In 2001, Susan Berresford, then president of the Ford Foundation, saw the value in Alex Boraine and his work developing strategies to help societies deal with legacies of massive human rights abuses, address the needs of victims, search for the truth, and pursue sustainable peace. She saw enough value to give him all the support he needed to co-create a lasting institution, ICTJ, dedicated to this purpose. On Monday, April 1, 2019, ICTJ found its way back to the Ford Foundation, this time to celebrate Alex’s life and reaffirm the mission that ICTJ continues to carry out in his absence.

Friends, family, and former colleagues joined together to remember Alex Boraine, recalling stories of his time on South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, teaching at New York University, and being a father to his sons and a husband to his wife Jenny. Through it all, his sense of justice, his kindness, and ultimately his humanity proved to be guiding principles of his life and work.

Guest speakers included Joan Edelman Spero and Barron M. Tenny, Co-Chairs of ICTJ’s Board of Directors; Hilary Pennington, Executive Vice President for Program at the Ford Foundation; Vincent Mai, founding Chair of ICTJ’s Board of Directors and current board member; Susan Berresford, former President of the Ford Foundation; Priscilla Hayner, cofounder of ICTJ; Sandra Pellegrom, Counselor, Head of Section of Development, Humanitarian Affairs and Human Rights at the Permanent Mission of the Kingdom of The Netherlands to the United Nations and Nicholas Boraine, one of Alex Boraine’s sons.

This evening to remember Alex Boraine also gave ICTJ experts, past and present, a chance to reconnect with each other. With ICTJ nearing its 20th anniversary, the event served as an invaluable occasion for staff members and friends to reflect on the organization’s roots and legacy, and to look ahead to continue innovating the field, responding to fast-changing contexts, and advancing the mission for many years to come.