Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Appoints Three New Leadership Team Members as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer Steps Down
SEATTLE (March 15, 2023) – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced that it is appointing three new members to its Executive Leadership Team. These appointments come as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer Connie Collingsworth retires after more than 20 years of dedicated service to the foundation.
Lauren Bright will assume the foundation’s chief legal officer role. In this capacity, she will lead the foundation’s legal team in providing counsel to advance the foundation’s mission and protecting its reputation by ensuring strong governance and compliance across the foundation and its affiliates. Bright most recently served as the foundation’s co-general counsel and director of its Washington, D.C. office. She first joined the foundation in 2005 to support the expanding range of legal and strategic issues related to the foundation’s policy and program advocacy priorities.
Shana Tarbell will serve as the foundation’s chief operating officer. As COO, she will lead many of the foundation’s operational functions, including business design; global security; facilities, events, and travel; grants and contracts services; and information technology. Tarbell first joined the foundation in 2015 and has served as its chief security officer since 2018.
Sonia Vora will serve as the foundation’s chief human resources officer, overseeing the talent and people strategies, processes, and programs that support the foundation’s employees around the world. In this capacity, she will support the organization’s values; commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion; and goal of accelerating impact as measured by lives saved or improved. Vora joined the foundation in 2019 and has served as the interim chief human resources officer since 2022.
“Lauren, Shana, and Sonia bring decades of rich experience—both inside and outside the foundation—to their new roles,” said Mark Suzman, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “I’m thrilled to have the opportunity to learn from their leadership as members of our Executive Leadership Team and look forward to working together to help our foundation make the greatest possible impact.”
These three leaders will be responsible for various functions that Collingsworth oversaw during her tenure at the foundation. Joining the foundation in 2002 as the first member of the legal team, Collingsworth built, shaped, and supported virtually all aspects of the organization and has been a close partner to the co-chairs, trustees, and each of its four CEOs.
In 2019, Collingsworth was promoted to chief operating officer, in addition to her role as chief legal officer. As COO, she oversaw key aspects of the foundation’s daily operations, providing guidance and strategic leadership to drive operational efficiency and effectiveness in support of the foundation’s mission. She also supported the expansion of the foundation into new regions, enabling the organization to be closer to the people and communities it serves.
Collingsworth is the architect of the foundation’s core operational infrastructure, including its annual budget approval process, governance records, code of conduct, and a wide array of organization policies. She also orchestrated the organization’s global access approach, a concept that supports the foundation’s efforts to advance equity by ensuring that foundation-funded projects and the resulting products, knowledge, and innovations will benefit the individuals and communities that the foundation aims to serve.
Most recently, Collingsworth played an instrumental leadership role in standing up the foundation’s new governance board, as well as the formulation and governance of the foundation’s affiliates.
“Connie’s impact on every single part of this institution is both deep and meaningful, and will endure for as long as this foundation exists,” said Suzman. “Her disciplined stewardship of the foundation’s resources, contributions to our governance, and commitment to our mission have been integral to the success of this institution.”
About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
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 Mark Suzman, under the direction of Co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates and the board of trustees.
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