Ford Foundation

OVERVIEW: The Ford Foundation’s global reach and vast grantmaking interests address inequality, social, gender & racial justice, freedom of expression, civic engagement, disability rights, climate change & the environment, technology, education, and workforce development in the U.S. and abroad.

IP TAKE: Ford has been an iconic and leading supporter of organizations addressing inequality going back over a half century. It remains a must-know funder for any group working to advance social justice in the United States or abroad. Making over 1,500 grants a year, including to many smaller nonprofits, Ford casts its net widely, believing that “justice begins where inequality ends.” In recent years, Ford has been shifting steadily toward offering more general operating support in its main program areas, along with a deeper emphasis on social justice and movement building. With the exception of a handful of open opportunities, this funder does not accept unsolicited applications.

While this is an accessible funder with entry points for grantseekers, Ford can be a tough nut to crack. Grantseekers have complained about proposals “dropping it into a well so deep you never hear it hit the bottom” and about the funder being “unresponsive.” But for those nonprofits that do make the cut, often through deep networking and patience, Ford can be a reliable ally and a source of support for many years. With a new, incoming president at the helm of the Ford Foundation, it remains to be seen what kinds of changes will take hold in the coming months at one of the most watched foundations in the world.

PROFILE: Founded in 1936 by Henry Ford’s son, Edsel Ford, the Ford Foundation is one of the world’s largest and best-known philanthropic organizations. By the late 1940s, the foundation expanded its work to pursue a mission “to reduce poverty and injustice, strengthen democratic values, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement.” It operates an array of national and international programs with the goal of promoting “a world in which all individuals, communities, and peoples work toward the protection and full expression of their human rights; are active participants in the decisions that affect them; share equitably in the knowledge, wealth, and resources of society; and are free to achieve their full potential.”

The Ford Foundation’s stated focus areas are Civic Engagement and Government; Creativity and Free Expression; Disability Rights; Future of Work(ers); Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice; Global Governance; Natural Resources and Climate Justice; Technology and Society; and Mission Investments, which aim to “to develop a more inclusive form of capitalism that prioritizes purpose alongside profit.” A subset of grants across all focus areas are designated as BUILD grants and aim to increase the stability and resilience of social justice organizations. The BUILD program represents a commitment of $2 billion and typically provides grantees with five years of general operations support, along with “targeted organizational strengthening support.”

With 13.1 billion in assets, Ford is a grantmaking powerhouse. Its website offers useful insights into how it conducts grantmaking:

Ford’s work is global in scope, and while the foundation does not place strict limits on where it gives, it does name regions of special interest, where grants work “holistically, aiming to make connections between local efforts and global change so that the whole of our work is more than the sum of its parts.”

Grants for Economic Development and Disabilities

Ford’s Future of Work(ers) program focuses on “ensuring that all workers, regardless of their status, have equal rights to labor protections, that social protections are guaranteed to all, and that workers shape the policies and economic systems that affect their lives.” The foundation situates this work squarely in a context of increasing corporate power over workers and the complicated role of technology in changing labor markets. The foundation names five specific strategies for its grantmaking in this area:

Strengthening the capacity of labor organizations;
Supporting advocacy and organizing for a just and equitable “21st century labor policy;
Collaborating with stakeholders to “bring a worker lens to tech policy and governance”;
Building the “technical capacities or worker organizations” to increase their impact;
Advancing “communications strategies” related to workers’ rights and protections; and
Facilitating collaborations and alignment among groups that “advocate for labor protections with multilateral institutions and investors.”
Past grantees of this program include the Distributed Artificial Intelligence Research Institute, the Jobs with Justice Education Fund, Chief Executives for Corporate Purpose and the NAWI Afrifem Collective, which received funding for its Pan-African Feminist Macroeconomics Collective.

The aim of Ford’s Disability Rights initiative, part of its U.S. Strategy, aims for “disabled people to have greater economic security and realize their rights as a result of the efforts of diverse, coordinated, and empowered disability rights and justice advocates” in several critical areas:

Advancing economic justice for disabled people.
Building effective leaders and networks both within the disability rights movement and within broader social justice movements.
Strengthening the disability field.
Cultivating positive narratives.
As one of Ford’s newer programs, the disability program’s grantmaking has so far been limited to the U.S. Early grants have supported the Steps of Faith Foundation, the United Spinal Association, New Disabled South and Eye to Eye, which works to “improve the educational experience and outcomes of neurodiverse young people.”

