2010
The foundation opens an office in London, allowing it to deepen relationships with its Europe-based partners.
JANUARY | At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland, Bill and Melinda call for a “decade of vaccines” and pledge $10 billion over the next 10 years to help research, develop, and deliver vaccines for the world’s poorest countries. They call on the government and private sectors to fill critical financing gaps, saying that 8.7 million lives can be saved over the next decade.
JANUARY | The foundation announces $38 million in grants to help leading microfinance institutions provide the world’s poor with safe, affordable places to save their money. The grants will help institutions make savings accounts available to 11 million poor people across 12 countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America.
2009
DECEMBER | The foundation makes grants totaling $3 billion during 2009, and its staff count exceeds 800.
NOVEMBER | Bill and Melinda make a one-time $350 million gift toward construction costs of the foundation’s new headquarters in the heart of Seattle, slated to open spring 2011.
NOVEMBER | The foundation announces that it will invest $290 million in four communities across the country to support bold and ambitious plans to transform how teachers are recruited, developed, rewarded, and retained. The large and mid-size urban school systems that will benefit from these grants currently serve more than 350,000 students, many from underserved communities. The foundation will also invest $45 million in research to better understand and define what makes a teacher effective and identify multiple measures of effectiveness on which teachers, researchers, and policymakers can all agree.
OCTOBER | In a joint speech to policymakers, Bill and Melinda make the case that U.S. initiatives to fight AIDS, malaria, and other diseases in poor countries are America’s best investment for saving lives2 and that continued support could help cut child deaths in half worldwide in just 15 years.
OCTOBER | At the World Food Prize in Des Moines, Iowa, Bill urges governments, donors, researchers, farmer groups, environmentalists, and others to set aside old divisions and join forces to help millions of the world’s poorest farming families boost their yields and incomes so they can lift themselves out of hunger and poverty. He also announces $120 million in foundation grants that illustrate the range of efforts necessary to empower millions of small farmers to grow enough to build better, healthier lives.
SEPTEMBER | The foundation joins nearly 100 central bankers and other financial policymakers to launch the Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a coalition of countries from the developing world committed to making savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services available to millions of people living on less than $2 a day. Research shows that better access to financial services can fuel economic growth by raising national income through increased savings and investments.
SEPTEMBER | The foundation joins Viacom and other corporations and nonprofit organizations to launch Get Schooled, a media and engagement initiative bringing students, families, and communities together to support efforts to reform the nation’s public schools and provide American youth a world-class education.
JULY | While in Delhi, India, Bill announces that the foundation will increase its funding commitment to Avahan—an initiative to reduce the spread of HIV in India—from $258 million to $338 million.
JULY | In a speech to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Bill outlines a plan of action for legislators to improve education standards and significantly boost completion rates during the economic downturn. Melinda addresses the inequities in public schools as a civil rights issue in a speech to the National Council of La Raza.
JUNE | The foundation teams up with MDC, Inc., a nonprofit that helps remove barriers to progress in the South, to commit $16.5 million to 15 community colleges and five states to expand groundbreaking remedial education programs and dramatically boost the college completion rates of low-income students and students of color.
MARCH | 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.
FEBRUARY | 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.
FEBRUARY | The foundation teams up with GSMA, which represents the interests of the worldwide mobile communications industry, to launch an innovative program that will expand the availability of financial services to millions of people in the developing world through mobile phones. Supported by a $12.5 million foundation grant, the program will work with mobile operators, banks, microfinance institutions, governments, and development organizations to encourage the expansion of reliable, affordable mobile financial services to the unbanked.
JANUARY | 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, he makes a strong case for increased foreign assistance for health and development in the face of the global economic crisis.
JANUARY | 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.
2008
NOVEMBER | The foundation convenes national education leaders in Seattle to discuss strategy to increase college readiness and completion.
SEPTEMBER | Bill addresses the UN General Assembly, praising the Millennium Development Goals and calling for increased efforts to meet them. He also announces a $168 million grant to the PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative and a $66 million grant to support a new World Food Programme initiative. Jeff officially takes over as CEO, succeeding Patty, who continues to work for the foundation as a senior advisor.
AUGUST | As part of the its response to the global food crisis, the foundation announces a package of four grants, totaling $17.6 million, to help those most affected by the crisis and support small-scale farmers in developing countries. These grants call attention to the need for sustained long-term action from a wide range of partners to address the causes and consequences of the crisis.
