Ford Foundation records, Economic Opportunity and Assets Program, Vice President, Office Files of Pablo Farias, 1954-2014
Collection context
Summary
- Creator:
- Ford Foundation and Farias, Pablo
- Extent:
- 9.21 Cubic Feet 24 document boxes: 23 letter size and 1 legal size
- Language:
- English.
Background
- Scope and content:
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The collection contains the office files of Pablo Farias who worked at the Ford Foundation for more than a decade, primarily in the Foundation's assets building programs. Farias served as Deputy Vice President and Vice President of the Asset Building and Community Development Program (ASSETS) and then Vice President of the Economic Opportunity and Assets Program (EOA) after an organizational restructuring at the Foundation. Prior to his work in the assets programs, Farias served as the Foundation's Representative for Mexico and Central America and was based in the Mexico City Office. The collection does not contain any files created from Farias' time as Representative for Mexico.
There are several different groupings of materials within the collection that are represented by different series. The first series pertains to the Leadership for a Changing World program, the second series contains files documenting meetings and trips, and the third series contains files documenting the administration of the Foundation's various field offices. The fourth series has been labeled general files because it contains a mix of meeting and trip files, programs strategy files, administrative files, and subject files. The last series contains a group of files that are specifically about the different program units of the EOA.
Within the collection, there are not clear divisions between materials Farias created when he worked in ASSETS and materials created when he worked in EOA. The collection also includes materials created before Farias started working in the Foundation's assets programs and materials created after he left the Foundation. The records created prior to Farias' tenure in ASSETS appear to have been created by Melvin Oliver, Farias' predecessor as Vice President of ASSETS, and the records created after Farias left the Foundation may have been created by his successor as EOA Vice President, Xavier de Souza Briggs. The collection is more like the office files of the Vice President for the Foundation's assets building programs, from ASSETS to EOA, than files specific to Farias' work.
The collection's contents show program interests and strategy history of the Foundation's assets building programs. These interests include sustainable economic development in consideration of environment and climate change concerns and financial asset building support for low-income communities and countries in the Global South. Files document the emphasis of HIV/AIDS, reproductive health, and sexuality in the Foundation's international programming. Relief and recovery for natural disasters was also a focus of the Foundation in the mid-2000s in response to the 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami and Hurricane Katrina's impact on the Gulf Coast of the United States in 2005. Materials concerning program strategy discuss organizational learning, initiative evaluation, and lines of work statements.
Briefing books are one of the most prevalent types of materials found throughout the collection. These records document the subject matter, context, and scheduling of various meetings, site visits, and projects. Other common material formats found throughout the collection include correspondence, drafts, notes, reports, presentations, agendas, itineraries, articles, newsclips, publications, and Recommended Grant Action records (RGAs). There are also a few photographs and digital media items in the collection. The photographs document trips to different countries.
- Acquisition information:
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Ford Foundation archive was deposited at the RAC in 2011. Ford Foundation records, correspondence, reports, program files, and officers' papers were transferred to and accessioned by the RAC beginning in 2011. Accessions continue as necessary.
This material was transferred to the RAC in two accessions in 2021 and 2022 and was ingested by the RAC as Accessions 2021:102 and 2022:055.
- Arrangement:
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Collection is comprised of five series.
Original order was maintained as much as possible.
The collection arrangement is as follows:
Series 1. Leadership for a Changing World, 1995-2006
Series 2. Meetings and trips files, 2001-2012
Series 3. Field Office administration, 1975-2011
Series 4. General files, 1954-2014
Series 5. Economic Opportunity and Assets Program (EOA) Unit files, 2005-2013
Access and use
- Restrictions:
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Records more than 10 years old are open for research with select materials restricted as noted. Brittle or damaged items are available at the discretion of RAC. Researchers interested in accessing digital media (floppy disks, CDs, DVDs, etc.) in this collection must use an access surrogate. The original items may not be accessed because of preservation concerns. To request an access surrogate be made, or if you are unsure if there is an access surrogate, please contact an archivist.
- Terms of access:
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Ford Foundation has title, copyright and literary rights in the collection, in so far as it holds them.
The Rockefeller Archive Center has authority to grant permission to cite and publish material from the collection. Permission to publish extensive excerpts, or material in its entirety, will be referred to the Ford Foundation.
- Location of this collection:
- Contact: