The Ford Foundation, an American private foundation with the mission of advancing human welfare, appoints Diane Samuels as the Vice President of Talent and Human Resources. She succeeds Samantha Gilbert, the foundations first Vice President in this role, and Diane will be directly reporting to the president and serve as an officer of the board of trustees.

Commenting on the appointment, Darren Walker, President of the Ford Foundation says, “Diane has been at the forefront of driving staff diversity, building equity in our policies, and advocating for inclusive organizational practices and we are incredibly pleased to welcome her into this role. He further adds, “She is an excellent addition to our executive team, with deep experience in building trusting relationships. Diane is an extraordinary leader who truly lives the values of the foundation."

In Ford Foundation, Diane will be responsible for guiding foundation’s global human resources function- strategy development, recruitment of new talents, and staff training & development, along with employee benefits & compensation. She is expected to play an integral role in enhancing the organization’s internal culture as well.

Diane possesses more than 20 years of experience in philanthropic, for–profit and government sectors. Before joining Ford, She served as the Managing Director of operations at the New York State Governor's Office of Storm Recovery. In addition to that, Diane has also supervised human resources, strategic planning, and operational management for the build-out of offices in Albany and New York. Furthermore, she has held positions in human resource management at the Rockefeller Foundation for a period of 13 years.

In 2000, Diane emigrated from Jamaica to US, and began her career in human resource at Jamaica Broilers. She holds a Master’s degree in Human Resource Management from The New School and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Brooklyn College.

In response to her new role, Diane says, “I am delighted to be stepping into this leadership role at such an important time in the foundation's development. Every single day, I am inspired by my colleagues and our grantees and I look forward to contributing to their work and mission by continuing to build a strong, transformational HR department.”