Hannah Ford

Hannah Ford joined the Foundation in January 2020 as manager of strategic initiatives and planning in the Arts and Culture (AC) program.  A senior member of the AC program director's team, she assists the director and program officers in shaping the vision for the program as well as implementing ongoing and new initiatives aligned with that vision.  She has a specific interest in systems change and the evolution of arts and culture models as a means toward greater sustainability, inclusivity, and exchange in the field.  Prior to joining the Foundation, Ms. Ford was a postgraduate leadership fellow in the office of the executive director for the arts at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC-Chapel Hill) where she led staff through strategic planning efforts, including mission and values identification, landscape analysis, internal financial analysis, articulation of strategic priorities and key performance indicators, and staffing implementation plans.  Prior to UNC-Chapel Hill, she was an MBA fellow at American Ballet Theatre where she worked with the executive director and senior leadership on union contract negotiations and strategic planning. 

Ms. Ford began her career at the John F. Kennedy Center where she learned fundraising best practices through a series of progressive roles in development at the Center.  She then served as director of development for the DC Youth Orchestra Program where she built a fundraising strategy that helped the organization achieve financial sustainability. 

Ms. Ford graduated summa cum laude from Vanderbilt University with a degree in human and organizational development and a minor in Latin American studies.  She earned her MBA at Duke University with concentrations in financial analysis and social entrepreneurship.  She graduated from Duke as a dean's scholar, CASE scholar, McGowan Fellow, Coach K. Leadership Fellow, Boston Consulting Group Fellow, and recipient of the dean's recognition award.