SPOTLIGHT
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“Saving America’s Cities”: A “Deep Dive” into the Life of Ed Logue By Thomas Seessel
The life and work of Edward J. “Ed” Logue, whose accomplishments in urban development were both acclaimed and condemned, are examined in this review by Tom Seessel of Lizabeth Cohen’s new book. |
NEWSLETTER
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“Saving America’s Cities” Wins Bancroft Prize 
Lizabeth Cohen’s book Saving America’s Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America in the Suburban Age, has been awarded the Bancroft Prize for works of history. |
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“Amateur Professionals”: Igniting the Classics With Fire and Intensity By George Gelles George Gelles writes about the development of “amateur orchestras”, whose trained musicians exemplify the ideals of “professional amateurism” with the “fire and intensity” of their performances. |
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George Gelles has recorded several compositions that are made available here. |
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“Icons and Activists”: Changemakers Honored by UNFPA
A book published by the United Nations to mark the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations Population Fund includes people associated with the Ford Foundation. |
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Fazle Hasan Abed, Founder of BRAC
Fazle Hasan Abed, founder of BRAC, one of the largest nongovernmental organizations in the world with 110,00 employees working in 11 countries to meet the needs of some 100 million people, died December 20. He was 83. |
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The late founder of BRAC, one of the largest NGOs in the world and recipient of early support from the Ford Foundation, is remembered by Marty Chen. |
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Challenges Threatening African Youth
Mora McLean has edited a collection of essays that provide “a transatlantic, transnational exploration of barriers that threaten the wellbeing of West African youth”. |
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Domestic Drama at 1 Sabroso Place
Nancy Dennis writes charmingly of a visit from a “large cat” that, fully aware of her watchful concern, carefully gave birth to and nursed three kittens in her yard in suburban Santa Fe. Its identity both startled and engaged her. |
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William Gamble Celebrates His 100th Birthday
William Gamble was 100 years old on February 10 and celebrated with family and friends, many of whom came to Minnesota from around the country. |
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Norman Collins, Prominent In “Green Revolution”, Dies
A major figure in agricultural research whose work at the Ford Foundation for more than 30 years helped develop advances in food production worldwide, died December 10 at his home in Greenwich, Conn., at the age of 90. |
As Ford Foundation staff settled into their new home in the mid-1960s, Gertrude B. Winquist sent around a series of whimsical memos highlighting the challenges presented by the imposing building. |
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Members of LAFF and current Ford Foundation staff enjoyed the annual caroling and holiday party at the headquarters building in New York City. |
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Program Associates: A “Journey” Begun at Ford
A panel discussion sponsored by LAFF’s New York chapter explored the work of present and former program associates at the Foundation as they sought their “passion in life” and created the arc of their “career journey”. |
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Learning From Feminists Who Fund Themselves By Tenzin Dolker Tenzin Dolker explores how early efforts provide examples of the “transformative ways in which movements are mobilizing financial, human and material resources that directly support the liberatory aims of feminist political projects”. |
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Oscar Harkavy, Leader in Population Programming 
Oscar “Bud” Harkavy, who worked for the Ford Foundation for 35 years, died September 20 at the age of 96. His career was spent creating and directing programs that helped establish what he called the “modern population movement”. |
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LAFF Members at Nairobi Population Summit
Several members of The LAFF Society were among the more than 6,000 people from 160 countries who attended a three-day conference in Nairobi, Kenya. |
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Recollections Project Ready for Recordings
After months of planning, the LAFF Society has created an informal oral history project called the Recollections Project. |
