Devex Pro Weekender: Momentous change at Ford Foundation, and how much your boss is paid

Pro Week 2024 has sadly come to an end! Thank you to everyone who joined us for events, downloaded our special reports, or read our Pro-exclusive content throughout the week. If you missed anything, don't worry — there's plenty of time to catch up. You’ll even find some highlights in today’s newsletter, from insights into INGO salaries to the battle for control of the internet to a new AI tool that takes the pain out of writing U.N. reports. Coming up: After a bit of a breather, our next Pro event will be on Aug. 27 — a chance for you to get insider insight into the USAID acquisition and assistance process and how to win more work with the agency. Register now. Also in today’s edition: The Ford Foundation loses its long-time president, one of the U.K.’s biggest development contractors faces collapse, and we take a peek at executive pay at U.S. INGOs. Bits and pieces A cover star steps down. The big news in the world of philanthropy last week was that Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, is planning to step down by the end of next year, after what will be 12 years at the helm. Walker is one of the highest-profile figures in philanthropy — he made Time magazine's 100 most influential people list in 2016 and not so long ago graced the cover of Town & Country magazine. The New York Times was the first to report the story of his resignation, even carrying a comment about his leadership from former U.S. President Barack Obama. With an endowment of $16 billion, the Ford Foundation is one of the largest U.S. philanthropic foundations, and Walker is credited with transforming it with an eye on equality and social justice. Under his guidance, the foundation nearly doubled its grants to organizations in communities of color, and grants to help women and girls have grown by more than 40%. Explaining his decision to step down, Walker told the Times: “George Washington had it right: You should leave before it’s time to go.” He added that: “Philanthropy as a field needs new leaders and needs a constant refreshing.” A search committee has been convened to find his replacement. Going under. Crown Agents is one of the oldest and best known names in the world of U.K. development, but it looks unlikely to be around for much longer. The company has been saddled with a substantial pensions deficit for years, which it inherited when it was spun out of the U.K. government in 1997, and the mounting costs of that debt — among other things — look likely to pull it under. Crown Agents continues to trade for now, but it has admitted that it faces “significant financial challenges” and it is likely to be days from closure. Its staff of more than 300 are understood not to have been paid in full this month, and the company is currently hunting for replacements to deliver some critical humanitarian contracts. UN assistance. Need help with U.N. report writing? There’s an app for that! Emad Karim, an advocacy, campaigns, and innovation coordinator at UN Women has created UN Style GPT, a free customized AI tool that serves as your own personal U.N. assistant. It can help you apply U.N. style to reports, plan a communications campaign, and even prepare for a job interview at the organization. Karim presented U.N. Style GPT at a Pro Week event showcasing various AI tools developed specifically for global development professionals. “We have a struggle within the U.N. because we have our own language and context and sensitivities,” he explained. UN Style GPT “doesn’t take out the human element or expertise that is needed … but at least it can help you with a little refining, editing, starting some of the work,” he added. The tool was developed with several use cases in mind: designing a campaign, editing a report, results-based management reporting, creating U.N.-style content, and mentoring for the U.N. recruitment process. Catch up on the event now to see a demo of it and several other tools. Diversification? It was early 2019 when Tanya Cox, the incoming head of the European confederation of development NGOs, CONCORD, told us of her plans to diversify the group’s funding mainstays beyond the European Commission and the Gates Foundation. Now, with the group's 2023 annual report recently released, we thought it was time to see how they are doing. For 2019, CONCORD reported €1.7 million in income, mostly from three main sources: 8% from Gates, 53% from the European Union, and 27% in members' fees. And in 2023? The total income of €2.2 million was made up of 10% from Gates, 62% from the EU, and 20% in members' fees, with a grant from the Robert Bosch Foundation making up another 7%. Cox told Devex that “while funding has indeed been diversified, as per the Bosch Foundation grant, the intention is to continue the efforts in this regard. The combination of huge inflation in Belgium and Europe over recent years … combined with post-Brexit fallout, has meant that we have not only suffered considerable losses in membership fees, but rising costs. Fortunately, the European Commission very generously stepped in to support the important work of CONCORD.” ✉️ Do you have insights into any of this week’s bits and pieces? Let me know by replying to this email. In memoriam Justin Kilcullen, former executive director of Trócaire — the official overseas development agency of the Catholic Church in Ireland — has died. Many people paid tribute to the humanitarian, including Irish President Michael D. Higgins and Taoiseach Simon Harris. Kilcullen also served as president of CONCORD and as a special adviser to the Civil Society Partnership for Development Effectiveness. Caoimhe de Barra, current CEO of Trócaire, described him as “a wise and generous leader who inspired and supported generations of people involved in development, humanitarianism, human rights and environmental work.” Moving on Following European Parliament elections last month, a new European Development Committee is now in place. That includes a new chair in Irish member of EU Parliament Barry Andrews — an appointment that many NGOs are celebrating, as my colleague Vince Chadwick reported. Andrews is a former CEO of the Irish humanitarian NGO GOAL and an advocate for a renewed focus on poverty alleviation in EU aid. Mahlet Kifle Habtemariam has left Africa CDC, where she served as deputy chief of staff to Jean Kaseya, and is now deputy director of global programs at the Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation — a donor of Africa CDC. June Kunugi has taken up her role as UNICEF regional director for East Asia and the Pacific. She has moved to Bangkok from New York, where she previously served as director of UNICEF’s Public Partnerships Division. A few months ago, I reported here in the Weekender that Halla Tómasdóttir would be stepping down from her role as CEO of The B Team — a U.S.-based nonprofit that works on corporate accountability and sustainable business practices — in order to run for president of Iceland. Things went well — Tómasdóttir won and will assume office this week. The Microinsurance Network, a nonprofit association, named Matthew Genazzini as its new executive director. He’ll start in October. Did we miss one? Is there a change on the horizon? Let us know at devexpro@devex.com. Stat of the week $593,973 --— That’s how much, on average, top executives are paid at the biggest U.S.-based international NGOs. However, there was a wide range of pay for these executives across organizations — from $200,000 all the way up to $2 million, according to tax filings analyzed by my colleagues for our latest Devex Pro special report, which was launched during Pro Week. Find out more by downloading the report: The 50 largest US INGOs — and where they get their money. Pro must reads Catch up on some of the biggest stories from Pro Week! • Who will control the internet? Negotiations on a global digital pact feed fears of U.N. overreach. • How David Lammy could bring real change to UK aid. Lammy intends to take a firm grip on the U.K. development policy — and carry with him the legacy of being “descended from the slave trade.” • PEPFAR chief warns waning political will could hurt AIDS fight. Dr. John Nkengasong, the U.S. global AIDS coordinator, told Devex that President Joe Biden's administration is committed to PEPFAR and the global fight against HIV. • What does localization really mean? It’s the word that’s set to transform development, but it’s a lightning rod for dispute, with some asking if it's still fit for purpose. • What is the future of the INGO? As localization gains momentum, international nongovernmental organizations are rethinking their roles. Up next Venezuela is holding its most significant election in decades today, as incumbent President Nicolás Maduro faces a serious challenge, with concerns about whether he will respect the result if he loses. The Atlantic Council is holding an event tomorrow to discuss the result and its significance for peace and democracy, and the role international groups can play. July 29. Summit of the Future prep. Preparations continue for this major event in the U.N. calendar, with both informal and ambassadorial consultations this week. Still not sure what it’s all about, or why it matters? Never fear — we'll be holding an event for Pro members in a few weeks time, bringing in expert insights on the big questions surrounding it and what the outcomes of the summit could be. Consultations at the U.N. HQ are taking place all week, July 29-Aug. 2.