by Anita Brown, Program Officer

“The Tom Ford Fellowship in Philanthropy was created to provide young professionals with intensive, mentored experiences in domestic foundations in order to educate Stanford graduates about the role of philanthropy in society and encourage them to enter the field.” This program is made possible through PVF’s partnership with Stanford University’s Hass Center for Public Service and with funding from Susan Ford Dorsey and the Sand Hill Foundation.

The following three 2017-18 Tom Ford Fellows have been working in philanthropy full-time for the past 11 months.

Priscilla Acuña Mena
Ford Foundation
Inclusive Economies Program

Service Interests: Racial and economic justice; building political power in communities of color; special interest in the intersection of racial justice and women’s health

Fellowship Goals: To observe the diverse range of programs and initiatives that may exist in order to tackle the same issue; to gain an understanding of the common attributes of programs/initiatives, if any, that a) are successful in obtaining funding and b) show promise as catalytic advancers of social change; to understand the roles that philanthropy may play in growing social movements.

Emma Hutchinson
MacArthur Foundation
Climate Solutions Program

Service interests: To address climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions through politics, policy, and communication

Fellowship Goals: To deepen my understanding of how the tools of politics, policy, and communication can best be applied in order to mitigate dangerous global climate change, especially in the current political climate in the U.S.; to understand how foundations make their funding decisions, strategizing for maximum impact in this space based on various theories of change; to inform my understanding of the NGO-foundation relationship as I plan to enter the nonprofit sector following the Ford Fellowship.

Josie Roland Hodson
Ford Foundation
Creativity and Free Expression Program

Service interests: I am interested in the ways artistic production and social justice serve one another towards an equitable future. I want to support the civic potential of art making, art programming, and art education to critically engage a diverse public, and in turn increase access to the arts for underserved communities and marginalized identities.

Fellowship Goals: To deepen my understanding of the role of grantmaking foundations in supporting the arts; to learn how the redistribution of private wealth for public good can work towards a culturally equitable future; to form new insights into the intersections of artistic production and racial, gender, and economic justice; to gain a broader view of the artistic ecosystem in the United States, from large museum institutions to community-driven arts organizations.

PVF is proud to support the Tom Ford Fellows, inspire social change, and help create partnerships in the community through our programs.