N M L associate editor Michael O'Neill interv i e w e d B e rre s f o rd in June 1997 in New York on Ford 's strategy as a major grantmaker in addressing contemporary social issues, including the changing role of government, social and demographic tre n d s , changes in social welfare policy and management, and leadership challenges facing nonprofit organizations.
O ' N e i l l :
In the United States and throughout the world, the ro l e of central government in human services provision seems to be changing dramatically. How does this affect the Ford Foundation's grantmaking? Ford 's Gray Areas Project, for example, led to the federal govern m e n t ' s War on Povert y. Is this kind of thing still poss i b l e ? B e rre s f o rd : It does seem that governments around the world are devolving more and more authority down to lower levels of government, and also shedding some financial responsibilities. For the Ford Foundation this means an opportunity to help train people to work e ffectively with new responsibilities at lower levels of govern m e n t . We support groups in the Philippines, for example, training communities and newly elected local officials to organize themselves and to work together on community problems. In the United States it means dealing much more with state-level government actors. We used to deal much more with the federal government. Also, there is much more expectation now that the nonprofit sector will play a l a rger role in addressing basic human needs. As responsibilities are o ff-loaded by governments, there isn't always the money to pro v i d e for them at the state and local levels, so people turn naturally to nonprofit organizations and to philanthropy.
I think that suggests a fundamental misunderstanding about the role of foundations. Most of them are not there as social service funders and basic providers for the society. That isn't their role. In many instances, foundations are much more experimental, serving as an