Ford Foundation

Mission

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.

Created with gifts and bequests by Edsel and Henry Ford, the Foundation is an independent organization, with its own board, and is entirely separate from the Ford Motor Company.

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. We believe that the best way to meet this challenge is to encourage initiatives by those living and working closest to where problems are located; to promote collaboration among the nonprofit, government and business sectors; and to ensure participation by men and women from diverse communities and at all levels of society. In our experience, such activities help build common understanding, enhance excellence, enable people to improve their lives and reinforce their commitment to society.

The Ford Foundation is one source of support for these activities. We work mainly by making grants or loans that build knowledge and strengthen organizations and networks. Since our financial resources are modest in comparison with societal needs, we focus on a limited number of problem areas and program strategies within our broad goals.

Since its inception it has been an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization. The trustees of the foundation set policy and delegate authority to the president and senior staff for the foundation’s grant making and operations. Program officers in the United States, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Russia explore opportunities to pursue the foundation’s goals, ormulate strategies and recommend proposals for funding.

History

The Ford Foundation was chartered on January 15 th, 1936 by Edsel Ford and two Ford Motor Company executives “to receive and administer funds for scientific, educational and charitable purposes, all for the public welfare.” During its early years, the foundation operated in Michigan under the leadership of Ford family members and their associates.

After the deaths of Edsel Ford in 1943 and Henry Ford in 1947, it became clear that the non-voting stock of the Ford Motor Company they bequeathed to the Ford Foundation would create the largest philanthropy in the world. In response, the foundation’s board of trustees, led by the chairman, Henry Ford II, commissioned studies to chart the institution’s future.

The Gaither Study Committee, headed by future president H. Rowan Gaither, was convened in this process and produced the report the board ultimately embraced. After thorough board review and discussion of the report in 1949, a summary was published and distributed to the public in 1950. It recommended support for activities worldwide that:

Promise significant contributions to world peace and the establishment of a world order of law and justice;
Secure greater allegiance to the basic principles of freedom and democracy in the solution of the insistent problems of an ever-changing society;
Advance the economic well being of people everywhere and improve economic institutions for the better realization of democratic goals;
Strengthen, expand and improve educational facilities and methods to enable individuals more fully to realize their intellectual, civic, and spiritual potentialities; to promote greater equality of educational opportunity; and to conserve and increase knowledge and enrich our culture; and
Through scientific work, increase knowledge of factors which influence or determine human conduct, and extend such knowledge for the maximum benefit of individuals and society.
The report also recommended that the foundation operate under the general guidance of the trustees, with the president and staff officers having a high degree of discretion and the flexibility necessary to respond to unforeseen issues and new opportunities.

In 1953, the trustees decided to locate the foundation in New York. The foundation leased space in the city until 1967, when construction of a new headquarters building was completed. Diversification of the foundation’s portfolio was discussed as early as 1949 and divestment of the Ford Motor Company stock occurred between 1955 and 1974. Three Ford family members served as foundation trustees at different times, the last leaving the board in 1976.

Today the foundation remains a national and international foundation with headquarters in New York City and offices in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Latin America and Russia. The foundation’s trustees, drawn from the United States, Africa, Asia, and Latin America, bring experience in business, government and the civic sector. Grants and program-related investments support activities in the United States and approximately 50 other countries. To this day, the program areas of the foundation advance the goals outlined in the Gaither Committee report.
To learn more about the Ford family history, visit The Henry Ford , a museum dedicated to the life and work of Henry Ford.

Governance

The Ford Foundation is governed currently by a board of 13 trustees–10 from the United States and three who are citizens of other countries around the world. The trustees, as a board or through board committees, set policies relating to spending, management, governance, professional standards, investment, grant making and geographic focus. They also oversee the internal and external auditors, represent the foundation before the public, select the president, and review the performance and set the compensation of all of the officers.

The board generally does not approve grants. It delegates that authority to the president and other staff, and then reviews the approved actions at regular board meetings. The trustees meet three times a year for two days and travel for an additional period each year to meet grant recipients and see their work at first hand. A five-person executive committee works with the foundation’s officers and acts in the stead of the board between board meetings. The full board’s meetings involve committee and plenary sessions, often including discussions with grantees or other guests.

Currently, all trustees other than the president are independent under the board-approved definition of “independence.” By the terms of the committee charters, all members of the Membership Committee (a nominating committee) must be independent and all members of the Audit Committee (which also serves as a compensation committee) must satisfy a “super independence” standard.

Board of Trustees

Global Office

Our 12 offices in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Russia enable staff to address problems by supporting those living and working closest to them. Since 1950, in order to be near the people and organizations we support, the Ford Foundation has maintained overseas offices staffed by a mix of local and foreign nationals. About half of our staff are in New York and the rest are overseas. We generally remain in locations outside the United States for an extended period, making grants to people who are running innovative programs in their own societies. Some Ford offices make grants in just one country and others work in several.

