Darren Walker

Darren Walker is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16-billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first non-profit in U.S. history to issue a $1-billion social bond to stabilize non-profit organizations in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

Before joining Ford, Walker was Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem’s largest community development organization.

He co-founded both the U.S. Impact Investing Alliance and the Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy. He serves on many boards, including the National Gallery of Art (President), Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the Obama Foundation, and the Clooney Foundation for Justice. He is also on the corporate boards for Ralph Lauren, Bloomberg Inc., and PepsiCo.

Educated exclusively in public schools, Walker was a member of the first Head Start class in 1965 and received BA, BS, and JD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been included on numerous leadership lists including TIME’s annual 100 Most Influential People and Rolling Stone’s 25 People Shaping the Future, and was The Wall Street Journal 2020 Philanthropy Innovator of the Year. He is the recipient of 16 honorary degrees, including Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. In 2022, he was awarded France’s highest cultural honor, the Commander of the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres, for leadership in the arts. In 2023, he was also appointed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II to the Order of the British Empire for services to UK/US relations. In 2024, President Joe Biden awarded Walker the National Humanities Medal, which honors individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of and engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects.