Ford Foundation President Darren Walker will receive the Katonah Museum of Art 2021 Himmel Award on Saturday, April 3 in recognition of his pivotal role in supporting the arts and social justice.
The Himmel Award and Conversation is an annual event in recognition of creators, conceivers, radical thinkers and risk-takers that provoke new thinking in art and design. It is named in honor of Betty Himmel who has been instrumental in defining the direction and mission of the Katonah Museum of Art (KMA) and who continues to be an arts advocate and community leader.
Walker and Katonah Museum of Art Executive Director Michael Gitlitz will discuss Walker”™s depth of experience in the nonprofit world and his transformative work with the Ford Foundation to address structural, societal changes during this period of social and political disruption and challenges posed by the pandemic. Attendees will have the opportunity to ask questions during the program scheduled on Zoom from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m.
Fully tax-deductible tickets are $50 KMA members; $75 nonmembers at tinyurl.com/4svudshq.
Under Walker”™s leadership, the Ford Foundation, an international social justice philanthropy with a $14 billion endowment and $600 million in annual grant making, became the first nonprofit in U.S. history to issue a $1 billion social bond in the US capital markets with proceeds used to strengthen and stabilize nonprofit organizations in the wake of Covid-19.
Prior to joining Ford, Walker was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation and in the 1990s he was chief operating officer of Harlem”™s largest community development organization, the Abyssinian Development Corporation.
Educated exclusively in public schools, Walker was a member of the first Head Start class in 1965 and received his Bachelor of Arts, Bachelor of Science and Juris Doctorate degrees from the University of Texas at Austin. His awards, honorary degrees and inclusion on leadership lists are numerous. Most recently, Walker was named Wall Street Journal”™s 2020 Philanthropy Innovator.
