The
Roosevelt Institute is a liberal American think tank.[2] According to the
organization, it exists "to carry forward the legacy and values of Franklin and Eleanor
Roosevelt by developing progressive ideas and bold leadership in the service of
restoring America’s promise of opportunity for all."[3] It is headquartered in New York
City.[4] The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the mission of
advancing human welfare.[3][4][5][6] Created in 1936[7] by Edsel Ford and his father Henry
Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford.[4] By 1947, after the
death of the two founders, the foundation owned 90% of the non-voting shares of
the Ford Motor Company. (The Ford family retained the voting shares.[8]) Between 1955
and 1974, the foundation sold its Ford Motor Company holdings and now plays no role
in the automobile company.
Ahead of the foundation selling its Ford Motor Company holdings, in 1949, Henry Ford
II created the Ford Motor Company Fund, a separate corporate foundation that to this
day serves as the philanthropic arm of the Ford Motor Company and is not associated
with the foundation.
The Ford Foundation makes grants through its headquarters and ten international field
offices.[9] For many years, the foundation's financial endowment was the largest private
endowment in the world; it remains among the wealthiest. For fiscal year 2014, it
reported assets of US$12.4 billion and approved US$507.9 million in grants.[2]
[10]
According to the OECD, the Ford Foundation provided US$194 million for
development in 2019, all of which related to its grant-making activities.[11]
Mission[edit]
Ford Foundation Building in New York City
Exterior of the building
Atrium with garden
After its establishment in 1936, Ford Foundation shifted its focus from Michigan
philanthropic support to five areas of action. In the 1950 Report of the Study of the Ford
Foundation on Policy and Program, the trustees set forth five "areas of action,"
according to Richard Magat (2012): economic improvements, education, freedom and
democracy, human behavior, and world peace.[12] These areas of action were identified
in a 1949 report by Horace Rowan Gaither.[13][14]
Since the middle of the 20th century, many of the Ford Foundation's programs have
focused on increased under-represented or "minority" group representation in
education, science and policy-making. For over eight decades their mission decisively
advocates and supports the reduction of poverty and injustice among other values
including the maintenance of democratic values, promoting engagement with other
nations, and sustaining human progress and achievement at home and abroad.[12]
The Ford Foundation is one of the primary foundations offering grants that support and
maintain diversity in higher education with fellowships for pre-doctoral, dissertation, and
post-doctoral scholarship to increase diverse representation among Native Americans,
African Americans, Latin Americans, and other under-represented Asian and Latino
sub-groups throughout the U.S. academic labor market.[15][16] The outcomes of
scholarship by its grantees from the late 20th century through the 21st century have
contributed to substantial data and scholarship including national surveys such as
the Nelson Diversity Surveys in STEM.[17][18][19][20]
History[edit]
The foundation was established January 15, 1936,[4] in Michigan by Edsel Ford
(president of the Ford Motor Company) and two other executives "to receive and
administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public
welfare."[21] During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the
leadership of Ford family members and their associates and supported the Henry Ford
Hospital and the Henry Ford Museum and Greenfield Village, among other
organizations.
After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, the presidency of the
foundation fell to Edsel's eldest son, Henry Ford II. It quickly became clear that the
foundation would become the largest philanthropic organization in the world. The board
of trustees then commissioned the Gaither Study Committee to chart the foundation's
future. The committee, headed by California attorney H. Rowan Gaither, recommended
that the foundation become an international philanthropic organization dedicated to the
advancement of human welfare and "urged the foundation to focus on solving
humankind's most pressing problems, whatever they might be, rather than work in any
particular field...." The report was endorsed by the foundation's board of trustees, and
they subsequently voted to move the foundation to New York City in 1953.[4][22][23] The
Ford Foundation's first international field office opened in 1952 in New Delhi, India.
The board of directors decided to diversify the foundation's portfolio and gradually
divested itself of its substantial Ford Motor Company stock between 1955 and 1974.
[4]
This divestiture allowed Ford Motor to become a public company. Finally, Henry Ford
II resigned from his trustee's role in a surprise move in December 1976. In his
resignation letter, he cited his dissatisfaction with the foundation holding on to their old
programs, large staff and what he saw as anti-capitalist undertones in the foundation's
work.[24][25] In February 2019, Henry Ford III was elected to the Foundation's Board of
Trustees, becoming the first Ford family member to serve on the board since his
grandfather resigned in 1976.[26][27]
For many years, the foundation topped annual lists compiled by the Foundation
Center of US foundations with the most assets and the highest annual giving. The
foundation has fallen a few places in those lists in recent years, especially with the
establishment of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2000. As of May 4, 2013, the
foundation was second in terms of assets[2] and tenth in terms of annual grant giving.[28]