JULY | Bill Gates and Michael Bloomberg announce commitments totaling $500 million to help reduce tobacco use in the developing world. Ground is broken for the construction of the foundation’s new home in downtown Seattle.
JULY | Ground is broken for the construction of the foundation’s new home in downtown Seattle.
JUNE | Bill makes his official transition from Microsoft to a more hands-on, day-to-day role at the foundation.
MAY | Jeff is named the new CEO of the foundation.
FEBRUARY | Patty announces she is stepping down as CEO to pursue a different role with the foundation.
JANUARY | Expanding on his Harvard address, Bill speaks in detail about the concept of creative capitalism in his speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. He also announces a $306 million package of Agricultural Development grants designed to boost the yields and incomes of millions of small farmers in Africa and South Asia.
2007
The foundation announces a $50 million commitment to support targeted HIV-prevention programs in China, through collaboration with nonprofit, government, and private sector partners.
OCTOBER | At a forum of leading malaria scientists and policymakers, Bill and Melinda call for a new global commitment to the long-term goal of eradicating malaria.
OCTOBER | The foundation launches the $100 million Grand Challenges Explorations initiative to encourage scientists to explore creative, unorthodox ideas that could lead to major global health breakthroughs.
SEPTEMBER | Sound Families awards its last round of grants.
JUNE | The foundation establishes advisory panels for each of its three program areas to encourage a diversity of voices and feedback on its core areas of investment.
JUNE | Bill returns to Harvard to receive an honorary degree. He delivers the university’s commencement speech and discusses his optimism about creative capitalism—using market forces to reduce global inequities—and challenges graduates to use their intellectual talents to combat the world’s most pressing problems.
2006
OCTOBER | 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.
SEPTEMBER | The foundation partners with the Rockefeller Foundation to launch the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), an Africa-based, Africa-led organization working to help revitalize agriculture on the continent and enable small farmers to overcome hunger and poverty. The foundations commit an initial investment of $150 million to develop and distribute improved seeds for farmers in Africa. AGRA appoints Kofi Annan as the chairman of the board in June 2007.
JUNE | Warren Buffett pledges 10 million shares of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. stock to the foundation. At the time of the pledge, the gift is worth approximately $31 billion and will be delivered through annual installments. The gift will help the foundation deepen and accelerate work already under way in its Global Health, Global Development, and U.S. Programs.
JUNE | Bill makes public his plan to transition from Microsoft to the foundation in July 2008, marking his evolution from benefactor to becoming more deeply engaged with the foundation’s strategic initiatives.
APRIL | The foundation is restructured into four core areas that will enable it to increase its strategic focus and impact: U.S. Program, led by Allan C. Golston; Global Health, led by Dr. Tadataka “Tachi” Yamada; Global Development, led by Sylvia Mathews Burwell; and Operations, led by Martha Choe, named chief administrative officer in 2008.
JANUARY | Bill helps kick off the Global Plan to Stop TB in Davos, Switzerland, and announces that the foundation will invest $900 million over the next 10 years to address this critical global health issue.
2005
The foundation significantly increases its public voice and dedicates more resources to its advocacy efforts.
DECEMBER | Time magazine names Bill, Melinda, and Bono persons of the year for their philanthropic work.
NOVEMBER | Time magazine features Bill and President Bill Clinton in a question-and-answer segment as part of the magazine-sponsored global health summit.
OCTOBER | The foundation continues to deepen its anti-malaria work7 with the announcement of grants totaling $258 million to develop a malaria vaccine, new drugs, and innovative mosquito control methods. It has since continued to increase its support for malaria programs, with a total of $1.4 billion committed as of 2008.
JUNE | The foundation provides $436.6 million in Grand Challenges grants to support innovative global health research projects in more than 30 countries.
JANUARY | Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels joins Patty in announcing that the foundation will make its permanent home in the heart of downtown Seattle across from the Space Needle.
JANUARY | The foundation’s libraries program splits into two programs, Global Libraries and U.S. Libraries, and continues to evolve.
JANUARY | The foundation announces the final round of Staying Connected challenge grants. It awards Public Access Computing Hardware Upgrade Grants in 2006 and Opportunity Online Hardware grants in 2007–2009.
2004
OCTOBER | The foundation creates a Strategic Opportunities initiative to explore new areas where it could have the greatest impact in its global work.
FEBRUARY | As part of a two-day summit on high school education sponsored by the National Governors Association (NGA),8 Bill delivers a speech describing America’s high schools as “obsolete” and says the nation has an economic and social obligation to improve them. The NGA, the foundation, and five other partners launch a $42 million initiative to translate this call into action.
