Posted on January 4, 2008

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Ford Foundation President Susan Berresford Retires

The Ford Foundation is celebrating the career of Susan V. Berresford, who is retiring after twelve years as president.

Berresford, who will be succeeded by Luis A. Ubiņas, began her career at the foundation thirty-eight years ago. After joining the staff as a program assistant in 1970, she held a variety of positions, including vice president for programs and chief operating officer, before succeeding Franklin Thomas as president in 1996. "Susan has been a tremendous steward of the Ford Foundation, inspiring staff and grantees to find bold new approaches to some of our world's most pressing problems," said Kathryn S. Fuller, chair of the foundation's board of trustees. "Her tenure is marked by a series of innovative and ambitious programs that will continue to create opportunity, strengthen communities, and improve lives for years to come."

Under her leadership, the foundation expanded its seventy-year record of achievement in advancing human welfare by focusing on the most marginalized. Partnering with thousands of grantees in the United States and around the world, the foundation continued its work on advancing economic opportunity, strengthening the arts, ensuring access to education, promoting good governance, reducing poverty, and protecting human rights and women's rights. During her tenure as president, the foundation became the prime funder behind the creation of the New York City-based International Center for Transitional Justice, which helps societies emerging from conflict establish processes that secure sustainable peace. It also supported the creation and capitalization of nearly two dozen foundations worldwide that tackle human rights and other difficult issues at the local level, and it launched a global initiative to empower grassroots organizations working on the HIV/AIDS pandemic.

"[Susan Berresford's] commitment to supporting courageous people, her dedication to the spirit of fairness and to democratic values, and her vision and leadership form a truly unique combination," said Fuller. "She has lived the values that lie at the center of this institution's charter and mission, and the Ford Foundation is better for it."

“Celebrating a Remarkable Career of Leadership.” Ford Foundation Press Release 1/03/08.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): New York, New York City

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