FORA.tv Speaker - Darren Walker

Darren Walker is Vice President, Foundation Initiatives of the Rockefeller Foundation where he leads the Foundation’s work in the United States in New York, New Orleans and national policy. Mr. Walker also oversees a new exploration that addresses the transformation of cities and economies in the Global South as a result of urbanization and its impact on poor and vulnerable communities. Prior to joining the Rockefeller Foundation, Mr. Walker served as Chief Operating Officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, a faith-based community development organization in Harlem. There he lead efforts that resulted in the development of over 1,000 units of housing for low- and moderate-income residents; Harlem’s first large-scale privately financed commercial project in over 30 years, a Pathmark Supercenter; and construction of the Thurgood Marshall Academy—the first public school ever built by a community organization in NYC. He began his career in 1986 at the international law firm of Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. In 1988, he joined the Union Bank of Switzerland (UBS), where he spent seven years in its capital markets division. In 1995, after leaving UBS, Mr. Walker worked for a year as a full-time volunteer staff member at the Children's Storefront School, an elementary school serving low-income families in Harlem. Mr. Walker is a 1982 graduate of the University of Texas at Austin, where he was named one of ten “Dean’s Distinguished Graduates”. In 1986 he graduated from the University of Texas School of Law and received the Law Alumni Association "Outstanding Graduate Award." He attended the Kennedy School of Government's State and Local Government Leaders Program as a Fannie Mae Foundation Fellow.