Celeste Ford is the chief communications officer for the Corporation. She is responsible for developing and implementing a comprehensive communications strategy that drives the creation and dissemination of all content and marketing activities promoting the foundation’s work, including audience engagement, media, and events.
Following a career as a TV news reporter, Ford joined the Corporation’s Communications department in 2013 as the media liaison and primary spokesperson. She was promoted to the newly created position of director of external relations, focused on media and influencer engagement, reputation management, thought leadership, and the production of multimedia events and content. Ford joined the Office of the President in the role of director of special projects where she helped manage the relaunch of the Andrew Carnegie Fellows Program among other high-priority initiatives, and in 2023, she was appointed chief communications officer.
Ford’s work as a broadcast journalist was recognized with numerous honors, including a Dupont Award and two national Edward R. Murrow Awards. During much of her 15 years on WABC-TV's Eyewitness News, Ford was a street reporter, producing daily news segments as well as investigative reports and primetime documentaries. As a beat reporter, she started and managed the station’s first unit dedicated to K–16 education. Ford has also held contributor roles on PBS and CNBC.
Ford maintains board-level volunteer commitments with several nonprofits, including the Hechinger Report, which publishes education news. She graduated from UNC at Chapel Hill, where she majored in broadcast journalism and was the recipient of a WSOC-TV (ABC) merit scholarship. She also completed a certificate program in marketing at New York University.