Grants for the Environment and Climate Change

The Ford Foundation’s Natural Resources and Climate Justice focus area has recently broadened its scope and aims “to put the people most affected by climate injustice at the center of solutions.” This work is situated within broader, “society-wide” social justice movements and Ford’s commitment to reduce inequalities among people. Current strategies include:

Helping “Indigenous Peoples, Afro-descendant peoples, and rural communities” to secure land and resource rights;
Forging collaboration and alliances among public, private, nonprofit and other stakeholders; and
Supporting justice and equity as the world transitions to renewable energy, including policy related to fossil fuel “phase out” and the adoption of clean energy solutions.
Grantees include the International Institute for Sustainable Development, Mining Affected Communities United in Action, Mozambique’s Justica Ambiental and the Latin American Social Science Council, among many others.

Grants for LGBTQ, Women and Girls, Reproductive Health, Immigrants, Racial and Criminal Justice

Ford’s Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice program — which has two strategies, one for international grantmaking and one for national — aims to address the structural inequalities that affect women, immigrants, people of color and LGBTQ people by supporting organizations that are “engaging in innovative advocacy, forging unexpected alliances, and reframing narratives to represent lived realities.”

Ford’s U.S. Strategy addresses multiple current issues related to gender justice, racial justice, criminal justice and immigration and is dedicated supporting ” the courageous people and organizations at the center of this fight to achieve lasting political and social change.” The U.S. program currently names three areas of focus.
- Grants for immigrant rights support advocacy and communications projects, the diversification of the field and collaborative work toward “an affirmative path toward immigration justice, inclusion, and belonging.”
- Community safety is another priority, with grants targeting community solutions for violence prevention, criminal justice, mental health services and policing.
- Reproductive justice grants focus on bodily autonomy and the expansion and accessibility of reproductive health care. A main priority of current giving is support for organizations advancing reproductive health care and justice in states where there are abortion bans. Other grants support reproductive health policy and strengthening the field through cohesion with other social justice causes and movements.
- U.S. grantees include the Voices of Florida Fund, the National Black Women’s Justice Institute, the Vera Institute of Justice and the National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform.
Ford’s International Strategy focuses on reducing gender-based violence by placing women- and girl-led organizations “at the center of developing solutions.”
- This subprogram’s strategies include developing strong feminist organizational networks in the Global South with BUILD funding, catalyzing engagement and investment in the field, tackling social norms that uphold discrimination against women and girls, and supporting research on gender violence and prevention.
- International grant recipients include the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation, Brazil’s Odara Institute of Black Women, the Transforming Rural India Foundation and Tshwaranang Legal Advocacy Centre to End Violence Against Women, which operates in Malawi, South Africa and Swaziland.

Grants for Community Development, Civic Engagement and Democracy

The Ford Foundation awards grants related to civic engagement and democracy through several of its program areas. Its Civic Engagement and Government focus area works to “protect and help civic spaces thrive to ensure all people have the opportunity to raise their voices, influence decisions, and hold governments to account.”

Its U.S. Strategy works to “build stronger and broader coalitions of people, organizations, and institutions that are committed to reshaping democracy into a ‘bigger we.’” In addition to support for national initiatives for democracy and fair elections, grants work at the state level in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Michigan, Mississippi, Minnesota, New York, and Texas, targeting “rural communities, including working-class and low-income communities, that feel the impact of entrenched inequality.”
The International Strategy aims to “increase and improve civic space by countering negative trends and promoting a positive, tangible understanding of its role” in East Africa, North Africa, Middle East, India, Brazil and Mexico. Grantmaking focuses on region-specific issues such as corruption, government violence and workers’ rights.
Past grantees of the Civic Engagement and Government program include Casa Centroamerica, the Center of Study for Democracy, the Accountability Lab and the Arab Reform Initiative.

Ford’s Technology and Society program area aims to “ensure that the internet and digital technologies are designed and governed to advance social and economic justice.” A main focus of this work is to bring technologists to the table to “ensure that technology advances rather than undermines equality.” Strategies include:

Developing and strengthening the newer area technology in the larger social justice field;
Identifying and supporting the development of technologists and experts who “who blend diverse technical expertise and social justice values.”
Increasing public awareness and donor engagement with the field; and
Supporting research and narrative for “affirmative visions” for the future of technology.
Grantees of this program include the National Digital Inclusion Alliance, the Open Markets Institute, the Paradigm Initiative for Information Technology Development and Arizona State University’s Center for Tribal Digital Sovereignty.

Grants for Journalism, Film, Arts and Culture

The Ford Foundation conducts grantmaking for journalism, the arts and documentary film through its Creativity and Free Expression program. This program seeks to explore “how cultural narratives affect and shape our reality, and how the arts, journalism, and film can contribute to fairer and more just societies.” It supports projects from individuals and organizations that draw attention to underrepresented groups and strengthen marginalized peoples.