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Managing Poverty: Lessons Learned in Making a Difference
By Roland V. Anglin Roland Anglin, after a long career working in community and economic development, has learned that “We may never see a time again where this country’s public policy aims to eliminate poverty, but we have learned important lessons about how to manage poverty. These lessons are needed now more than ever.” |
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China, Global Health and the Role of the China Medical Board By Lincoln Chen Lincoln Chen thinks back on his fourteen years as president of the Rockefeller-endowed China Medical Board, and the Ford Foundation’s connection to his work. |
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Through the Years in China: A Story of “Intersections”
By Joan Kaufman The many ways the Foundation influenced Joan Kaufman’s career after her stint as a program officer in China, and all the intersections of people, places and issues that came together and formed a trajectory for the social justice issues she has worked on. |
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Access to Civil Justice Using Nonlawyers: A Study
Mary McClymont has written a report based on a study she made of the use of nonlawyer “navigators” in state courts to help people who cannot afford lawyers. |
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The LAFF Family Gathers in New York
Nearly 100 people—LAFF members, family and friends, and Ford Foundation staff—attended the get-together March 21 at the renovated Ford Foundation Center for Social Justice in New York City. |
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Syrian Family Comes Home To Town Ravaged By War
By Christopher Reardon The author, who worked for Ford Foundation’s Office of Communications from 1992 to 2006, is Chief of Content for UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency. This article, is a poignant description of the human toll of eight full years of war in Syria. |
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The New American Orchestras: Engines of Fresh Energy, Ideas
By George Gelles In a phenomenon of which Mac would surely have approved, a new breed of orchestra has emerged, providing an antidote to the perceived symphonic stuffiness that might partially explain audience attrition. |
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Nellie Toma, LAFF’s secretary-treasurer, has completed the arduous task of indexing every newsletter since the Society’s inception in 1991. |
LAFF PARADE |
News About Ford Foundation Staff, Winter 20203/23/2020 Alfred Ironside and John W. Bernstein are in the news. |
CLIPPINGS
Selection Of Articles Published Elsewhere
Trump Lit a Fire by Exiting the Iran Deal & Poured Gasoline on it by Assassinating Soleimani1/7/2020 … |
The most disastrous mistake since 2003 invasion of Iraq10/13/2019 Gary Sick is watching events unfold in the Middle East. |
Profile of Darren Walker In The New York Times7/26/2019 The Ford Foundation’s new emphasis on giving to combat inequality is explored in a profile of the foundation’s president, Darren Walker, in the July 12 issue of The New York Times. |
OCT 31 EVENT: Creative Process in Dialogue: Art and the Public Today10/4/2018 Poet and President of The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Elizabeth Alexander and painter Amy Sherald. Discussion presented by Bard College. |
Risks and Benefits of the U.S. Speaking Out About Iran1/4/2018 Gary Sick is interviewed by Robert Siegel of NPR about U.S. policy options on Iran. |
Former Tulane President Eamon Kelly dies7/8/2017 Former Tulane President Eamon Michael Kelly died on Wednesday, June 28, at the Tulane Medical Center following complications from surgery. He was 81 years old. |
The Iran nuclear deal has been a Middle East game-changer6/14/2016 By Gary Sick and Frank G. Wisner. Two years ago, a new war in the Middle East appeared very likely. The government of Iran, despite enduring the most severe international sanctions ever imposed on a noncombatant power, insisted on increasing its nuclear program. |
Opinion: Robert Curvin, and Leaving the World Better Than the Way You Found It.By Roland V. Anglin | 10/5/2015 Celebrating and commemorating a man whose accomplishments cannot be contained by any one list. |
Now Showing: Brian Mori's Play2/24/2015 Brian Richard Mori’s celebrated play Hellman v. McCarthy is being performed in Beverly Hills, Calif., at Theatre 40 and the Saban Theatre through Sunday, March 1. Next: Salt Lake City. |
A Musical Event with John Koprowski: Five Years That Rocked the World 1964-19692/16/2015 A retrospective look at an era which influenced music, culture and history for the next half century. |