Programmes and Interventions : Delhi Office

Programs in this Office

The Foundation has been privileged to have participated in the remarkable progress and achievements made by India and the South Asian region during the past fifty years. It also shares in the subcontinent’s continuing concerns. Despite significant economic growth and technological advancement, large numbers of people continue to live in absolute poverty. Furthermore, persistent inequities in access to resources and services, heightened conflicts and incidence of violence, growing social and cultural alienation, and continued deterioration of the natural resource base are among the elements of this development paradox.

In responding to these challenges, the Foundation is guided by the fundamental belief in the importance of encouraging solutions through the initiative of those living and working closest to where the problems are. The Foundation also strongly believes in the value of ensuring the participation of women and men from diverse communities, from different sectors and at all levels of society. Grant-making in all programs attempts to primarily serve the historically disadvantaged, particularly those among the poorest of the population. Strategies, approaches and projects are designed to especially benefit the most opportunities. Women, dalits, adivasis and issues that affect them are at the core of Foundation programs. The Foundation’s priorities are to support grassroots organizations, citizens’ groups and social movements that work to uplift and empower the poor. The Foundation also supports government agencies, civil society, academic and research institutions, and advocacy organizations.

The Foundation organizes its grant-making around three major programs:

• Asset Building and Community Development
  
• Peace and Social Justice, and
  
• Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom.

Each major program is, in turn, organized along fields and initiatives. In some cases, individual fields also respond to unique grant-making opportunities that may not directly relate to initiatives but promise significant scope for innovation and learning. \

Asset Building and Community Development

There are an estimated 300 million people living below the poverty line in South Asia. One of the leading causes of poverty is the lack of assets – financial, physical, natural, human and social. A lack of assets is the main reason for the vulnerability of the poor and their inability to cope with unforeseen circumstances. Access to assets can enable people to raise incomes and improve living standards.

The Ford Foundation’s Asset Building and Community Development program supports efforts by individuals and organizations to build a bundle of assets in ways that reduce poverty, discrimination and injustice. As durable resources, these assets are transferable across generations and provide a basis for enduring solutions for problems of persistent poverty.

The Foundation supports efforts towards asset creation by:

Promoting more equitable, productive and sustainable management of natural resources and
Creating economic opportunities, improving livelihoods and developing financial institutions responsive to the needs of poor and disadvantaged people.
Better management of natural resources is promoted by greater access to common property resources, more equitable use, greater benefits through local value addition and more sustainable management.

Peace and Social Justice

Enormous changes have taken place worldwide during the last decade. Innovations in technology and communications have revolutionized people’s abilities to share and exchange information and ideas across continents. Globalization and integration of the world’s economies have wrought significant changes in people’s working lives. Ethnic, social and geo-political shifts have rewritten geographic boundaries and transformed relations between and among countries.

Despite increased communication and information exchanges, social and ethnic conflict and political violence continue to remain pervasive across the subcontinent. Vast numbers of people continue to live in extreme poverty lacking access to basic resources like food, water and land. Women of particular ethnic or religious groups continue to experience discrimination and large scale human rights violations are committed by state and non-state actors with impunity. Many also do not have access to basic services, including those necessary for their reproductive and sexual health.

The challenges posed by this highly dynamic, complex and uncertain environment guide the Foundation’s efforts in Peace and Social Justice. Programs in this area work towards:

• Fostering effective, open, accountable, and responsive governmental institutions to secure the rule of law and the narrowing of inequality;
  
• Strengthening civil society through broader participation of individuals and civic organizations in charting the future;
  
• Supporting regional and international cooperation toward a more peaceful and equitable international order based on tolerance among diverse people;
  
• Promoting justice and ensuring the protection of human rights with a special emphasis on the assertion and protection of the rights of women.

Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom

The New Delhi office’s Education, Arts and Culture Program is part of the larger unit called Knowledge, Creativity and Freedom which aims to build knowledge, encourage creativity, and secure greater freedom of expression for all peoples, especially the poor, women and minorities. In the new global context created by increasing trans-national flow of goods, peoples, technologies, information, ideas, and images, this Program seeks to nurture the freedom to think creatively and innovatively, and to strengthen institutional and individual capacities to produce knowledge equitably and democratically. Our grant making in this area is based on our belief that knowledge and creativity are central to the richness of people’s lives and the progress of communities, and reiterates our long-term commitment to strengthening endangered historical, cultural, and artistic resources that form the living fabric of socially marginalized and economically disadvantaged groups. The Program also affirms the importance of the freedom to think and act critically, innovatively and responsibly in facilitating the creation and maintenance of just and plural societies.

The Program works towards :

• Enhancing individual and institutional capacities in the social sciences and the humanities to access and shape global knowledge-production;
  
• Improving and expanding opportunities for higher education, especially for historically excluded groups, and supporting scholarship and research that deepens our understanding of marginalization and discrimination;
  
• Strengthening the academic presence of arts and culture disciplines in institutions of higher learning, as well as fostering the use of the arts to improve the curriculum, instruction, student motivation, and student achievement in schools;
  
• Promoting pluralistic artistic expression in public arenas, especially in schools and colleges.

