Henry Der
Four Freedom Fund – Public Interest Projects
Henry Der is a senior program officer at the Four Freedoms Fund, a national funders’ collaborative housed at the Public Interest Projects, Inc. He is working with immigrant rights groups across the nation to advance immigrant integration, including the legalization of 12 million undocumented immigrants, and defense of rights. For more than 22 years, he was the executive director of the San Francisco-based, membership-supported Chinese for Affirmative Action, working to promote the civil rights of Asian American and other racial minority groups in employment, education, voting and access to public services. A former Peace Corps volunteer in Kenya, Henry has also served as Deputy Superintendent of Public Instruction at the California Department of Education, with oversight responsibilities for programs that address the needs of adult immigrant, at-risk and special needs students. He was appointed by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction to be the State Administrator to bring Emery Unified School District out of fiscal bankruptcy. Active in community affairs, Henry is leading coalition efforts to promote equal educational opportunities and access for immigrant students at the City College of San Francisco.
