NEW YORK – The Ford Foundation has settled on its next leader.
Yale Law School Dean Heather Gerken will succeed Darren Walker as the president of one of the largest U.S. charitable organizations, the Ford Foundation announced Monday. A leading expert on constitutional law and democracy, Gerken takes the helm of its $16 billion endowment as the philanthropic sector navigates challenges to the tax-exempt status of nonprofits opposed by President Donald Trump's administration and its sweeping orders targeting trillions of dollars in federal funding for civil society groups.
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“I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working with Ford staff and the board of trustees to protect democracy and the rule of law and further our mission to create a more just and fair world for everyone," Gerken said in a statement.
Gerken brings an extensive legal background that includes voting rights experience at Washington, DC law firm Jenner & Block and clerkships with Supreme Court justices. The Ford Foundation noted that she prioritized increasing access for underrepresented students as the dean of Yale Law School. The American Bar Association appointed her to a task force that aimed to fortify democracy amid threats to election processes. She is also a trustee of Princeton University, where she completed her bachelor’s degree, and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Her tenure begins in November, making good on Walker’s promise to exit the stage by the end of 2025. She called it a “profound honor” to build upon the legacy of those who preceded her, “particularly the astonishing Darren Walker.” Since 2013, Walker has focused the foundation’s mission around social justice and overseen major investments in gender equity and disability rights.
“Her experience and dedication to philanthropy and the field of law will undoubtedly propel the foundation’s mission forward," Walker said in a statement.
The Ford Foundation was created in 1936 by the brothers Henry and Edsel Ford, pioneers of the automobile, and funded with stock in the Ford company. It supported civil rights litigation starting in the late 1960s and helped seed the field of public interest law in the United States.
Then-Sen. J.D. Vance called out the Ford Foundation specifically for supporting progressive causes back before he became vice president, accusing officials of using charitable funds for partisan ends.
Anticipation over who might shape the influential foundation’s priorities only grew in recent months as the Trump administration took aim at the very issues of inequality that Walker had championed. The board of trustees and executive search firm Russell Reynolds Associated began looking for Walker's replacement after he announced his departure last July, according to the Ford Foundation.
Walker was an internal promotion at Ford who honed his financial skills and knowledge of the inner workings of philanthropy at the Abyssinian Development Corp. and Rockefeller Foundation, while Gerken is an outside hire from the world of academia. Politico featured her in a 2017 list of the people behind ideas shaping American politics. The magazine highlighted her long push for “progressive federalism,” or the idea that democracies should empower local governments to pursue innovative social reforms.
Support for Gerken's selection came Monday from scholars, nonprofit leaders and legal professionals who, in statements shared by the Ford Foundation, touted her clear-eyed approach to upholding civil rights, sharp thinking around safeguarding democratic norms and ability to find common ground.
“In a moment when constitutional democracy needs urgent attention and engagement, I cannot imagine a better president for the Ford Foundation,” said Princeton University President Christopher L. Eisgruber.
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