Letter from the President

August 24, 2026

Dear community,

Earlier this year, we announced a new approach to our work at the Foundation. We took this step based on years of learning from the communities themselves – indeed, from many of you – about what was needed and what you wanted from us. Flowing out of our new mission, we have made changes to how we work that will enable us to address issues that cut across every part of community life.

I want to tell you about this evolution in our journey, and to invite your partnership as we move forward.

Our mission

Rooted in rural, we relentlessly pursue happy, healthy lives for kids.
The future depends on it.

Before we talk about our changes, it’s helpful to reflect back on our Board-approved mission and new strategic framework. And I want to say upfront: it is, has been, and will continue to be focused on the rural communities of Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.

Our founders, Kenneth Ford and Hallie Ford, often encouraged people to “remember the kid at the end of the gravel road.” At its heart, our new mission embodies that idea. But this vision was never limited to children alone. It was a call to see and serve rural communities as a whole.

Communities are interconnected systems of individuals, families, businesses, main streets, schools, faith-based organizations and institutions that contribute to a stronger shared future.

When we invest in one generation, one sector or one area of community life, we do it with an understanding of how that investment affects the others. Every part of a rural community is connected, and every part plays a role in creating opportunities for the young people who will carry those communities forward. It includes access to economic opportunity for parents and caregivers, to the resources needed to support the key services and business growth that allow families to meet their needs, and the tools to impact the systems influencing these things for the better.

When we say our mission is to “relentlessly pursue happy, healthy lives for kids,” we are holding these two truths:

• Children flourish when they are part of a strong, interconnected support system, and
• When these conditions are present in the early years, communities tend to be stronger and future generations are more likely to thrive.

The future

The size and complexity of the challenges we face across rural require us to adapt our approach and expand our capacity to help communities influence the decisions that shape their future.

While we remain steadfast in our commitment to rural, we knew that to be successful in our new focus, we needed to pivot from our organizational structure that had served us with our previous mission and goals. A few weeks ago, we announced a reorganization at The Ford Family Foundation designed to align our team structure with the new strategic framework.

This restructure resulted in the departure of seven honored and valued colleagues. This type of change is never easy for any organization. We feel the loss of our colleagues and friends deeply on a personal level. And I know that many of you are feeling this same loss. Relationships run deep with The Ford Family Foundation. It’s one of the things that makes our Foundation so strong. We honor those relationships and the people who held them. At the same time, we are looking ahead to carrying out our mission.

So let me tell you a bit more about where we are headed, and why we believe these organizational changes will help us get there, in partnership with you.

I’ll start by being clear about what has not changed in our work, because this matters:

• Our commitment to rural has not changed. It is the vision of our founders, and it is who we are at our core.
• We remain headquartered in the rural community of Roseburg, where the majority of our staff live. And we continue to have staff living and working across our region.
• Our geography has not changed. We remain committed to rural communities throughout Oregon and Siskiyou County, California.
• Our current grant commitments have not changed.
• Our commitment to scholarships, open grants, visual arts, community economic development; children, youth, and families; and rural capacity and leadership has not changed.

Our new organizational structure is in service to those unwavering commitments, not a substitute for them. We believe we can drive real, lasting change by approaching our work in some new ways.

Here is what the changes look like in practice:

• We have brought our program work — previously divided among Rural Community Building; Children, Youth and Families; and Community Economic Development — into a more unified team of content experts, so we can work across sectors and better reflect how rural communities actually live and function.
• We have updated our field model. Our new approach restores the number of field-based staff we had before 2023 and expands their role to lead a broader rural strategy focused on long-term resilience and opportunity. Our staff working across the Foundation will be visiting communities more regularly, so your connection to the Foundation stays strong.
• We are building up our policy and communications work so that rural voices carry more weight in the decisions that affect communities.
• You will also see us investing in rural leadership and training opportunities, a rural communications network that strengthens capacity and the collective rural voice and coordinated efforts to address challenges affecting our communities.

The road ahead – together

This is not about quick fixes. This is about building capacity and leadership that can have ripple effects through communities that address widespread challenges. And it’s about striking a delicate balance between providing funding and expertise informed by research and a holistic understanding of what works, while following communities’ leads in determining how those solutions are implemented locally.

I remain grateful to the departing staff, for the dedicated and heartfelt work they did to get us where we are. I am grateful to the many staff members who have embraced new responsibilities and are adapting to change to help build what comes next.

I am also grateful to you, for your feedback, your questions, and your willingness to work in partnership with us through this transition. The relationships built over time are valuable, and we do not take them for granted. This is a pivotal moment for all of us to look with fresh eyes at the challenges and opportunities facing rural communities, ask new questions and explore together what this moment requires.

Our door is open, and so is our commitment to doing this work alongside you.

Thank you for being part of creating a stronger future for rural kids, families, and communities.

In partnership,

Kara Inae Carlisle
President and CEO,
The Ford Family Foundation