Darren Walker

Darren Walker OBE (born August 28, 1959) currently serves as 10th president of the Ford Foundation, a private foundation dedicated to human welfare.

In 1982, he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and a Bachelor of Science in Speech Communication.

Subsequently, in 1986, Walker graduated from the University of Texas School of Law.

Walker began his career in 1986, at the international law firm Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton.

In 1988, he joined Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS) and spent seven years in its capital markets division.

In 1995, Walker left the corporate world to spend a year volunteering at a school in Harlem.

He went on to become the chief operating officer at Abyssinian Development Corporation, a community development organization also located in Harlem.

There, he was able to draw on his private sector experience to advance redevelopment in Harlem, including the opening of a Pathmark supermarket in 1999 at 125th Street and Lexington Avenue.

Also, Walker led the development of the first public school built in New York City by a community organization.

From 2002 to 2010, Walker was vice president for Foundation Initiatives at the Rockefeller Foundation, where he oversaw a wide range of programs in the United States and internationally.

Also, at the Rockefeller Foundation, he led recovery program in the South of the US after Hurricane Katrina.

On July 20, 2006, Judith Rodin, president of the Rockefeller Foundation announced that Walker would be the foundation's United States and international initiatives vice president.

Rodin said: "Darren Walker's leadership has been critical to the Rockefeller Foundation's program strategy development, to advancing some of the Foundation's flagship programs, and, most recently, to our efforts to help break the planning logjam in New Orleans. We're energized by the opportunity to have Darren play a wider role in leading the Foundation."

He took office on August 1, 2006.

At the Rockefeller Foundation, Walker led the foundation's work in the United States and globally - in terms of supporting innovations that built economic development, sustainability and assets of poor and disadvantaged people; while creating long-term strategies that addressed increasing global migration, movements and urbanization.

He also oversaw the foundation's new strategy and vision for New York City, including directing the Rockefeller Foundation's dedicated service in support of the re-building of New Orleans.

Concerning Katrina, Walker reflected that:

"The Hurricane Katrina experience provides a teachable moment to examine our expectations of each other as citizens. We believe that Teachers College has the expertise and experience to translate Spike Lee's masterful film into a curriculum for students to explore issues of race, class, poverty and democracy in America."

On his appointment as vice president, Walker remarked:

He joined the Ford Foundation in 2010 as vice president for Education, Creativity and Free Expression, one of the foundation's three major program areas.

He also oversaw the Ford Foundation's regional programming in four offices based in Africa and the Middle East.

Amongst other achievements, as the Ford Foundation's vice president for Education, Creativity and Free Expression, Walker was a creative and servant leadership driving force behind initiatives such as JustFilms - one of the largest documentary film funds in the world - with the goal of advancing "social justice worldwide through the talent of emerging and established filmmakers"; as well as championing public-private collaborations such as ArtPlace, which supports cultural development in cities and rural areas in the United States.

Walker was also instrumental to saving American Folk Art Museum from going under because of the museum's dire financial straits, declaring that the museum is "a powerful showcase of the American spirit and an important public treasure for the people of our city."

Walker chaired the 2013 Gish Prize selection committee.

Earlier in his career, Walker worked as a lawyer and investment banker.

Walker is a fellow of the Institute for Urban Design, a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and a board member of the Arcus Foundation, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Friends of the High Line, and the Foundation for Art and Preservation in Embassies.

He has been a teacher of housing, law and urban development at the New York University School of Law and the Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service.

He is co-chair of the New York Public Library Council.

He is board of directors vice-chairman at the New York City Ballet.

In 2018, Walker joined the board of directors of the Committee to Protect Journalists.

Walker was born in a charity hospital in Lafayette, Louisiana.

Walker was raised by a single mother, Beulah Spencer, in Ames and later Goose Creek, Texas; and was one of the country's first children to benefit from the Head Start Program.

Walker said that his background gave him "an understanding of the need for investment in human capital and the centrality of private philanthropy making a difference in human lives."

With financial support from a Pell Grant, Walker was admitted to the University of Texas at Austin.

In June 2020, Walker led the Ford Foundation to issue a $1 billion designated social bond to stabilize non-profit organizations in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic.

Walker is a member of the Reimagining New York Commission and co-chair of 2020 New York City Census.

In October 2021, Walker announced that the Ford Foundation will divest its investments from "fossil fuels and seek opportunities to invest in alternative and renewable energy in the future"; including investing in "funds that address the threat of climate change, and support the transition to a green economy."

Before joining the Ford Foundation, Walker was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation and COO of Harlem's Abyssinian Development Corporation.

He 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, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture, Committee to Protect Journalists, Square, PepsiCo, and Ralph Lauren.