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Darren Walker<\/strong> was not supposed to run the Ford Foundation<\/a>. Born to a single mother in Louisiana in 1959, Walker grew up Black and poor in rural Texas<\/a>. \u201cI think I was always a strange little gay boy,\u201d he says with a laugh. \u201cI was fortunate. My mother gave me unconditional love, and so I never felt out of place or unwelcome.\u201d<\/p>\n Who knew Beula Spencer\u2019s strange little boy would one day become the 10th president of the Ford Foundation, a private philanthropic organization with the goal of advancing human welfare and social change. Founded in 1936 by Edsel and Henry Ford, the Ford Foundation is one of the wealthiest private foundations in the world, with a reported endowment of over $16.8 billion. Since 2013, Walker has overseen the entire operation.<\/p>\n Today, after almost 13 years, is leaving his post. On a Zoom from his home on the east side of Manhattan, Walker chats with Vanity Fair<\/em> while sitting in his kitchen, intricately decorated with art and photos of Black luminaries like Muhammad Ali<\/a> and James Baldwin<\/a>. \u201cI have all sorts of things pinned on it\u2014an inspiration wall,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Marty Baron, Jos\u00e9 Carlos Zamora, Amal Clooney, George Clooney, Melinda French Gates, Walker, and Fatou Baldeh attend the Clooney Foundation For Justice’s The Albies.<\/span>Taylor Hill\/Getty Images.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n