Ford Foundation – Darren Walker 2018
Darren Walker ’86, President of the Ford Foundation, participated in Thursday’s Time 100 Talks addressing philanthropy’s role in the movement for racial justice. Walker is a Texas Exes Distinguished Alumnus Awardee, the highest honor given by his alma mater, The University of Texas at Austin, and winner of the 2019 Texas Law Outstanding Alumni Award. In 2016, TIME magazine named him to its annual list of the “100 Most Influential People in the World.” He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and is the recipient of ten honorary degrees.
We reprint, with permission, a portion of Jasmine Aguilera’s coverage of the conversation here. You can read the full article at this link, and learn more about Darren Walker here.
TIME 100 TALKS
There’s a difference between philanthropy and social justice philanthropy, says Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation.
Philanthropy, Walker says in conversation Thursday with reporter Justin Worland for the TIME100 Talks series, is most notably codified by Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller in their writings about charity and generosity. But, he adds, social justice philanthropy is rooted in the words of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “Philanthropy is commendable, but it should not allow the philanthropist to overlook the economic injustice which makes philanthropy necessary.”
Walker discussed the role of social justice philanthropy in this moment as protests continue across the country in response to the killing of George Floyd on May 25, and how it can support calls for reforms to law enforcement and racial inequality.