Philanthropy Is the Business of Hope

 

 June 9, 2025

by Susan Wampler

Philanthropic institutions not only face rising political polarization but also looming tax policies that could restrict how much they can invest in missions that benefit society. Darren Walker addressed these challenges — and why he remains hopeful — at the latest installment of the Distinguished Speakers Series, hosted by The USC Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy (The Center), as part of its 25^th anniversary. President of the Ford Foundation for nearly 12 years, Walker is one of philanthropy’s most influential leaders.

Cinny Kennard, executive director of the Annenberg Foundation and chair of The Center’s Board of Advisors, moderated the event. She opened acknowledging recent events, including nationwide protests and unrest in Los Angeles over ICE raids. Walker emphasized the need for continued civic commitment to community. “We are the only sector in American society whose work is the business of hope,” he noted.

Walker underscored that philanthropy is fundamentally about fostering such hope by empowering individuals to believe in themselves, their communities — and their futures. He sees hope as a moral imperative rooted in his personal history and upbringing and a legacy of perseverance passed down by ancestors who believed in a better America — even when they knew they might never experience it themselves.

He cited the Langston Hughes poem “Let America Be America Again,” which famously calls for our nation to finally live up its stated ideals, as a lodestone. Walker feels the poet’s voice rallying him on, so it would “disrespectful of me now to say, ‘I give up.’”

While Walker has built a lengthy record of changemaking during his tenure — including such earlier roles as vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation — what he is most proud of, he said, is the Ford Foundation’s role in the “Grand Bargain” that rescued Detroit from bankruptcy ruin in 2014.

Walker’s leadership was instrumental in securing the $816 million that saved the city’s pension funds and prevented the Detroit Institute of Arts from having to sell off collections to ease the debt, secure public employee pensions, and create a forward trajectory for Motown. “But it was really [Kresge Foundation President] Rip [Rapson] and [Knight Foundation President] Alberto [Ibargüen] and all our friends … who did the work,” he noted modestly.  “That was an example of how philanthropy can play a truly transformational role — if we allow ourselves to do it,” Walker said.

He also noted a second reason this effort stands out – an opportunity to healing the rift between the foundation and the family that named it. In 1976, Henry Ford II resigned from the board over concerns about the foundation’s direction. “When I became president,” Walker recalled, “I wanted figure out a way to have a reconciliation.”  The Detroit bankruptcy provided that way, bringing the foundation and the Ford family back together to reaffirm the mission of reducing poverty and injustice and strengthening democratic values.

This renewed partnership culminated in the 2019 appointment of Henry Ford III to the foundation’s board, heralding a new era of unity and shared commitment. “The Fords, like a lot of families of great wealth, are complicated,” Walker noted, adding that he views Henry Ford as a “metaphor for America.”

Discussing his mission as the National Gallery of Art’s new president, Walker vowed to fulfill the vision of Andrew W. Mellon, whose collections and funding enabled the museum to open after it was established by Congress in 1937. The gallery’s mission, Walker emphasized, is “one of service to the American people” by exhibiting great artworks in a venue free and open to the public.

“I believe that museums are among the most important institutions in our democracy,” he added. “Most museums have an educational charter and a critical role to play because they play back to us who we are as a society, as a civilization.”

Kennard then raised the challenges of leading a federally established cultural institution in today’s tense political climate. “How do you go into that environment?” she asked.  “By being principled and pragmatic,” Walker answered. “If excellence is our North Star, we need to hold true with a narrative and program reflecting that.”

It is also vital, he noted, to not allow others to define or caricature you inaccurately. “Progressives must reclaim and embrace values such as excellence, patriotism and equality,” Walker said, rather than ceding these words to others — and then infuse those ideals into their own principles and vision.

Bridging political divides is also important. For example, Walker said, “I co-authored a piece with a group of conservative foundations about philanthropic pluralism,” which posits that societal benefits occur when donors support a diverse array of causes, missions and ideas. It is not necessary for the Ford Foundation, he said, to agree with the Bradley or Koch foundations on every issue in order to work together on promoting philanthropic freedom.

That extends to how we understand others’ motives. “I think we have been too smug and ready to attribute all of what’s happening that we don’t like to racism or misogyny,” Walker observed. While prejudice and bigotry undeniably exist, he noted, such attitudes don’t fully explain the “sense of hopelessness and loss of optimism” that so many Americans feel today.

Still, Walker’s own optimism remains undampened. “I will never not be bullish on America,” he said, while adding that “we need leadership that can offer us something to be for.”  From championing social equity and mission-aligned impact investing to trusting grantees to know where dollars are best targeted, Walker has consistently given communities something to be for.

“He’s been a changemaker in philanthropy for over two decades,” said James Ferris, PhD, director of The Center and the Emery Evans Olson Chair in Nonprofit Entrepreneurship and Public Policy at the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy. “He has built on his life experiences, making big bets and leading boldly, and fearless in using his voice for good.”

The video of the full conversation can be found here.

Now in its 25th year, The Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy promotes more effective philanthropy and strengthens the nonprofit sector through research that informs philanthropic decision-making and public policy to advance community problem solving. The Center is a part of the USC Sol Price School of Public Policy, which works to improve the quality of life for people and their communities, here and abroad.

For more information: Please contact Bhanu Anton Cruz, Senior Associate Director, The Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy, at [email protected] or 213-740-1776.