Walker might be the head of the Ford Foundation, which, sitting on $16bn, is one of the most generous grant-giving organisations in the world, but ‘generosity’ is not a word he likes, as he wrote in a new book, From Generosity to Justice: A New Gospel of Wealth, which argues that philanthropy isn’t about giving out cash, but enacting change. “Most philanthropy in [America] goes to wealthy institutions that often serve the wealthy and the privileged,” he told PBS. Not so the Ford Foundation, whose activities range from million-dollar arts grants, plus funding for both the Studio Museum in Harlem and the Brooklyn Museum, to $50k for a festival of two-spirit performance in Seattle, supporting in the background a wide range of practices. Naturally, Walker is a target for institutional boards, acting as trustee to the Smithsonian and the National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC, and the High Line, New York; and cochairing New York City’s Mayoral Advisory Commission on City Art, Monuments and Markers.