Ford Data Collection

[Chiquita Mcnicholas]

Asa global funder, we often hear from, and share with, our peers the challenges of collecting grantee demographic data internationally. This includes questions of how to navigate different legal landscapes in terms of what data we are allowed to collect; how to approach sensitive data; and what is even meaningful to collect given the importance of cultural context.

Requirements around compliance, privacy, and security of data varies from place to place. And, identification with certain demographic categories (e.g. LGBTQ+) may actually place respondents at risk in some places. All of this makes collecting demographic data internationally more complicated. So while we have seen some significant progress in demographic data collection among those funding in the United States in the last few years, there has been less movement for those funding outside of the U.S. to identify useful ways to capture diversity data.

In 2023, the Ford Foundation made the decision to begin collecting more demographic data for organizations based in the ten regions outside of the US in which we fund. Five actions came of these efforts:

In 2018, the Ford Foundation revised its approach to DEI data collection for grantees with the aim of focusing less on counting people and more on embedding equity and belonging into organizations. And yet, we also recognized that some amount of data collection was important, and part of pursuing that goal of equity. In the U.S., tracking race and ethnicity was particularly salient and we relied on the following categories:

We began with our regional offices around the world and the staff within them, asking what identity categories were most meaningful to them. Responses varied across our regional offices, but they could generally be categorized into one of three groups:

Group 1: Offices that believed race and ethnicity were not only relevant to track, but crucial to their local context. For those, we adapted the categories to ones that would make sense for the regions. For example:

Group 2: Offices that did not view race and ethnicity as relevant to their local context, but where there were other drivers of inequality for which tracking data would be important. For example:

Group 3: Offices where there was concern that tracking data on race and ethnicity or other categories might further divides and could potentially exacerbate tensions rather than advance our efforts at equity. Examples of this include Eastern Africa and the Middle East/North Africa. In order to respond to these local concerns, we decided to limit our data collection to just tracking disability and gender.

We also recognize that this entire effort has been happening against the backdrop of a changed environment here in the United States around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). The Supreme Court ruling last year against affirmative action in college admissions and a rising backlash against DEI efforts in general have many companies and organizations either pulling back on their DEI commitments or at least unsure of how to navigate what has become an increasingly uncertain space. And many have wondered whether they should be collecting demographic data at all as part of grant applications.

As we mentioned, with our new international data being collected with specific categories for specific contexts, it will be challenging, if not impossible, to talk in aggregate about the diversity of our grantees. For instance, we will never be able to say that a certain percentage of our grant dollars is going to People of Color-led organizations globally, because outside of the U.S. that concept either looks very different or, depending on the country, is not applicable at all.

We hope these reflections can be useful for other global funders who are struggling with similar questions, and would appreciate continuing to be in conversation as our practices and thinking continues to evolve.

Eric Li is data governance manager at the Ford Foundation, Luc Athayde-Rizzaro is grantmaking effectiveness officer at the Ford Foundation, and Bess Rothenberg is senior director of strategy and learning at the Ford Foundation.

I have a 2015 CMax Hybrid SE that I purchased in April. While everything else seems fine I have not been able to get a vehicle health report to complete. I have verified that I am registered at the Ford owners site and the same phone worked fine for vhr in the Fusion I traded in. I have removed that vehicle and registered the new one on the Ford site. When I tell the system to execute the report the screen tells me that it is configuring the system. After a few minutes of that the system changes the message to tell me that there is a vehicle data collection fault and that the report cannot be submitted at that time, try again later. The attached files are pictures of the messages.

I posted this issue on the sync forum about a month ago and Rebecca from Ford replied and got more info from me. She then told me that her support people are aware of the problem and that she would escalate my problem. I have not heard anything since then.

That actually just happened to me also in the last several days. Driving my 2015 with about 1150 miles on it, I tried doing a Health Report. I had been driving about 20 minutes on the freeway at 65 MPH with the cruise set. I got the little circle thing going round and round saying it was configuring something. After about 2 minutes it said the report could not be sent, to try again later. Tried various times over the last day or two, but no go.

I also had a 2013 Edge and never had a problem with it. I have the MFM and Ford Owner Site and Ford Sync Site registered under the new C-Max information and everything else is working except the Health Report.

Well, that's not true either. I tried sending driving directions to the car using the Mapquest on line feature and it could not do so. Just a circle again going round and round. No problems usually when I sent to the Edge.

I originally posted this on the Sync forum and today I heard from one of the Ford reps asking for more information from me. I have sent that and hopefully will hear back in the next week or so. I will update here when I have more to tell on this.

I have all of the conditions you posted except for maybe the last one about the phone never dialing. Do you mean it doesn't dial to obtain the Health Report, or it never dials when in the car? Mine dials fine using the car menu if I ask it to dial so and so, or if I use the phone book in the Phone section of the MFT. However, I have not been able to run a Health Report as I posted earlier in this topic.

I have made an appointment with my dealer for the 6th of July so I will know then how it goes. I will report back afterwards to let you all know. Thanks to Rebecca for getting the fix out to us so quickly.

Here is the followup. Yesterday I had it into the dealer where they applied the fix for the Data Collection Fault error that Rebecca told us about. A couple of hours later I tried the Vehicle Health Report and it was finally successful.

It gives you the basic status of various systems such as engine, transmission, & emissions; brakes and suspension; restraints &odoriferous assistance; and fluids & filters. If there is nothing wrong it does not tell you much but if it does spot something it might give you some early warning. It also tells you about any upcoming scheduled maintenance.

FordHarrison is a labor and employment law firm with a national practice serving clients in all areas of labor and employment law including traditional labor, employment, business immigration, employee benefits and litigation. We also assist clients with important preventive measures, including audits, management and employee training, and handbook and policy review.

Our lawyers and HR consultants focus on providing sound advice and counsel to clients in all aspects of labor and employment law and workforce management. In order to ensure that our attorneys' skills are always at their sharpest, we provide mandatory training sessions for our attorneys and we encourage each lawyer to research, write and lecture on emerging issues in labor and employment law.

We are committed to fostering diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) not only because it is the right thing to do, but because sustaining a culture of inclusion aids our firm in attracting and retaining the best talent, and is integral to delivering the best possible service to our clients.

To strengthen our partnership with employers, FordHarrison provides information on the latest in labor and employment law through our timely webinars, seminars, emailed legal alerts, and in-depth analysis articles. We also produce our Boundless Labor and Employment Law SourceBook - a comprehensive, yet concise, arsenal of labor and employment information to which you will refer throughout the year. This resource is exclusively available to FordHarrison clients and contains over 1000 pages and 28 sections on the variety of topics that comprise the labor and employment laws in which FordHarrison practices. The Boundless SourceBook is updated on an on-going basis to incorporate current legal developments that impact the various issues discussed and is an exclusive resource for FordHarrison clients. Additionally, our attorneys often author articles for, and are quoted in, major national and international publications.

The EEO-1 Component 1 report is a mandatory annual data collection requiring all private sector employers with 100 or more employees, and federal contractors with 50 or more employees meeting certain criteria, to submit workforce demographic data, including sex, race and ethnicity, by job category. This is a requirement mandated by the EEOC.

3a8082e126