Eric K. Ward is a long time civil rights strategist.From 2014 - 2017, Eric worked as a Ford Foundation Program Officer. Eric has a long and distinguished career as a philanthropist, working over the past 20 years with local, state, and national philanthropic institutions. A former staff member with Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) from 1990 – 1994, Eric founded and directed a community project designed to expose and counter hate groups and respond to bigoted violence. In 1994, Eric joined the staff of the Northwest Coalition Against Malicious Harassment and worked with government leaders, civil rights campaigners, businesses leaders and law enforcement officials in establishing over 120 task forces focused on human rights and anti-violence in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. From 2003 until 2011, Eric served as the National Field Director for the Center for New Community and assisted immigrant rights advocates in addressing the growing xenophobic influence on public policy.Eric is considered a national expert on the relationship between hate violence and preserving democratic institutions, governance and inclusive societies. From 2008 until 2014, Eric was a contributor to the Progressive Media Project where his opinions have been published in newspapers nationwide. Eric currently serves on the Board of Directors of Revolutions Per Minute (RPM), a nonprofit agency that provides artists with strategy and support for their activism and philanthropy. RPM was founded in 2005 by musicians, managers, and advisors from bands including Pearl Jam, The Beastie Boys, and R.E.M.