Darren Walker

Darren Walker served as President of the Ford Foundation until November 2025. A $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Under his leadership, the Ford Foundation became the first non-profit in US history to issue a $1 billion social bond to stabilise non-profit organisations in the wake of the COVID pandemic.

Before joining Ford, Darren was Vice President at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programmes. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem’s largest community development organisation. Darren co-founded both the US 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’s also on the corporate boards of Ralph Lauren, Bloomberg Inc. and PepsiCo.

Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren 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, Rolling Stone’s 25 People Shaping the Future, and 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 honour, 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 Darren the National Humanities Medal which honours individuals or groups whose work has deepened the nation’s understanding of and engagement with history, literature, languages, philosophy, and other humanities subjects. He is the author of two books: From Generosity to Justice (2016) and The Idea of America published in 2025 by Wiley Press.