Susan Vail Berresford (born 1943) is an American foundation executive. She was the president of the

Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a $25,000 (about $550,000 in 2023) gift from Edsel Ford. ...

from 1996-2007. Since November 2008 she has worked as a philanthropy consultant out of the offices of

The New York Community Trust The New York Community Trust (The Trust) is a community foundation that serves New York City's five boroughs, Long Island, and Westchester County. The Trust administers more than 2,200 charitable funds. Established in 1924, The Trust is one of the ...

Education

Susan Vail Berresford was born in 1943 and attended the

Brearley School The Brearley School is an American all-girls private school on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City. It educates approximately 770 girls in grades K–12, with approximately 50 to 65 students per grade. In addition to being a member ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. She attended

Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...

for two years and then transferred to study American history at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

, where she graduated cum laude in 1965.

Career

Berresford served as a program officer for the Neighborhood Youth Corps from 1965 until 1967. In 1967-68, she worked for the Manpower Career Development Agency. Berresford joined the

in 1970 as a project assistant in the Division of National Affairs. Between 1972 and 1980 she served as a program officer in that division. In 1980 she was named officer in charge of the foundation's women's programs. She became vice president for the foundation's U.S. and International Affairs programs in 1981, and subsequently served as vice president of the Program Division in charge of worldwide programming. She later became executive vice president and chief operating officer of the foundation before being elected the first female president of the foundation on April 3, 1996. In 2003, she co-founded the

United States Artists United States Artists (USA) is a national arts funding organization based in Chicago. USA is dedicated to supporting living artists and cultural practitioners across the United States by granting unrestricted awards. Mission The organization' ...

and is currently a trustee. In 2019, the philanthropic foundation founded the Berresford Prize which recognizes a cultural practitioner for their work for artists. Berresford joined the U.S. Fund for UNICEF's national Board in October 2008.

Board of directors

Berresford is a board member of the

Council on Foundations A council is a group of people who come together to consult, deliberate, or make decisions. A council may function as a legislature, especially at a town, city or county/shire level, but most legislative bodies at the state/provincial or nati ...

and th
Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA)
and a member of the

Trilateral Commission The Trilateral Commission is a nongovernmental international organization aimed at fostering closer cooperation between Japan, Western Europe and North America. It was founded in July 1973, principally by American banker and philanthropist David ...

and has served on the Boards of the Chase Manhattan Corporation and the Hermine and Robert Popper Foundation. She serves as an advisory board member of the Trinidad Trust Fund (California), and is a member of the

Council on Foreign Relations The Council on Foreign Relations (CFR) is an American think tank focused on Foreign policy of the United States, U.S. foreign policy and international relations. Founded in 1921, it is an independent and nonpartisan 501(c)(3) nonprofit organi ...

. She is a trustee of The California Endowment and the

Kaiser Family Foundation KFF, which was formerly known as The Kaiser Family Foundation or The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, is an American non-profit organization, non-profit organization, headquartered in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. It prefers KFF, w ...

. She is the convener of the U.S.–Vietnam Dialogue Group on Agent Orange/Dioxin.

Awards

She was elected a Fellow of the

American Academy of Arts and Sciences The American Academy of Arts and Sciences (The Academy) is one of the oldest learned societies in the United States. It was founded in 1780 during the American Revolution by John Adams, John Hancock, James Bowdoin, Andrew Oliver, and other ...

in 1998.

References

External links

The Ford Foundation

The New York Community Trust

Profile
at

SourceWatch The Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) is a progressive nonprofit watchdog and advocacy organization based in Madison, Wisconsin. CMD publishes ExposedbyCMD.org, SourceWatch.org, and ALECexposed.org. History CMD was founded in 1993 by prog ...

United States Artists

Kaiser Family Foundation

The Japan Center for International Exchange (JCIE/USA)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Berresford, Susan 1943 births Fellows of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Living people People from New York (state) UNICEF people Vassar College alumni Radcliffe College alumni American chief operating officers