Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Darren Walker’s journey from his birth in a Louisiana charity hospital to becoming president of the nation’s fourth largest private philanthropy, the Ford Foundation, is a profoundly inspirational story that could not have been written even a generation ago. In this episode of The Thread, he takes us along on his life’s extraordinary path which he modestly describes as “lucky.” Walker describes how he earned a law degree before entering the private sector and rising quickly in the ranks of investment banking. But after less than a decade in corporate finance, he walked away from his high-paying position to volunteer at a school in Harlem. It was there he discovered the calling that would define his life from that point forward: philanthropy. Walker believes his work has a moral responsibility to provide “dignity and justice.” And on a very personal level, he emotionally talks about the death of his husband and how he learned to deal with grief.
Darren Walker, credited by Time, Rolling Stone, Ebony, and other publications as one of the most influential leaders working today, is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem’s largest community development organization. Darren co-chairs New York City’s Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and has served on the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform and the UN International Labour Organization Global Commission on the Future of Work. He serves on many boards, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and is the recipient of 16 honorary degrees and university awards, including Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren was a member of the first Head Start class in 1965 and received BA, BS, and JD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
To teach using this episode go to: lifestories.org/learning/the-thread-2024
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/lifestoriesdotorg
Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Opening
00:32 - Childhood
01:42 - Parents’ Influence
04:02 - Impact of Cousins’ Imprisonment
06:42 - The Role of Fear
08:04 - The Role of Courage
10:50 - Government Programs
13:37 - Making a Difference, Not Profit
15:06 - Becoming President of Ford Foundation
16:32 - Inequality as the Current Defining Social Issue
17:55 - Toughest Decisions and Proudest Accomplishes at Ford
19:49 - Importance of Democracy at Ford
21:45 - “Generosity to Justice” Book
23:20 - Late Husband David Beitzel
27:02 - Sharing WIsdom
29:00 - Growing Old
Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
Interviewed By: Noah Remnick
© Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
Darren Walker’s journey from his birth in a Louisiana charity hospital to becoming president of the nation’s fourth largest private philanthropy, the Ford Foundation, is a profoundly inspirational story that could not have been written even a generation ago. In this episode of The Thread, he takes us along on his life’s extraordinary path which he modestly describes as “lucky.” Walker describes how he earned a law degree before entering the private sector and rising quickly in the ranks of investment banking. But after less than a decade in corporate finance, he walked away from his high-paying position to volunteer at a school in Harlem. It was there he discovered the calling that would define his life from that point forward: philanthropy. Walker believes his work has a moral responsibility to provide “dignity and justice.” And on a very personal level, he emotionally talks about the death of his husband and how he learned to deal with grief.
Darren Walker, credited by Time, Rolling Stone, Ebony, and other publications as one of the most influential leaders working today, is president of the Ford Foundation, a $16 billion international social justice philanthropy. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs. In the 1990s, he was COO of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, Harlem’s largest community development organization. Darren co-chairs New York City’s Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments, and Markers, and has served on the Independent Commission on New York City Criminal Justice and Incarceration Reform and the UN International Labour Organization Global Commission on the Future of Work. He serves on many boards, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts, the National Gallery of Art, Carnegie Hall, the High Line, the Committee to Protect Journalists, and the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture. He is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Philosophical Society and is the recipient of 16 honorary degrees and university awards, including Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Medal. Educated exclusively in public schools, Darren was a member of the first Head Start class in 1965 and received BA, BS, and JD degrees from the University of Texas at Austin.
Subscribe for access to interviews, series, films, and educational materials that address issues of social justice, history, politics, the arts, and culture by spotlighting relatable human stories of purpose and meaning. Learn about our work and how to support our mission here: lifestories.org/. For extended versions of these interviews and more, visit: youtube.com/@lifestoriesinterviewarchive
To teach using this episode go to: lifestories.org/learning/the-thread-2024
Follow us on Instagram: instagram.com/lifestoriesdotorg
Chapter Markers:
00:00 - Opening
00:32 - Childhood
01:42 - Parents’ Influence
04:02 - Impact of Cousins’ Imprisonment
06:42 - The Role of Fear
08:04 - The Role of Courage
10:50 - Government Programs
13:37 - Making a Difference, Not Profit
15:06 - Becoming President of Ford Foundation
16:32 - Inequality as the Current Defining Social Issue
17:55 - Toughest Decisions and Proudest Accomplishes at Ford
19:49 - Importance of Democracy at Ford
21:45 - “Generosity to Justice” Book
23:20 - Late Husband David Beitzel
27:02 - Sharing WIsdom
29:00 - Growing Old
Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
Interviewed By: Noah Remnick
© Kunhardt Film Foundation. All Rights Reserved.