Men are problem and solution to violence against women, says Breakthrough's founder Mallika Dutt1/19/2015 In the wake of rising incidents of violence against women across the country, Iamin talked to Mallika Dutt, founder of Breakthrough. |
Strikes on ISIS. Now What?9/25/2014 Bassma Kodmani contributed to the "Room for Debate" discussion in the New York Times. |
Brian Mori's play on Channel Thirteen9/25/2014 Brian Richard Mori's play "Hellman v. McCarthy," will be aired on October 9th and 12th during Channel Thirteen's weekly series, "Theater Close Up". |
National Security Council Veteran Weighs In on Foley, Hostages, and ISIL's Brutality8/21/2014 The brutal killing of American photojournalist James Wright Foley by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (or Syria) has sparked outrage. With ISIL threatening to kill a second hostage, journalist Steven Soltoff, The Wire spoke with Gary Sick, who served on the National Security Council for President Jimmy Carter. |
Coalition Seeks Public's Advice on New York City's Goals11/11/2013 As Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio prepares to succeed Michael R. Bloomberg, a coalition of leading foundations will unveil an ambitious citywide effort to enlist regular New Yorkers in sharing their views about the city’s future. |
Ubinas Reflects on Six Years as President of the Ford Foundation8/6/2013 In a wide-ranging interview with Rahim Kanani of the Skoll World Forum, Ubiñas reflects on his tenure at the foundation, the state of philanthropy today, measuring and evaluating long-term progress, critical lessons in leadership, and much more. |
After a Gay Rights Victory, A New Challenge for Grant MakersBy Michael Seltzer | 7/12/2013 The Supreme Court found that the Defense of Marriage Act violates the constitution of the United States and that marriage equality is the law in those states where same-sex marriage is legal. It’s also time for philanthropy to reflect on its power to further social justice |
Warren Wilson president is down-to-earth guy4/26/2013 For those of us whose leanings are toward gentler disciplines such as literature and philosophy, a quick perusal of Warren Wilson College President Steve Solnick’s curriculum vitae might invite a touch of academic intimidation. |
Reminiscences on a grantee-grantor relationshipBy Rosalia Maria Emanuela Sciortino | 1/16/2013 When one reaches a certain age – as in my case – there is a tendency to look back and reflect on one’s experiences, including the transformations in one’s own career landscape over time. In the more than 20 years of working with international philanthropic and development organisations of a grant-making nature in Southeast Asia, I have seen many ideologies and trends emerge and wane. |
Ford Needs a Smarter Approach to Newspaper Grants8/14/2012 The Ford Foundation’s announcement last month that it is providing $500,000 to help The Washington Post strengthen its coverage of government-accountability issues is inappropriate and a waste of money. |
Blame Saddam: Another Way of Seeing Iran's Nuclear Program4/20/2012 “When the revolution happened in 1979 the Shah of course was in the midst of developing a nuclear power program, and everybody suspected that he was really going to go for a bomb,” notes Gary Sick, a Columbia University expert who was at the National Security Council when... |
Foundation Files Reveal Insights on Culture4/9/2012 James Baldwin needed some money. It was 1959, six years before Congress created national endowments for the arts and humanities to support struggling artists and cultural institutions....Mr. Lowry had the last word in deciding which artists, writers and performers would receive grants from the Ford Foundation, the richest private source of cultural largess at the time. |
Occupy Wall Street Abandoned PR 101By Leslie Gottlieb | 4/9/2012 I wasn’t involved in the Occupy Wall Street activities, although I followed the movement closely and admired many of its ideas and ideals. As a public relations professional, however, I was increasingly frustrated by the inability of its participants to adhere to basic PR principles. If they had, I believe they would have made a much more powerful impact on the public... |
Media Watch | Leaks Ahead of Nuclear Talks4/8/2012 "If it's Sunday," Columbia University scholar Gary Sick wrote in an email to Gulf 2000, a listserv he moderates, "it must be time for major U.S. government 'leaks' (really planted stories) about Iran. Positioning and spinning is particularly important with negotiations possibly ready to start." |
Corporate Personhood with Fran KortenBy Frances Korten | 4/7/2012 YouTube Video - Fran Korten, Executive Director of "Yes!" Magazine talks about our relationship to corporations and how we can end corporate rule. She spoke at Chimacum High School on March 30, 2012 with Steven Reisler, President of the Seattle Chapter of the National Lawyers Guild. |