The Ford Foundation has unveiled a new democracy strategy, reshaping its grantmaking around the rule of law, trustworthy information and inclusive economies as it responds to rising autocracy, widening inequality and declining public trust.
The plan, announced by the $18 billion foundation, represents its most significant strategic shift since 2015, when former president Darren Walker placed tackling inequality at the centre of its work. The announcement comes less than two weeks before the midterm elections.
Heather Gerken, the foundation’s president, described the change as “an evolution, not a revolution” and said it reflected “this era’s rapidly changing global landscape”.
Ford Foundation to increase grantmaking
The foundation expects to award about $700 million in grants in 2027, with the final figure potentially higher, a spokesperson told the Associated Press. It will also make larger awards, provide more multi-year funding and increase general operating support.
Nicholas Turner, the organisation’s executive vice-president of programmes, said the strategy review had shown that “this unpredictable and volatile period requires much from philanthropy”.
Grantmaking will be organised across seven areas: democratic governance and the rule of law; inclusive economies; information as a public good; safety and justice; gender equality; global co-operation; and racial justice. Strategies for each area will be introduced in stages during 2027.
The foundation will establish a dedicated racial justice fund and broaden its gender equality work to cover the full range of reproductive healthcare. Its work on information will examine how digital tools are designed, introduced and governed.
Some existing grantees will lose funding as programmes are gradually withdrawn. Mr Turner said it was too early to identify which areas would be affected, but promised the foundation would leave them “with respect and grace and care and support”.
Gerken said the foundation’s work on democracy would remain non-partisan, pointing to millions of dollars given this year to organisations defending election results.
“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,” she said.
An independent foundation
Despite its name, the Ford Foundation operates independently of Ford Motor Company. It was established in 1936 by Edsel Ford, Henry Ford’s son, with $25,000 and was intended from the outset to remain separate from the car manufacturer.
After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, the money they left helped make the organisation one of the world’s largest foundations. Henry Ford II later guided it towards greater independence, including appointing trustees from outside the family, moving its headquarters to New York in 1953 and ultimately selling its stake in the motor company.
The foundation is now based in New York and operates 10 overseas offices, supporting more than 2,300 grantees. Its endowment has increased from $13 billion in 2019, when it distributed more than $600 million a year, to $18 billion.
It has historically supported civil rights litigation and helped establish public interest law as a distinct field. The foundation’s latest strategy comes as the Trump administration increases pressure on non-profit organisations, including through proposals concerning the tax-exempt status of colleges and private schools.
