Roque Barros is the Director of the Ford Institute for Community Building at the Ford Family Foundation headquartered in Roseburg, Oregon. Barros has been leading community building efforts for both nonprofits and foundations over the past 30 years. He has worked as an adviser to communities nationwide on how to conduct resident-led work. In addition, he served as the Director of Community Building and Interim President of the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation/Jacobs Family Foundation and as Executive Director of Los Niños, an organization involved in community development and educational programs along the U.S.-Mexico border.
As the director of the Institute, Barros leads the Ford Institute’s work which is grounded in the belief that communities must lead and guide the change they want to see. Throughout his career, Roque has created curriculum and models that help build connections, capacity and groups to take community-led actions to build their community’s future.