Publications
Publications
- February 2020 (Revised January 2022)
- HBS Case Collection
Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)
By: Shawn Cole, Michael Norris and T. Robert Zochowski
Abstract
In 2017, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, one of the largest philanthropic foundations in the world, was preparing to meet with his board of directors to discuss beginning a mission related investments (MRI) program. Walker hoped to devote $1 billion of the Ford Foundation’s $13 billion endowment to the MRI program. The case explores the reasoning behind the program, design choices that were made in its development, and potential problems or tradeoffs to implementing such a program.
Keywords
Mission-Related Investing; Philanthropy; Foundation; Endowments; Socially Responsible Investing; Investment; Institutional Investing; Investment Activism; Governance; Corporate Social Responsibility and Impact; Mission and Purpose; Social Enterprise; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; United States; New York (city, NY)
Citation
Cole, Shawn, Michael Norris, and T. Robert Zochowski. "Mission Related Investments at the Ford Foundation (A)." Harvard Business School Case 220-026, February 2020. (Revised January 2022.)