[[Edsel Ford]] | [[Henry Ford]] | [[Louise Brown]] | [[John J. McCloy]] | [[1930s]] | [[United States of America|USA]] ## Mission After its establishment in 1936, the Ford Foundation shifted its focus from Michigan philanthropic support to five areas of action. In the 1950 _Report of the Study of the Ford Foundation on Policy and Program_, the trustees set forth five "areas of action," according to Richard Magat (2012): economic improvements, education, freedom and democracy, human behavior, and world peace. These areas of action were identified in a 1949 report by [Horace Rowan Gaither](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horace_Rowan_Gaither "Horace Rowan Gaither"). Since the middle of the 20th century, many of the Ford Foundation's programs have focused on increased under-represented or "minority" group representation in education, science and policy-making. For over eight decades their mission decisively advocates and supports the reduction of poverty and injustice among other values including the maintenance of democratic values, promoting engagement with other nations, and sustaining human progress and achievement at home and abroad. The Ford Foundation is one of the primary foundations offering grants that support and maintain diversity in higher education with fellowships for pre-doctoral, dissertation, and post-doctoral scholarship to increase diverse representation among Native Americans, African Americans, Latin Americans, and other under-represented Asian and Latino sub-groups throughout the U.S. academic labor market. The outcomes of scholarship by its grantees from the late 20th century through the 21st century have contributed to substantial data and scholarship including national surveys such as the [Nelson Diversity Surveys](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nelson_Diversity_Surveys "Nelson Diversity Surveys") in STEM. ### Contraception In the 1960s and 1970s, the foundation gave money to government and non-government contraceptive initiatives to support [population control](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Population_control "Population control"), peaking at an estimated $169 million in the last 1960s.[[42]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-42)[[43]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-43)[[44]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-44)[[45]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-45) The foundation ended most support for contraception programs by the 1970s. The foundation remains supportive of access to abortion, granting funds to organizations that support [reproductive rights](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reproductive_rights "Reproductive rights"). ### In vitro fertilisation Between 1969 and 1978, the foundation was the biggest funder for research into [in vitro fertilisation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_fertilisation "In vitro fertilisation") in the United Kingdom, which led to the first baby, [Louise Brown](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louise_Brown "Louise Brown") born from the technique. The Ford Foundation provided $1,170,194 towards the research. ### Relationship with the United States Government [John J. McCloy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_J._McCloy "John J. McCloy"), the architect of [Office of Strategic Services](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Office_of_Strategic_Services "Office of Strategic Services") that would later become [Central Intelligence Agency](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Central_Intelligence_Agency "Central Intelligence Agency") served as the chairman of the Ford Foundation.[[74]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-74) The CIA would channel its funds through Ford Foundation as a part of its covert cultural war.[[75]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-75)[[76]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-Troy-76)[[77]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-epstein-77) John J. McCloy, serving as the chairman from 1958 to 1965, knowingly employed numerous US intelligence agents and, based on the premise that a relationship with the CIA was inevitable, set up a three-person committee responsible for dealing with its requests.[[78]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-Saunders_1999-78)[[79]](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Foundation#cite_note-FOOTNOTESaunders2001141-79) Writer and activist [Arundhati Roy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arundhati_Roy "Arundhati Roy") connects the foundation, along with the [Rockefeller Foundation](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rockefeller_Foundation "Rockefeller Foundation"), with supporting imperialist efforts by the U.S. government during the [Cold War](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cold_War "Cold War"). Roy links the Ford Foundation's establishment of an economics course at the Indonesian University with aligning students with the [1965 coup](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/30_September_Movement "30 September Movement") that installed [Suharto](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suharto "Suharto") as president. At the height of the Cold War, the Ford Foundation was involved in several sensitive covert operations. One of these involved the Fighting Group Against Inhumanity. Based in West Berlin, the Fighting Group undertook a range of missions in the East Zone, ranging from intelligence gathering to sabotage. It was funded and controlled by the CIA. In 1950, the U.S. government decided that the Fighting Group needed to bolster its legitimacy as a credible independent organization, so the International Rescue Committee was recruited to act as its advocate. One component of this project was convincing the Ford Foundation to issue a grant to the Fighting Group. With the support of Eleanor Roosevelt, the Ford Foundation was persuaded to give the Fighting Group a grant of $150,000. A press release announcing the grant pointed to the assistance given by the Fighting Group to "carefully screened" defectors to come to the West. The [National Committee for a Free Europe](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Committee_for_a_Free_Europe "National Committee for a Free Europe"), a CIA proprietary, actually administered the grant (Chester, Covert Network, pp. 89–94). ## Presidents [[edit](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ford_Foundation&action=edit&section=26 "Edit section: Presidents")] - [Edsel Ford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edsel_Ford "Edsel Ford") (founder): 1936–1943 - [Henry Ford II](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ford_II "Henry Ford II"): 1943–1950 - [Paul G. Hoffman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_G._Hoffman "Paul G. Hoffman"): 1950–1953 - [H. Rowan Gaither](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._Rowan_Gaither "H. Rowan Gaither"): 1953–1956 - [Henry T. Heald](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_T._Heald "Henry T. Heald"): 1956–1965 - [[McGeorge Bundy (1919-1996)]]: 1966–1979 - [Franklin Thomas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Franklin_A._Thomas "Franklin A. Thomas"): 1979–1996 - [Susan Berresford](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Berresford "Susan Berresford"): 1996–2007 - [Luis Ubiñas](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luis_Ubi%C3%B1as "Luis Ubiñas"): 2008–2013 - [Darren Walker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darren_Walker "Darren Walker"): 2013–Present