Sarita Gupta

Vice President of U.S. Programs

Ford Foundation

Speaker

Sarita Gupta is vice president of U.S. Programs, overseeing the Ford Foundation’s domestic work including Civic Engagement and Government, Creativity and Free Expression, Future of Work(ers), Technology and Society, Disability Rights, and Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Justice. 

Gupta joined the foundation in 2019 as director of the Future of Work(ers) program, bringing more than two decades of experience working to expand people’s ability to take collective action to improve their workplaces, communities, and lives by creating meaningful solutions. In this capacity, she spearheaded the launch of several far-reaching initiatives. At the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic, she brought together a number of major funders to launch the Families and Workers Fund, which now stands at over $100 million, and the $50 million Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, to address the immediate needs of low-wage workers and their families and drive long-term policy change.  

Gupta previously served as executive director of Jobs With Justice, a leading organization in efforts to advance workers’ rights and economic justice.  She has been on the frontlines of organizing and policy campaigns to boost wages, worker voice, and working conditions for all working people, and improve labor and civil rights protections for immigrant men and women. 

Gupta was also co-director of Caring Across Generations, a national movement transforming the way America defines care so all families can live well and age with dignity.  There, she spearheaded a policy and culture change campaign calling for a much-needed care infrastructure to provide high-quality, affordable options for individuals and families, support for family caregivers, and the care workforce.  As a member of the “sandwich generation” herself, she knows all too well the real struggles families are facing with the lack of an adequate and affordable care infrastructure in this country. 

Gupta earned a Bachelor of Arts from Mount Holyoke College, with studies in women, health, and society.  She currently sits on the boards of Mount Holyoke College, National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, Caring Across Generations, Institute for Policy Studies, United States Student Association Foundation, and Ownership Works. 

She is the co-author of The Future We Need: Organizing for a Better Democracy in the Twenty-First Century.