The Ford Foundation remains uncommitted in naming how it would challenge its position at the philanthropic intersection of capitalism funding and social inequality.
"On January 7th I attended a public talk at The Ford Foundation. The event was billed as an opportunity to learn about how Ford and other foundations are evolving to address inequality and advance social justice. Co-sponsored by the Stanford University Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society (PACS), the event featured a conversation between Ford president Darren Walker and PACS Co-director Rob Reich.
"While bold statements were made, I left the event wondering exactly how Ford and other foundations are evolving to address inequality. In Ford’s first announcement about the turn towards inequality last June, op-eds in the New York Times, and last week’s event Walker eloquently recounts the claims of philanthropy’s most fierce critics: foundations are created through the excesses of capitalism; capitalist markets create inequality; foundations represent the paradox of attempting to address inequality through institutions created from the very systems they claim to change. But how are foundations, and Ford specifically, addressing these problems and contradictions? Unfortunately, the critique is most commonly followed by the age-old individualistic opportunity story, once again distracting us from the very contradiction that funders like Walker now publicly acknowledge. Perhaps Darren Walker is either not interested in or is politically constrained from achieving a bolder agenda."--Erica Kohl-Arenas, HistPhil.org
