1994
After years of contributing to charitable causes, Bill and Melinda Gates consolidate their giving to address two main initiatives: global health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest. Bill’s father, William H. Gates Sr., agrees to manage the new William H. Gates Foundation, formed in December 1994 with an initial stock gift of about $94 million.
1997
Bill and Melinda Gates launch the Gates Library Foundation as a sister philanthropy to help bridge the digital divide, and to ensure that, if you can get to a public library in the United States, you can access the Internet. Patty Stonesifer takes on the foundation’s leadership. The William H. Gates Foundation continues as a separate organization.
1998
Bill and Melinda travel in a bookmobile, touring public libraries in Alabama, the first state to receive grants supporting libraries’ efforts to provide free computer and Internet access.
The foundation’s global health emphasis manifests in an initial gift of $100 million to establish the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program at PATH.
1999
Nelson Mandela visits the foundation, discussing the importance of strategic giving to a forum of employees.
The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) receives a $25 million grant, the largest charitable gift to that date in the AIDS epidemic, allowing the initiative to more than double vaccine development efforts.
Bill and Melinda announce a $1 billion Gates Millennium Scholars gift to the United Negro College Fund.
The foundation makes an initial gift of $750 million to the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) to accelerate the delivery of life-saving vaccines to the world’s poorest children.
2000
The William H. Gates Foundation merges with the Gates Learning Foundation. The goal of the merger is to increase efficiency and communication between four main initiatives: Global Health, Education, Libraries, and Pacific Northwest Community Grants.
The foundation launches its education programs with a $350 million commitment to focus on model schools and districts; professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders; and the elimination of barriers to higher education through scholarships.
The foundation also launches the Sound Families Initiative to triple the number of transitional housing units for homeless families in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties in Washington state.
2001
The foundation announces a $60 million microbicide grant in conjunction with the launch of the Global Microbicide Project.
Building on the success of its U.S. program, the Libraries initiative expands outside of the states, awarding its first grant in Chile.
2002
The foundation participates in the launch of the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an innovative partnership between the public and private sectors focused on food-fortification efforts in developing countries.
At the World Economic Forum, in Davos, Switzerland, Bill and Bono call upon world leaders to join together to address the complex social and economic issues affecting Africa.
Bill Sr. and President Jimmy Carter visit public health officials, clinic workers, and community members in Africa as part of a learning tour about HIV/AIDS.
2003
The foundation launches the $200 million Grand Challenges in Global Health initiative to encourage scientists to develop revolutionary solutions to infectious diseases in developing countries.
The foundation launches Avahan (“call to action” in Sanskrit), the foundation’s first in-country staffed HIV/AIDS prevention initiative, with an initial commitment of $100 million.
The foundation concludes its original libraries initiative, meeting its goal of connecting nearly every public library in the United States with computers.
2004
The foundation creates a Strategic Opportunities initiative to explore new areas where the foundation could have the greatest impact in its global work.
As part of a two-day summit on high school education sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA), Bill delivers a speech describing America’s high schools as “obsolete” and says the nation has an economic and social imperative to improve them. The NGA, the foundation, and five other partners launch a $42 million initiative to translate this call into action.
Early evaluations of the foundation’s Sound Families Initiative help inspire the Washington State Legislature to establish the Washington Families Fund, the nation’s first public-private partnership that provides sustainable funding to affordable housing projects statewide. The foundation goes on to make $4 million in contributions to the fund, which totals more than $18 million.
Melinda tours West Virginia’s Sissonville Public Library and announces new Staying Connected grants, which will support efforts to sustain and improve public access computing in public libraries.
2005
Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and foundation Patty Stonesifer announce that the foundation will build new headquarters on land near the city's landmark Space Needle.
The foundation provides $436.6 million in Grand Challenges grants to support innovative global health research projects in more than 30 countries. The foundation continues to deepen its anti-malaria work with the announcement of grants totaling $258 million.
Time magazine names Bill, Melinda, and Bono persons of the year for their philanthropic work.
The foundation’s Libraries program splits into two programs—Global Libraries and U.S. Libraries—and continues to evolve.
2006
The foundation reorganizes into three programs—Global Development, Global Health, and United States—and a core operations group.
Co-chair Bill Gates announces he will transition from his full-time position at Microsoft to work for the foundation, beginning in 2008.
Warren Buffett pledges to give 10 million Berkshire Hathaway class B shares to the foundation to further its philanthropic mission.
The foundation creates a two-trust structure: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which distributes money to grantees, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which manages the endowment assets.
2007
The foundation forms advisory panels for each of our three program areas to encourage a diversity of voices and feedback on the foundation’s core areas of investment.
The seven-year, $40 million Sound Families initiative comes to a close, having tripled the number of transitional housing units with onsite support services in Washington state’s King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
Bill receives an honorary degree from Harvard University and speaks to the university’s graduates on the importance of creative capitalism, using market forces to reduce global inequities.
2008
Bill returns to the World Economic Forum to announce a $306 million package of agricultural development grants designed to boost the yields and incomes of small farmers in Africa and South Asia.
Bill and Michael Bloomberg announce commitments totaling $500 million to help reduce tobacco use in the developing world.
Patty Stonesifer announces she will transition from her role as CEO to a new and different role at the foundation. Jeff Raikes is named the next CEO of the foundation. Bill Gates steps away from his day-to-day involvement at Microsoft to a more hands-on role at the foundation. The foundation breaks ground for the construction of a new campus in downtown Seattle.
Bill addresses the UN General Assembly, praising the Millennium Development Goals and calling for increased efforts to meet them.
The foundation has more than 600 staff members and awards more than $2 billion each year in grants.
2009
The Washington Families Fund, an unprecedented public-private partnership led by Building Changes, announces it is embarking upon a bold, new approach to end homelessness among families with children throughout Washington state, with the goal of reducing the problem by 50 percent in the next decade. The foundation commits up to $60 million over 10 years to the effort.
During a visit to Nigeria to learn about the country’s efforts to combat polio, Bill announces a $25 million partnership with the World Bank to purchase more than 100 million doses of oral polio vaccine for Nigeria.
Bill releases his first Annual Letter, offering a candid and personal appraisal of the foundation’s efforts to date as well as his priorities for its future. Along with outlining new, ambitious goals to combat hunger and poverty and improve education in the United States, Bill makes a strong case for increased foreign assistance for health and development in the face of the global economic crisis.
The foundation partners with Rotary International and the British and German governments to announce commitments totaling $630 million to eradicate polio. This includes a $255 million challenge grant, which Rotary will match with $100 million raised by its members.