A subprogram for The Arts supports organizations led by and for BIPOC communities, women, LGBTQ and disabled people.
The Documentary Filmmaking subprogram houses Just Films, which supports “filmmakers, organizations, and networks that amplify voices and illuminate perspectives often ignored, overlooked, or silenced by culture.”
Ford also supports Journalism that serves the interest of marginalized and underrepresented groups.
Grant recipients of this program include the Brooklyn Museum, the National Association of Black Journalists, URL Media Holdings and many more.

Grants for Global Development and Health, Immigrants and Refugees, Humanitarian Relief

A significant portion of Ford’s grantmaking works across multiple interest areas and intersecting issues and needs.

Ford’s newest grantmaking initiative, the Global Governance program, recognizes inequality, climate change, pandemics and migration as pressing global issues and works toward “bringing together diverse ideas, institutions, and individuals to advance a shared vision for achieving a just and inclusive global order.” In addition to grantmaking, this initiative aims to work with governments and private sector entities to create dialogue and viable solutions. This program pursues the following grantmaking strategies:
- Support for the relief of “unsustainable debt” and a shift to focus on equitable health care and education systems;
- Research and leadership development toward equitable economic change and development;
- Developing new and positive narratives on global governance, collaboration and development; and
- Broad efforts to increase accountability and transparency in governance and shifting power to “those who have been left out of the creation of global economic systems.”
- Early grantees of this program include the Fund for Constitutional Government, Tax Justice Network Africa Limited, the European Network on Debt and Development and the Brookings Institute.
In 2020, the foundation created the $50 million Ford Global Fellowship program, which seeks to end inequality around the world in communities most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. Grant seekers interested in global development should also consider Ford’s programs in Civic Engagement and Government, Gender, Race and Ethnic Justice and Natural Resources and Climate Change for guidance on specific priorities and goals. While the foundation has offices around the world, grant seekers should familiarize themselves with Ford’s geographic restrictions, particularly as they relate to specific programs.

Other Grantmaking Opportunities:

With its new Mission Investments program, Ford joins the ranks of philanthropies “leverag[ing] capital markets to address social problems.” Working globally, Ford’s approach to impact investing involves:
- Investment in the biotech/healthcare infrastructure of the Global South;
- Funding for affordable housing in the U.S.;
- Development of the financial services and technologies sectors in the Global South;
- Galvanizing impact investing in both the U.S. and the Global South; and
- Investment and finance projects that focus on human capital and “quality jobs” for the U.S.
- Ford’s mission investment program does not appear to give directly to enterprises; the program conducts this giving through social impact funds, networks and accelerators. Recipients include the Financial Health Network, Responsible Innovation Labs, Mission Investors Exchange and the Global Steering Group for Impact Investment, among others.

Through its Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative, the Ford Foundation focuses on helping social justice organizations “become stronger and more resilient over time. By providing grantees with five years of general operating support, combined with targeted organizational strengthening support, BUILD aims to equip these organizations with the strategic clarity, people, knowledge, and resources they need to achieve impact and advance systems change over the course of years and decades.”
- This opportunity is only available to current or previous grantees.
- The BUILD developmental evaluation report confirms that multiyear, unrestricted funding combined with dedicated institutional development leads to stronger, more resilient organizations.

Important Grant Details:

Ford awards thousands of grants each year, with grants ranging anywhere from $500 to $15 million, according to the foundation’s grants database.

Ford supports a broad range of organizations of every size, with large, well-known nonprofits and NGOs receiving the largest share. Many grantees receive multi-year support,
Grants tend to center on national and international organizations based in New York, Washington D.C. and major global capitals, but funding also works locally and regionally both in the U.S. and abroad.
General, direct and core support are offered here, as well as project support and individual fellowships across many areas of thematic interest. Note that all grantmaking is conducted via a social justice lens, as per the foundation’s mission.
Ford offers detailed insights into how it makes grants. Of additional interest to grantseekers is CEO Darren Walker’s How can we help you letter.
The Ford Foundation also makes Grants for Individuals through programs including the Ford Global Fellowship and International Fellowships Program.
While the Ford Foundation does not run an open application program, it posts current opportunities on its website and invites grantseekers to sign up for updates at the bottom of the page.
Submit general inquiries to any one of the Ford Foundation’s offices around the world via information provided on the contact page.
The phone number for the foundation’s New York headquarters is (212) 573-5000.

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