Events & Speakers

March 20, 2017
Concert Hall The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts Washington, DC

The Nancy Hanks Lecture on Arts and Public Policy is a leading national forum for arts policy intended to stimulate dialogue on policy and social issues affecting the arts. The lecture was led by, Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, an international social justice philanthropy with a $13 billion endowment and $600 million in annual grant making. He chaired the philanthropy committee that brought a resolution to the city of Detroit’s historic bankruptcy and is co-founder and chair of the US Impact Investing Alliance. Before joining Ford, Darren was vice president at the Rockefeller Foundation, overseeing global and domestic programs including the Rebuild New Orleans initiative after Hurricane Katrina.

The Lecture began with introduction by Thelma Golden, Director and Chief Curator of The Studio Museum, and a performance of excerpts from the one-person play, Notes from the Field, by special guest artist Anna Deavera Smith.