Friends Council on Education
Leadership in Service to Friends Education Award

will be presented to
Dr. Darryl J. Ford 
on
Thursday, April 20, 2023
Annual Meeting and Meeting for Worship
12:30 pm - 2:00 pm
Worship Room
Friends Center
1515 Cherry Street
Philadelphia PA 19102

Friends Council on Education Recognizes Dr. Darryl J. Ford with the Friends Council Leadership in Service to Friends Education Award

Through our Leadership in Service to Friends Education Award, we seek to lift up and celebrate an individual or a partnership whose demonstrated commitment to Quaker education is exemplary, whose light shines remarkably bright, and whose impact is felt within their own school community as well as throughout the wider world.

In his thirty-year career as a Friends school educator, Dr. Darryl J. Ford, an alum of Friends Select School, embodies what this award was created to honor: hands-on service, inspired leadership, deep spirituality, and innovative partnerships. 

We are grateful for Darryl’s direct service to Friends Council: long-time board member, twice clerk of the board, panelist, and gatherer. He serves with unrivaled generosity, dignity, and grace. As head of William Penn Charter School, his strong and grounded presence, mentorship, and guiding Light have benefited all Friends schools. Darryl is a man of family, faith, music, art, and intellect, and an avid fan of Philadelphia’s sports teams. His example reminds us that answering a call to serve in Friends education proves to be a call to live with full hearts and minds animating our commitments. 

We hear from many educators that Darryl has inspired them to want to be even more, and do even more. He has made each of us stronger by sharing in our work to affirm the Quaker spirit of Friends education.