Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.
Grantmaking Areas
We also have a small Charitable Sector Support initiative.
Locations
- Headquarters – Seattle, Washington
- East Coast Office – Washington, D.C.
- India Office – Delhi, India
- China Office – Beijing, China
- Europe and Middle East Office – London, United Kingdom
- Africa Offices - Addis Ababa, Ethiopia; Abuja, Nigeria; and Johannesburg, South Africa
Leadership
- Bill Gates, Co-chair
- Melinda Gates, Co-chair
- William H. Gates Sr., Co-chair
- Sue Desmond-Hellmann, Chief Executive Officer
- Warren Buffett, Trustee
- Allan C. Golston, President, United States Program
- Chris Elias, President, Global Development
- Trevor Mundel, President, Global Health Program
- Jim Bromley, Chief Financial Officer, Operations
- Connie Collingsworth, General Counsel
- Geoffrey Lamb, Chief Economic and Policy Advisor
- Leigh Morgan, Chief Operating Officer
- Todd Pierce, Chief Digital Officer
- Steven Rice, Chief Human Resources Officer
- Mark Suzman, President, Global Policy, Advocacy, and Country Programs
- Miguel Veiga-Pestana, Chief Communications Officer
- Patty Stonesifer, Senior Advisor to the Trustees
- Global Development Program Team
- Global Health Program Team
- United States Program Team
- Global Policy & Advocacy Team
- Operations Team
Foundation Facts(1)
Current number of foundation employees: 1,376
Foundation Trust Endowment: $39.6 billion (2)
Total grant payments since inception (through Q4 2015): $36.7 billion
Total 2015 Direct Grantee Support: $4.2 billion
Total 2014 Direct Grantee Support: $3.9 billion
Geographic Reach
The foundation supports grantees in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. Internationally, we support work in more than 100 countries.
Illustrative Grant Commitments
- GAVI Alliance, expanding childhood immunization: $1.5 billion
- United Negro College Fund, Gates Millennium Scholars Program: $1.37 billion
- PATH Malaria Vaccine Initiative (MVI): $456 million
- Rotary International, supporting polio eradication: $355 million
- Intensive Partnerships for Effective Teaching, supporting plans to transform how teachers are recruited, developed, rewarded, and retained: $290 million
- Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), improving seeds and soil for African farmers: $264.5 million
- Save the Children, saving newborn lives: $112 million
- United Way of King County: $85 million
- World Food Programme increasing small farmer income: $66 million
- TechnoServe, helping small coffee farmers improve crops and fetch higher prices: $46.9 million
- Heifer International, helping small farmers grow local and regional dairy markets: $43 million
- Alliance for Financial Inclusion (AFI), a coalition of countries from the developing world making savings accounts, insurance, and other financial services available to people living on less than $2 a day: $35 million
- Consultative Group to Assist the Poor (CGAP), testing and promoting the use of information and communications technologies to deliver microfinance products: $24 million
- Achieve, Inc. and the American Diploma Project Network, assisting states in aligning high school standards with the expectations of college and career: $23 million
- Opportunity Online Program, multiple library systems: $22.9 million
- Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Latvia, supporting the installation of public computers with Internet access, training for staff, and implementation support for public libraries: $19.8 million
- Opportunity International Inc. , developing and expanding a network of commercial banks in Africa: $15.4 million
- Gateway to College, expanding a program that enables colleges to serve students who need remedial academic help: $7.28 million
- Building Changes, helping create the Washington Families Fund and supporting efforts in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties to reduce family homelessness: $17.5 million
(1) As of December 31, 2015
(2) Annually, the foundation receives an installment of the gift pledged by Warren Buffett. The endowment balance includes these donations, which were received as follows:
August 24, 2006: $1.6 billion
July 11, 2007: $1.76 billion
July 1, 2008: $1.8 billion
July 1, 2009: $1.25 billion
July 1, 2010: $1.6 billion
July 7, 2011: $1.5 billion
July 6, 2012: $1.5 billion
July 8, 2013: $2.0 billion
July 14, 2014: $2.1 billion
July 6, 2015: $2.15 billion