JANUARY | 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 providing 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.
JANUARY | Melinda tours West Virginia’s Sissonville Public Library and announces new Staying Connected grants to support efforts to sustain and improve public access computing in public libraries.
2003
The foundation’s original Libraries initiative concludes, meeting its goal of connecting nearly every public library in the United States with computers and training.
SEPTEMBER | Bill and Melinda’s commitment to improving global health deepens with a learning trip to Africa. In Mozambique, they visit infants with life-threatening malaria and observe promising malaria vaccine research at the Manhiça Health Research Center.
JANUARY | Avahan (“call to action” in Sanskrit), the foundation’s first in-country staffed HIV/AIDS prevention initiative, is launched in India with an initial commitment of $100 million.
JANUARY |
2002
MAY | The foundation commits $50 million to support the launch of The Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), an innovative partnership between the private and public sectors focused on supporting local food-fortification efforts in developing countries.
MARCH | Bill Gates 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.
JANUARY | Bill Gates and Bono call upon world leaders at the World Economic Forum to join together to address the complex social and economic issues affecting Africa.
JANUARY | Patty takes learning trips to Senegal and Cleveland, Ohio, to get a hands-on perspective of the complex issues the foundation is working to address. In Senegal, she meets with sex workers living with HIV. In Cleveland, she visits East Technical High School.
2001
MARCH | The foundation continues to expand and accelerate its global health work, particularly in infectious disease prevention, and announces a $60 million microbicide grant in conjunction with the launch of the Global Microbicide Project.
JANUARY | Building on the success of its U.S. program, the Libraries initiative forms its first relationships with partners outside the country, awarding its first grant in Chile.
2000
The foundation launches the Sound Families Initiative to triple the number of transitional housing units paired with on-site support services for homeless families in Washington state's King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
The William H. Gates Foundation merges with the Gates Learning Foundation and is renamed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The merger’s goal is to build the right organizations, teams, and strategies to increase the efficacy of grantmaking. The main initiatives of the organization are:
- Global Health
- Education
- Libraries
- Pacific Northwest (PNW)
Bill and Melinda contribute nearly $16 billion to the newly merged foundation, which moves to a new office on Lake Union in Seattle.
FALL | Trips to developing nations help shape the co-chairs’ thinking about the complex issues affecting the world’s poor. Bill visits the NDMC Maternal & Child Health Chanakyapuri clinic in Delhi, India, announces a $25 million grant to support polio vaccinations, and helps administer oral polio vaccines to children. During a learning tour to Thailand, Melinda tours the Huay Fon Well Baby Clinic in Chiang Rai, where she administers polio vaccines to children.
MARCH | The foundation officially launches its education programs with a $350 million commitment to three priority areas:
- model schools and districts
- professional development opportunities for teachers and school leaders
- the elimination of barriers to higher education through scholarship programs
JANUARY | In Davos, Switzerland, the foundation helps formally launch the GAVI Alliance.
1999
Nelson Mandela visits the foundation, discussing the importance of strategic, impactful giving in a forum with employees.
NOVEMBER | The foundation makes an initial grant of $750 million to the GAVI Alliance to accelerate the delivery of life-saving vaccines to the world’s poorest children.
SEPTEMBER | Bill and Melinda announce a $1 billion Gates Millennium Scholars gift to the United Negro College Fund aimed at improving the level of diversity in higher education and fostering a generation of leaders who represent the full range of talents in society.
MAY | The International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI) receives a $25 million grant from Bill and Melinda, the largest charitable gift to date to combat the AIDS epidemic. The grant allows IAVI to more than double vaccine development efforts.
1998
DECEMBER | The foundation’s global health emphasis takes root with an initial gift of $100 million to the Bill and Melinda Gates Children’s Vaccine Program.
FEBRUARY | Bill and Melinda travel in a bookmobile and tour public libraries in Alabama, the first state to receive grants supporting libraries’ efforts to provide free computer and Internet access.
1997
Patty leads the newly formed Gates Library Foundation and the William H. Gates Foundation continues as a separate organization.
JUNE | The Gates Library Foundation is established as a sister philanthropy to the William H. Gates Foundation to help bridge the digital divide and ensure that if you can get to a public library in the United States, you can access the Internet.
1994–1996
DECEMBER 1994 | Bill and Melinda consolidate their giving to address two main issues—global health and community needs in the Pacific Northwest—and form the William H. Gates Foundation with an initial stock gift of $94 million. William H. Gates Sr, manages the new foundation.