F or d F oundation Annual Repor Ford Foundation 320 East 43rd Street New York, New York 10017 USA 212-573-5000 t www.fordfound.org 200 4 Ford Foundation Annual Report 2004 On the Cover After earning her master's degree in development studies at Brandeis University, Bibiana Bangpouri, left, a Ford Foundation International Fellow, has returned to her home in northern Ghana to help people there improve their lives. Cover:Wendy Stone/Corbis Communications In pursuit of its mission around the world, the Ford Foundation’s grant-making activities generate ideas as well as social change. The list is long. A few examples are: constructive ways to promote more democratic societies; new ideas for education reform; and innovative approaches to improving the lives of the poor. The O≤ce of Communications’goal is to make sure the best of these ideas are What are the widely shared. president’s role and In this regard, the o≤ce serves a strategic communications role by broadening public responsibilities? awareness of major foundation programs, the issues they address and the results p. 2 of this work. Communications sta≠ are a resource for journalists,giving them information about How have the the foundation and making available the expertise of our program sta≠. The o≤ce foundation’s goals also works with program o≤cers to develop communications plans to inform public evolved? debate and to help grantees strengthen their own communications e≠orts. p. 4 The Ford Foundation Report, an award-winning quarterly magazine, takes a What is the journalistic approach to issues and events related to the foundation and its grantees. role of the board Each issue reaches some 50,000 readers in the United States and around the world. of trustees? The o≤ce also produces the foundation’s annual report, a fundamental document p. 6 of its public accountability, and works with program sta≠ to develop publications related to foundation-supported projects. How do the All of this is available on the foundation’s Web site at www.fordfound.org,along with trustees govern news announcements, guidelines for grant seekers, information on the foundation’s the foundation? overseas o≤ces and listings of recent grants. The Web site is now the primary source p. 9 of information about foundation grants and averages nearly 1.5 million visitors a year. Information is available in five languages in addition to English. Why are we a global foundation? To request publications or to be placed on the O≤ce of Communications’mailing p. 14 list, visit the Web site or write to: Ford Foundation, O≤ce of Communications, Dept. A, How does the 320 East 43rd Street, New York,N.Y.10017 U.S.A. foundation decide what to support? p. 23 How is a grant selected and made? p. 57 How does Ford monitor grants? p. 101 Annual Report design: Design per se, New York Ford Foundation Annual Report 2004 President’s Letter 3 The Foundation’s Mission 5 Trustees and O≤cers 7 Sta≠ 10 Worldwide O≤ces 15 Strengthening the Nonprofit Sector 16 Ford Foundation by the Numbers 18 Asset Building and Community Development 25 Grants and Projects, Fiscal Year 2004 Economic Development 27 Community and Resource Development 37 Programwide 55 Program-Related Investments 56 Peace and Social Justice 59 Grants and Projects, Fiscal Year 2004 Human Rights 61 Governance and Civil Society 79 Programwide 99 Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom 103 Grants and Projects, Fiscal Year 2004 Education, Sexuality, Religion 105 Media, Arts and Culture 120 Programwide 132 Foundationwide Actions 133 Good Neighbor Grants 135 International Fellowships Program 137 Leadership for a Changing World 143 Financial Review 151 Index 165 Credits 180 Guidelines for Grant Seekers 181 Communications inside back cover The president is a member of the board of trustees and is responsible for implementing policy set by the board, overseeing the founda- tion’s program and operations and representing the foundation to the public. I have worked at the foundation for more than 30 years, beginning as a research assistant and going on to hold a succession of jobs related to the foundation’s U.S. and international work. Since I became president in April 1996, my priorities have been to support ambitious programs fostering What are the democratic values, economic well-being, peace, cultural expression and educational president’s achievement. We have worked to create partner- ships with grantees that emphasize joint learn- role and ing and reflection. We have made it a priority to communicate what we are learning to broad responsibilities? audiences, and to build a sta≠ with diverse backgrounds and skills. As our assets have grown, another priority has been to put significant resources behind promising ideas. The largest of these is the International Fellowships Program. Over 12 years it will enable 3,300 talented community leaders outside the United States—who would other- wise have no possibility