President & CEO
As President and CEO, Rodney Ferguson is responsible for the strategic, programmatic, financial and management operations of Winrock International, a $100 million nonprofit organization with over 1,000 employees in more than 40 countries. Ferguson ensures that Winrock fulfills its mission to empower the disadvantaged, increase economic opportunity and sustain natural resources through its 100-plus projects managed from offices in D.C., Arkansas, California, Kenya, the Philippines and project offices around the world.
Before coming to Winrock, Ferguson worked for 20 years as one of the country’s leading consultants on communications and strategy for the nonprofit sector — most recently with Lipman Hearne, Inc., the largest marketing firm in the U.S. that exclusively serves nonprofits. There he helped the MacArthur Foundation manage its $15 million MacArthur Fellows — a.k.a. “genius” — awards portfolio. Ferguson also worked with other major foundations, service providers and philanthropic organizations, including the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the National Children’s Medical Center, and with international aid and development projects in Iraq, Slovenia and Qatar. He assisted dozens of colleges and universities, including Seton Hall University and the State University of New York (SUNY), the nation’s largest state education system. There he helped develop and execute the SUNY strategic plan “The Power of SUNY” to leverage the $5 billion-a-year system’s economic development for the benefit of New York’s students and taxpayers.
Born and raised in Alabama, Ferguson graduated summa cum laude from Birmingham Southern College. He attended the University of St. Andrews in Scotland as a Rotary Foundation International Scholar, and graduated from Harvard Kennedy School with a master’s in public policy. Ferguson is a frequent speaker and presenter on foreign policy, international development and nonprofit accountability. He recently spoke on the global impact of harnessing technology, science and policy at the Redlands Forum and on enhancing solar capabilities in Winrock project sites at USAID’s Global Innovation Week. He also convened leading stakeholders from the public, private and nonprofit worlds to discuss counter trafficking-in-persons and sustainable global food supply issues at recent Concordia Summits.
Ferguson has served on a number of boards and is involved in many organizations that call attention to the importance of development aid, including USAID’s Global Development Lab and the National Good Food Network. He is a member of the Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) 2019 Advisory Committee, the Milken Institute Center for Public Health Advisory Board, the U.S. Global Leadership Council and a founding member of the Cuba Consortium.
PUBLICATIONS
RELATED NEWS & STORIES
- Winrock CEO: Companies Can Act Responsibly and Innovate TooOctober 7, 2019
- Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson Addresses Concordia SummitSeptember 25, 2019
- Roots and WingsAugust 9, 2019
- Winrock CEO Named to Export-Import Bank Advisory CommitteeAugust 1, 2019
- Nanette Medved-Po Joins Winrock International Board of DirectorsJuly 10, 2019
- Winrock International Welcomes New Board MembersNovember 27, 2018
- Winrock Leaders Join the Conversation at Concordia 2018October 17, 2018
- Address of Winrock President and CEO Rodney Ferguson to Redlands ForumSeptember 25, 2018
- The Future of Forests: An Optimist’s ViewSeptember 17, 2018
- Winrock ForwardJuly 17, 2018
- ‘Good for the World’June 14, 2018
- Ending Child Labor from the Inside OutJune 11, 2018
- Winrock on the RoadApril 12, 2018
- Honoring Champions for ChangeDecember 13, 2017
- Rodney Ferguson Speaks at Concordia Film Premiere: Campaign for a Sustainable Global Food SupplyOctober 9, 2017
- Winrock And Concordia Confront Global Challenges At 2017 Summit
- The Challenge of Too Little WaterOctober 2, 2017
- An Arkansas First: USG Invests Direct Dollars Into Startups Via Winrock’s Delta I-FundSeptember 26, 2017
- Images of ChangeJune 13, 2017
- ‘Mingalarbar, Mr. Ferguson!’May 31, 2017
- 2015 Annual Report: Impact and InnovationNovember 15, 2016
- Winrock International Announces New Board MembersSeptember 22, 2016
- Video: Burmese Coffee Arrives in AmericaSeptember 16, 2016
- A Culture of Innovation at Winrock International
- Winrock and Concordia Form Partnership to Address Labor TraffickingSeptember 15, 2016
- Winrock International & Concordia Join Forces In Campaign Against Labor TraffickingSeptember 14, 2016
- The Coffee Has LandedAugust 25, 2016
- Press Release: Burmese Specialty Coffee Hits The World MarketAugust 19, 2016
- Winrock International, Innovation Hub To CombineJune 15, 2016
- Ending Child Labor from the Inside OutJune 10, 2016
- Winrock International President Rodney Ferguson to Participate in Concordia Summit on the Americas in MiamiMay 12, 2016
- Healthy Food is a Human Right: Rodney FergusonMay 5, 2016
- Winrock Hosts US-Cuba DialogueMarch 25, 2016
- Cuba Consortium Agriculture & Food Roundtable to be Held in ArkansasMarch 15, 2016
- Winrock ForwardFebruary 10, 2016
- Protected: Cuba’s tasty transformation: los paladaresSeptember 28, 2015
- Winrock International Applauds China on Cap-and-Trade LeadershipSeptember 25, 2015
- Winrock CEO Helps Create New Advisory Organization, The Cuba ConsortiumJuly 10, 2015
- Sharing Ideas and Best Practices to Eliminate Child Labor in AgricultureMay 20, 2015
- David Braman Joins Winrock International’s Board of DirectorsMay 5, 2015
- Winrock Volunteers, Staff Share Knowledge, Explore Opportunities with Farmers in CubaApril 23, 2015
- Jason Bordoff Joins Winrock International’s Board of DirectorsOctober 6, 2014
- Devex Executive Insights – How a business background helped set 2 NGO chiefs up for successMarch 7, 2014
- American Carbon Registry Presents Annual AwardsAugust 6, 2013
- Rodney Ferguson Named President and CEO of Winrock InternationalMarch 4, 2013
PRESS COVERAGE