NEW YORK, July 1, 2025 /PRNewswire/ — Today, Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, chair of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation, announced that Heather Gerken will become the 11th president of the Ford Foundation in November of 2025, succeeding Darren Walker. Gerken is the current dean of Yale Law School and a nationally recognized expert on constitutional law and democracy.
“Heather Gerken brings a wealth of experience working across the philanthropic and legal sectors that will only help sharpen the Ford Foundation’s operations and grantmaking,” said Dr. Francisco Cigarroa, chair of the board of trustees of the Ford Foundation. “In Heather, we have found a thoughtful and innovative leader with a knowledge and passion for justice that is centered on the values of democracy and helping advance human achievement for all citizens. Her life’s work resonates with the mission of the Ford Foundation.”
“Heather Gerken brings exceptional intellect, inclusive leadership, and a profound commitment to justice around the world,” said Paula Moreno, who served on the presidential search committee of the Ford Foundation board of trustees. “As only the second woman to lead the Ford Foundation, where we reimagine the world through equality and hope, Heather will drive bold innovation and inspire transformative systemic change with urgency and vision.”
As dean of Yale Law School and the Sol & Lillian Goldman Professor of Law, Gerken prioritized addressing economic barriers to the legal profession and increasing access for underrepresented students. Under her leadership, Yale Law School launched the first full-tuition scholarships for students from low-income backgrounds, increased veteran student representation from 1% to 10%, and significantly improved the number of students who are the first in their family to attend college. She led the withdrawal of major law schools from the US News and World Report ranking in response to concerns that the ranking’s methodology negatively impacted support for public interest law careers, need-based aid, and recruiting students from working-class backgrounds.
In addition to her duties as dean, she founded and leads Yale Law School’s innovative San Francisco Affirmative Litigation Project Clinic, which helps students work with city attorneys to litigate cases on behalf of the city. For almost twenty years, the clinic has helped the city win significant victories, including a multimillion-dollar settlement in the opioid litigation and the landmark case that legalized same-sex marriage in California.
“It is a profound honor to join the Ford Foundation and build upon the legacy of those who came before me, particularly the astonishing Darren Walker,” said Heather Gerken, incoming president of the Ford Foundation. “I am deeply grateful for this opportunity and look forward to working with Ford staff and the board of trustees to protect democracy and the rule of law and further our mission to create a more just and fair world for everyone.”
Gerken’s appointment follows an extensive national and international search led by the board of trustees and Russell Reynolds Associates, which began in 2024 when Walker announced that he would step down after more than a decade of leading the Ford Foundation. Walker oversaw some of the foundation’s most influential work, from the evolution of its mission to focus on inequality and social justice to improving the way Ford and many of its peer foundations conduct grantmaking.
“I extend my warmest congratulations to Heather Gerken as she prepares to lead the Ford Foundation into its next chapter,” said Darren Walker, outgoing president of the Ford Foundation. “Her experience and dedication to philanthropy and the field of law will undoubtedly propel the foundation’s mission forward.”
Prior to her time at Yale, Gerken was a professor at Harvard Law School and was an associate at Jenner & Block, where she litigated voting rights cases and helped reach a significant settlement in a housing desegregation case. Gerken has clerked for United States Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter and Judge Stephen Reinhardt in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.
Gerken received her juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School and a bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University. She is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Law Institute. Gerken serves as a trustee of Princeton University and the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
Gerken’s scholarly writings have been featured in The Atlantic, The Boston Globe, NPR, The New York Times, and Time Magazine. She is the author of The Democracy Index: Why Our Election System is Failing and How to Fix It, and she edited Race, Reform, and Regulation of the Electoral Process: Recurring Puzzles in American Democracy.
About the Ford Foundation
The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For nearly 90 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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