Guidelines and Application Procedures

How to apply for a grant
The Foundation does not have a standard application form. Applicants are encouraged to write a letter of inquiry to the appropriate Program Officer to determine whether the Foundation’s current program priorities and available funds permit consideration of a specific proposal. If the initial reaction is favorable, a detailed proposal may be invited containing the following:

1. Background information of the organization (name, address, history, legal status, principal officers, principal sources of funding and current activities).

2. Brief narrative of the background and context of the problem or opportunities being addressed by the proposal.

3. Overall goal, specific objective and rationale of the proposal.

4. Description of the activities to be funded, including staff and timing, and links between these and the work of other organizations.

5. Description of the methods that will be used or developed.

6. Anticipated outcomes and achievements, including impact on the target group, and how this impact will be evaluated.

7. Detailed budget, including expected funds from other sources.

The Foundation supports diversity and affirmative action goals in its grant-making and internal policies. The opportunities that prospective grantee organizations provide for minorities, disadvantaged groups and women are considered in evaluating grant proposals. A full statement of minority representation and a numerical profile of staff and governing board members by gender with designation and institutional affiliation should be included in the proposal. Applications are considered throughout the year. Normally, applicants may expect to receive within a month an initial indication of whether their proposals are within the Foundation’s program interests and budgetary limitations.

Eligibility
Any legally constituted organization or individual is eligible to receive a Foundation grant. Grants are available solely for educational, scientific, literary and charitable activities, as stipulated by United States tax laws regulating the operation of private philanthropies.

Types of grants
Most of the Foundation’s grant funds are given to organizations, including universities, governmental agencies and non-governmental organizations. Grants can be made for specific projects or for general support of an organization whose work closely parallels the Foundation’s program interests. Grants to individuals are rarely given and are limited to activities related to the Foundation’s program interests that cannot be funded by a grant to an organization.

The Foundation does not award undergraduate or graduate scholarships or make grants for purely personal or local needs. As a general rule, the Foundation does not support individual study tours or attendance at conferences. All grants are made on the basis of the merit of the proposals and their potential contribution to the advancement of the Foundation’s program objectives.

Government approval
The Foundation’s activities in India are governed by a memorandum of understanding signed with the Government of India. Under the terms of this memorandum, prior approval of the Government of India is necessary before a grant can be made to an individual or organization within India.

On occasion, permission from the relevant state government is also required. Normally, institutions with a Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA) number receive clearance within 30 days. However, institutions without an FCRA number are required to apply for "Prior Permission" and this procedure usually takes three months or more. delays beyond the prescribed period cannot be ruled out.

Mr. Vivek Mansukhani
Director – IFP
United States Educational
Foundation in India
Fullbright House
12, Hailey Road
New Delhi – 110 001

Initiatives and Partnerships

Contact
New Delhi

About this Office

At the invitation of Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru the Foundation established an office in India in 1952. It was the Foundation's first program outside the United States, and remains the largest of its overseas field operations. Through its office in New Delhi, the foundation also serves Nepal and Sri Lanka.
During the first two decades, the Foundation operated both as grant-making organization and an implementing agency, and focused primarily on agricultural and rural development. It maintained a large staff that provided technical assistance and implemented many projects directly. Since 1972, the Foundation had functioned mainly as a grant-making institution and providing funds to academic institutions and research organizations, government agencies and non-government entities.

The Foundation's program of support has evolved in response to changing needs and priorities. Over the past five decades, the Foundation has made major commitments in the areas agriculture and rural development, forest and natural resource management, reproductive health, livelihoods, human rights, governance, education and culture, religion cooperation and security and the promotion of in-country philanthropy. Grants in these fields have been designed to strengthen individual and institutional capabilities, support innovative concepts and approaches, and promote generation and sharing of knowledge.

The New Delhi office is headed by a Representative who is assisted by a group of internationally recruited program staff. This team of professionals seeks out promising opportunities in areas of program priority. Grant applications are carefully evaluated by the program staff who work with perspective partners to develop projects and recommend grants for funding. Grants are not normally given to individual scholarships, travel or study abroad, or for the construction and maintenance of buildings.

Since its establishment in 1952, the New Delhi office has made 3,640 grants totaling around $502 million to more than 1200 institutions. These grants include support for organizations in Nepal and Sri Lanka whose work contributes to the solution of problems within the region. The present annual program budget of the New Delhi office is around $15 million.

• Ganesan Balachander
  Representative
• Ravina Aggarwal
  Program Officer
• Roshmi Goswami
  Program Officer
• Ajit Kanitkar
  Program Officer
• Bishnu Mohapatra
  Program Officer
• Vanita Nayak Mukherjee
  Program Officer
• Vasant Saberwal
  Program Officer

Contact Info:

Ford Foundation
55 Lodi Estate
New Delhi 110 003, India

tel. 91-11-2461-9441
fax 91-11-2462-7147
ford-delhi@fordfound.org