Susan Berresford, who served as president of the Ford Foundation from 1996-2007 and launched the International Fellowships Program (IFP) under her tenure, reflects on lessons learned from the program.


Published in the University World News

Improving the pipeline of social justice leadership

By Susan V. Berresford

The world today needs a fresh pipeline of leaders to strengthen work on inequality and exclusion. The old ways of generating leaders are sound, but on their own insufficient to meet the world’s need to address inequality.

Part of the solution may lie in fellowship programmes that build on the talent and determination of local leaders from marginalised communities.

The Ford Foundation

The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For more than 85 years, it has supported visionaries on the frontlines of social change worldwide, guided by its mission to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. Today, with an endowment of $16 billion, the foundation has headquarters in New York and 10 regional offices across Africa, Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East.

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