Ford Foundation Announces 30 New Members of Ford Global Fellowship

Emerging leaders from around the world join network of leaders tackling global drivers of inequality

NEW YORK, April 2, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ford Foundation announced today the 2025 cohort of the Ford Global Fellowship, a program that aims to connect and support the next generation of leaders from around the world who are advancing innovative solutions to end inequality. The 30 leaders announced today join an existing network of 127 fellows working across Africa, Asia, the Americas, and the Middle East.

Launched in 2020 with an investment of $50 million over 10 years, the foundation's flagship fellowship program provides emerging leaders with the tools, networks, and solidarity they need to effectively advance social justice. The Ford Global Fellowship focuses on shared learning across issue areas, building and strengthening connections across local contexts, and developing a supportive, interconnected cohort across a wide variety of sectors and regions. It aims to build a powerful network of approximately 200 fellows over the course of the program and serve as a catalyst for the fellows to further the impact of their work, individually and collectively.

"The Ford Global Fellowship is thrilled to welcome 30 new leaders into our community who bring with them tremendous wisdom and experience from their local contexts as they work to advance creative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges," said Adria Goodson, director of the Ford Global Fellowship. "At the Ford Foundation, we have long known that individual leaders play a critical role as drivers of change, through generating ideas and leading institutions. Our investments in emerging leaders are critical for both their immediate impact on the fellows' life trajectories and the long-term ripple effects through their lifetimes of contributions to the world."

Central to the Ford Global Fellows initiative is its "community of practice." Based on principles of co-learning and co-design, the fellows not only learn from each other as peers but also invite the foundation's grantmakers, grantees, and other networks of leaders from the broader social justice field to learn alongside them. Experiential, place-based learning trips and sessions are organized by fellows from the 11 regions in which Ford operates. The community works to shed light on their interdependent histories and shared challenges in service of creating space for innovation. Each new fellow receives a no-strings-attached $25,000 stipend, alongside individualized coaching, to help grow their leadership skills and reach new audiences.

"I have no doubt that these 30 new, dynamic fellows will have transformational impact as they drive innovative local and global solutions that disrupt inequality," said Bess Rothenberg, deputy vice president of the Office of Strategy and Impact at Ford. "I commend Adria and the Ford Global Fellowship team for their leadership of Ford's overall strategy to invest in individuals and the role it plays in advancing Ford's mission to advance equality across the globe."

The network of Ford Global Fellows represent a broad range of backgrounds, fields, and approaches to addressing inequality, with areas of focus that include climate justice, labor rights, disability inclusion, and local economic models. Many fellows are from directly impacted communities and emerged as leaders by drawing from their own lived experiences with the challenges of inequality.

The 2025 fellows cohort are:

Bertha Zúniga 
General Coordinator, Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras
Honduras

Dani Ayers
CEO, me too. International
United States

Divya Varma
Cofounder and Director of Policy and Practice, Work Fair and Free
India

Emmanuela Shinta
Founder, Ranu Welum Foundation
Indonesia

Fainta Negoro
Founder, Jaga Semesta; Chief of Impact and Sustainability Officer, Jejakin.com
Indonesia

Gabriela Chaves
Economist, Nofront Empoderamento Financeiro
Brazil

Jeremy Maarman
Executive Director, Initiative for Community Advancement
South Africa

Joy Hayley Munthali
Founder, Green Girls Platform
Malawi

Jumko Ogata-Aguilar
Writer and Education and Racial Justice Advocate
Mexico

Kodzo Yaotse
Policy Lead, Africa Centre for Energy Policy
Ghana

Letícia Santiago de Moraes
Vice President, The National Council of Extractivist Populations
Brazil

Luis Javier Velásquez Varela
Founder and Director, Amazon Forever Org and the Amazon Rescue Center
Peru

Lydia Namubiru
Editor-in-Chief, The Continent
Uganda

Mallory Zhan
Researcher and Just Transition Advocate
France

Mercy Mutemi
Managing Partner, Nzili & Sumbi Advocates
Kenya

Michael Liu
Executive Director, Chinese Initiative on International Law
Netherlands

Milady Garcés Arboleda
Economic and Business Development Leader
Colombia

Noncedo Madubedube
General Secretary, Equal Education
South Africa

Odun Orimolade
Artist, Curatorial Director, Yaba Art Museum, Yaba College of Technology
Nigeria

Patricio Cumming Rivero
CEO, Project Chaac
Mexico

Priya Thuvassery
Filmmaker and Co-CEO, Chambal Media
India

Racha Ghanem
Feminist Facilitator, Community Organizer, and Co-op Administrator
Lebanon

Rasak Adekoya
Global Technical Advisor of Economic Empowerment, Sightsavers
Nigeria

Ronaldo Matos
Executive Director, Desenrola E Não Me Enrola
Brazil

Sahar Aloul
Leadership Team, SADAQA
Jordan

Samer Sfeir
Managing Director, ProAbled
Lebanon

Samuel Okulony
Chief Executive Officer, Environment Governance Institute
Uganda

Sandhya Gupta
Founder, Aavishkaar
India

Dr. Troy Jackson
Executive Director, UNDIVIDED
United States

Valeska Ruiz Peña
Indigenous Rights and Gender Justice Advocate
Peru

To learn more about the Ford Global Fellows please visit: https://fordf.org/FordGlobalFellows.

ABOUT THE FORD FOUNDATION
The Ford Foundation is an independent organization working to address inequality and build a future grounded in justice. For more than 85 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.

SOURCE Ford Foundation