Monday, November 10, 2014
Ford Foundation Heads Group of Philanthropic Leaders to Save Detroit
Late one afternoon last November, leaders of some of the nation’s top foundations were invited into a private meeting in a courthouse conference room here as Judge Gerald E. Rosen, the appointed mediator in this city’s federal bankruptcy case, made an unheard-of request.
He wanted the philanthropic groups, some with ties to the city, to help rescue Detroit from bankruptcy by donating hundreds of millions of dollars to spare retirees from deeper pension cuts and protect the city’s famed art collection.
The pitch went on for about three hours....