The Ford Foundation is a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Our goals are to:

    Strengthen democratic values
    Reduce poverty and injustice
    Promote international cooperation and
    Advance human achievemen

This has been our purpose for more than half a century.

Created with gifts and bequests by Edsel and Henry Ford, the Foundation is an independent organization, with its own board, and is entirely separate from the Ford Motor Company.

A fundamental challenge facing every society is to create political, economic and social systems that promote peace, human welfare and the sustainability of the environment on which life depends. We believe that the best way to meet this challenge is to encourage initiatives by those living and working closest to where problems are located; to promote collaboration among the nonprofit, government and business sectors; and to ensure participation by men and women from diverse communities and at all levels of society. In our experience, such activities help build common understanding, enhance excellence, enable people to improve their lives and reinforce their commitment to society.

The Ford Foundation is one source of support for these activities. We work mainly by making grants or loans that build knowledge and strengthen organizations and networks. Since our financial resources are modest in comparison with societal needs, we focus on a limited number of problem areas and program strategies within our broad goals.

Since its inception it has been an independent, nonprofit, nongovernmental organization. The trustees of the foundation set policy and delegate authority to the president and senior staff for the foundation’s grant making and operations. Program officers in the United States, Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America and Russia explore opportunities to pursue the foundation’s goals, formulate strategies and recommend proposals for funding. 

The Ford Foundation and China

The Foundation's China grant-making is directed by its field office located in Beijing. An international staff consisting of a Representative and five Program Officers are responsible for programming. The staff seek out promising opportunities in the office's program areas, carefully evaluate grant applications and, with prospective grantees, develop projects and recommend grants to New York for funding. From January 1988 until September 2005, the Foundation’ Beijing office made grants totaling about $207 million dollars.

Consistent with Chinese preferences, when the Foundation office was opened in 1988 activities were concentrated in three fields: economics, law, and international relations. Subsequently, new lines of work were developed in response to China's evolving needs and changing priorities. Because of the need to address the chronic poverty affecting remote, under-developed areas, and to promote an integrated approach to persistent problems of reproductive health, programs in environment and development and in reproductive health were added in 1989-90. The latest development in 2001 was the introduction of a program on education and culture.

After more than twenty-five years of economic reform, the complexities and the long-term nature of the reform process are more readily apparent. Chinese researchers and government officials have increasingly appreciated that economic reform and opening brings with it social transformations, not all of which are beneficial and few of which are easy to understand or adjust to. At the same time, there is increasing recognition of the need to mobilize the creative potential of all of China’s citizens, including those engaged in emerging non-government organizations, in meeting the challenges facing the country. Currently, the Foundation's efforts in China address eight main areas:

    Economics and Development Finance
    Educational Reform and Cultural Diversity
    Environment and Development
    Governance and Public Policy
    International Governance
    Law and Rights
    Civil Society
    Sexuality and Reproductive Health

Within these areas, staff in the Beijing office employ a number of strategies to maximize the effective use of limited Foundation resources:

    Grant opportunities are identified in light of clearly defined program goals and strategies
    Staff collaborate across certain thematic areas such as gender and poverty
    The Foundation encourages cooperation among all sectors of society--grassroots organizations, NGOs, research centers, universities and government--in order to bring diverse perspectives to bear on a single set of problems
     Problems of pressing national importance and projects with the potential for national impact are given particular attention

The Beijing office also emphasizes a number of cross-cutting themes that are integrated into all areas of work. These themes relate to the Foundation’s underlying mission and include

    A commitment to gender equity
    A focus on poor and disadvantaged groups
    An emphasis on participation as a core value that promotes community-based empowerment
    A commitment to a rights approach
    Support for civil society
    Respect for diversity
    Promotion of philanthropy

In addition, one innovative aspect of the Beijing office’s work is a series of small ‘Good Neighbor Grants.’ These grants are made in response to emergencies, important new issues or sudden needs that arise but do not fit into the normal work program of the office. These grants are managed by the entire local staff of the office.

Contact Info:

Ford Foundation
International Club Office
Building
Suite 501
Jianguomenwai Dajie No. 21
Beijing, China 100020
 
tel. 86-10-6532-6668
fax 86-10-6532-5495
ford-beijing@fordfound.org
International Fellowship Program (in Chinese)