of pursuing graduate study—to spend up to three years at any university in the world. This is a $280-million investment in local leaders from disadvantaged communities who could later emerge on the national, regional or world stage. In addition to overseeing Ford’s operations, I spend time with people in other organizations concerned with public issues on which the foundation works. I try to understand di≠erent perspectives on these issues and to continually examine what Ford is doing, how we might do it better and what we might do in the future. I also spend time on a variety of e≠orts to strengthen philanthropy’s performance, legal compliance and transparency. ford foundation annual report 2004 3 President’s Letter This annual report presents the Ford Foundation’s governance, administration, investment management and worldwide grant making for 2004. Our e≠orts and resources support idealistic men and women pursuing justice and demo- cratic values, freedom and security,opportunity and human dignity. Throughout the report—on each rust-colored page—you will find questions and answers that explain how the foundation’s trustees and sta≠ go about this work. In 2004 the U.S. nonprofit community, including foundations, was the subject of Congressional discussions about the best ways to provide oversight for this growing and increasingly important sector. (Our own governance policies and practices can be found at www.fordfound.org.) As those discussions proceed, the Ford Foundation will continue to be a resource to policy makers. We o≠er the perspective of a large foundation working both in the United States and overseas, dedicated to humane values and to innovations that can reduce human su≠ering and promote fairness and freedom worldwide. In 2004 Paul Allaire left the foundation’s board after seven years of service as a trustee, including four years of distinguished leadership as Chair of the board. I am deeply grateful to him for his clear thinking and warmth, his vigorous engagement with all aspects of Ford’s work globally and his wise guidance as Ford addressed a variety of challenges. Kathryn Fuller succeeded Paul as Chair of our board, and she brings extensive experience in govern- ment and global civil society,excellence in leadership and knowledge of Ford’s grant-making priorities and programs around the world. Susan V.Berresford President The Ford Foundation was established by Henry Ford in 1936 with an initial gift of $25,000. During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the leadership of the Ford family. Since its charter stated that its resources should be used “all for the public welfare,” the foundation made grants to many di≠erent kinds of organizations. After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry in 1947, their bequests of Ford Motor Company stock significantly expanded the foundation’s holdings and income available How have the for grant making. This led the Ford family to appoint H. Rowan Gaither, a San Francisco lawyer, foundation’s to lead a seven-man team of experts to chart a new course for the future. The team’s report, goals evolved? approved in 1950 by the foundation’s trustees, who included members of the Ford family, recommended that the foundation become a national and international philanthropy dedi- cated to the advancement of human welfare. Perhaps most significant, the foundation declared its intention to focus on solving humankind’s most pressing problems, whatever they might be, rather than to work in any particular field, which was the more traditional and accepted approach for foundations. The report set forth five broad program areas: the establishment of peace, the strengthening of democracy, the strengthening of the economy, education in a democratic society, and individual behavior and human relations. Since then, Ford’s grant making has followed the broad goals articulated by the Gaither team. Its report noted that the board should be free to change its goals should other needs arise. The foundation’s funds have come from growth in the original investment and later conversion of these holdings to a diversified portfolio, now managed as described in the Financial Review, which begins on page 151. In 1993, in response to trustee suggestions that the foundation create a mission statement outlining the foundation’s goals and the values that guide its work, trustees and sta≠ together crafted the document opposite. ford foundation annual report 2004 5 Mission Statement The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Our goals are to: Strengthen democratic values, Reduce poverty and injustice, Promote international cooperation and Advance human achievement. This has been our purpose for more than half a century. A fundamental challenge facing every society is to create political, economic and social systems that promote peace, human welfare and the sustainability of the environment on which life depends.