of law, vibrant democratic representation, civil rights and civil liberties, and effective governance to bring people back into the political process, restore trust in government, and rebuild governing institutions that have been dismantled or degraded.
Building Just and Inclusive Economies: Severe economic inequality is both a product of democratic decline and a force that accelerates it. The Ford Foundation will prioritize approaches that create fairer economic rules, advance opportunities for people with disabilities, and help workers and marginalized communities adapt to fast-changing realities, while addressing the concentration of economic power that leaves too many behind.
Defending Information as a Public Good: A healthy democracy requires an informed citizenry, and the erosion of shared, trustworthy information has undermined public faith in government itself. The Ford Foundation will defend an information and media environment to strengthen rather than undermine democracy. The strategy will work to change how digital technologies are designed, deployed, and governed so they serve the public good.
Securing Safety, Justice, and Fairness: There is strong public support for a pragmatic approach to safety and justice that moves beyond the false binary of tough-on-crime versus soft. The Ford Foundation will advance solutions that keep communities safe, reduce criminalization and incarceration, and ensure people receive the support and justice they need and deserve.
Accelerating Gender Equality: Democratic backsliding has gone hand in hand with attacks on gender equality worldwide, depriving many of the basic dignity and essential freedom to build stable, meaningful lives. The Ford Foundation will protect the rights and autonomy of women and LGBTQ+ people, including expanding to support the full spectrum of reproductive health care while shifting social norms and closing gaps in the law that allow gender-based violence to persist globally.
Fostering Global Cooperation: The multilateral institutions built for the previous world order have lost power and legitimacy at a time when cross-border challenges like climate change, artificial intelligence, and sovereign debt demand global cooperation. The Ford Foundation will work to rebuild effective multilateralism and support regional coalitions and plurilateral partnerships that ensure the Global South has a seat at the table.
Advancing Racial Justice: Building on the Ford Foundation’s legacy in the fights for civil rights and against apartheid, the foundation will continue that tradition by establishing a racial justice fund. Ford will deploy dedicated staff to support the field and integrate this work across the foundation’s entire portfolio. To counter a growing crisis of historic erasure and retreat from honest reckoning, this institution-wide commitment will operate across all of the Ford Foundation’s grantmaking.
“Our commitment to social justice and to communities that have been pushed to the margins, denied equal justice or economic opportunity, will remain a throughline across all of our areas of work,” said Gerken. “Those commitments are essential to building healthy, vibrant democracies and societies.”
Starting January 2027, program staff across the foundation will shift to three functional units focused on strategy design, transitional grantmaking, and responsible sunsetting of areas of work.
