Building on more than 50 years of international grant making and a strong network of field Offices and international staff, the Ford Foundation decided to create a new kind of fellowship program geared toward grassroots leaders and social innovators in the year 2000 .
Foundation trustees and staff concluded that, if given the right tools, socially committed individuals from disadvantaged communities could succeed in postgraduate studies and would advance social change upon returning home.
To realize this vision, in 2001 the Ford Foundation awarded the largest single grant in its history — $280 million over 10 years — to launch IFP. Recognizing IFP’s achievements, in 2006 the Ford Foundation pledged an additional $75 million for the program. To date, IFP has selected over 4,300 Fellows from the 22 countries the program is being implemented in and has concluded selections in all these countries.
In Kenya the following number of fellowships have been awarded to deserving recipients per year to date.
| YEAR: | NO: | YEAR: | NO: |
| 2001 | 9 | 2006 | 16 |
| 2002 | 10 | 2007 | 16 |
| 2003 | 14 | 2008 | 16 |
| 2004 | 0 | 2009 | 14 |
| 2005 | 14 | 2010 | 19 |
| TOTAL NUMBER | 128 | ||
To access names of Kenyan beneficiaries per year, Click here to Download the full list.
To date 77 (seventy seven) of the above beneficiaries have completed their study programs, joined the IFP- Kenya Alumni Association that has good mapping of its members within the country hence creating a very good linkage of IFP Alumni to any needs for community activities all over the country and even globally.
