Working with Visionaries
September 18, 2009
One year ago, I wrote about an urgency taking hold in our nation and in the world, an urgency caused in part by the deep global recession which defined the last year but more fundamentally rooted in the longstanding challenges of governing systems that discourage full participation and oversight by citizens; in education systems that remain vastly unequal and inadequate to people's needs; in economic conditions that block opportunity; and in the ongoing denial of human rights.
A year later, I can report that the Ford Foundation has responded to that "urgency of now" by focusing its work on a set of core issues that we—and the visionary people and organizations we support—believe offer pathways to lasting social change.
These core issues affirm our mission and build on our past. They also reflect optimism about the future and a conviction that visionary people on the frontlines of change around the world have greater opportunities today to bring about social justice.
We are in the midst of a new cultural moment. The increasing movement of people, and the growing technology-driven connections between people, are bringing the capacity to engage with the world to even the smallest communities in the most remote locations. This new era of interconnectedness has brought a level of transparency never before seen. Every citizen is a witness and can testify via his or her cell phone.
The global economic crisis is also changing the world around us. Long-held assumptions about how economies function have been upended, and failures in the financial system have undermined people's ability to meet their basic needs, putting the security of home, food and health at risk. The economic dislocation of the last year has mobilized people to question basic assumptions about the role and efficacy of government.
These economic challenges, combined with the opportunities that technology offers for people to connect in dynamic and original ways, are reshaping how individuals and communities engage with each other and institutions that affect their lives. In this new era of engagement an enormous opportunity has emerged for those seeking greater social justice.
The Ford Foundation and its grantees are prepared to act on that opportunity. This report focuses on the initiatives that define our path forward and respond to the issues facing our societies. These initiatives are grounded in respect for the universality of human rights and the rule of law. They are animated by people who believe it is the responsibility of citizens to hold governments accountable. And they are designed to help achieve outcomes that respond to people's needs, protect the full spectrum of their rights, and ensure that quality education and other pathways to opportunity are available to everyone.
We take enormous pride in our commitment to the visionary people who are seizing this moment and the promise it represents. With renewed focus and a shared optimism about what is possible, the Ford Foundation will be there to support them as they aspire to the fairness, freedom, opportunity, and human dignity in which we all believe.
These aspirations lie at the heart of the Ford Foundation's new initiatives. We believe that our strategic philanthropic giving can help enable people to take on the entrenched cultural barriers and power structures that hold them back from reaching their full potential.
Sincerely,
Luis A. Ubiñas
President
Ford Foundation