Ford Foundation promotes Bess Rothenberg and Victoria Dunning to key leadership roles

NEW YORK, Jan. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ford Foundation announced today the appointment of Bess Rothenberg to deputy vice president of the Office of Strategy and Impact (OSI) and Victoria Dunning as the next program director for the Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative, a 12-year $2 billion initiative that supports organizations and networks through multi-year, flexible funding and institutional strengthening. The OSI is a newly-created team housing BUILD, the Ford Global Fellowship, and the Office of Strategy of Learning.

"Thanks to the incredible contributions of Bess Rothenberg and Victoria Dunning, the Ford Foundation has made significant progress in our ability to serve our grantees," said Sarita Gupta, vice president of U.S. programs for the Ford Foundation. "They represent the depth and breadth of leadership that exists at Ford and I look forward to working with them to continue to advance our mission of a more just and equitable world."

Rothenberg joined the foundation in 2016, to serve as the inaugural director of the Office of Strategy and Learning (OSL). As OSL director, she worked across its 11 global offices to strengthen Ford's capacity as a learning institution, accompanying programs in strategy development, evaluation, cross-programmatic learning, and efforts to enhance Ford's grantmaking operations to best meet grantee needs.

"It is an honor to have this opportunity and expand my partnership with teams working across the Ford Foundation," said Bess Rothenberg, deputy vice president of the Office of Strategy and Impact. "Through their commitment to philanthropic innovation and excellence, BUILD, the Ford Global Fellowship, and the Office of Strategy and Learning have sharpened our operations and impact worldwide."

Before joining the foundation in 2016, Rothenberg served as deputy director of research and evaluation at Wellspring Advisors, senior program officer for Africa at the International Women's Health Coalition, and associate director of grants at the American Jewish World Service.

In addition to her work in philanthropy, Rothenberg has also served as assistant professor of applied sociology and African studies at Clemson University, and as associate director with Columbia University's Center for the Study of Human Rights. She earned a PhD in sociology from the University of Virginia, was a Fulbright doctoral fellow at Humboldt University in Berlin, and earned her bachelor of arts in sociology from Boston University.

As BUILD director, Dunning oversees Ford's model of strategic, trust-based grantmaking practice to enhance grantee partners' organizational resilience, and collaborates with program teams in the foundation's 11 global offices. Dunning joined the inaugural BUILD team as program officer in 2017.

"Flexible, trust-based philanthropy that recognizes our grantees' expertise and ensures institutional resiliency is at the heart of our work at the Ford Foundation," said Victoria Dunning, director of the Ford Foundation's Building Institutions and Networks (BUILD) initiative. "It is my privilege to lead a team that puts our grantees' needs at the forefront, so the nonprofits we serve are fully equipped to meet the challenges ahead."

Prior to joining Ford, Dunning was executive vice president of the Global Fund for Children, providing grants and capacity-building support to grassroots organizations around the world. She has also held positions at the United Nations Foundation, the Pacific Institute for Women's Health, and United States Agency for International Development (USAID) Tanzania.

Dunning currently serves on the executive committee of the board of Edible Schoolyard NYC. She holds a bachelor of arts from Mount Holyoke College and masters in public health from Columbia University.

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