Adria D. Goodson is director of the Ford Foundation Global Fellowship program. She believes that every person has the capacity to develop into their best self and that every leader is a catalyst for organizations and systems to better serve human society. She is committed to coming alongside leaders, providing both support and challenge, as they create thriving and fulfilled lives.

Adria has spent almost two decades leading and designing fellowship programs grounded in social movement and leadership development theory. Most recently, she was chief program officer for the Pahara Institute, a national nonprofit organization that supports senior leaders in education. She also serves on the faculty of Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

From 2005 to 2015, Adria was the founding director of Hunt Alternatives Fund’s Prime Movers fellowship program, a program that supports national social movement leaders in the United States. She has worked with the Aspen Institute, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s After School Project, the Hestia Fund, Resource Generation, and the Boston College Media Research and Action Project.

Adria earned her PhD from Boston College in sociology, specializing in social movement theory, public policy, and philanthropy. She was awarded the W.K. Kellogg Foundation Non-profit Opportunity Leadership fellowship and the Boston College President’s fellowship. She is a Pahara-Aspen Fellow, selected in 2015, has authored several published pieces on movement leadership, and was a featured speaker at TedxBeaconStreet. Adria lives in Woburn, Massachusetts, with her husband and daughter. She is an avid foodie and home chef, and loves poetry and cycling in the summertime.