Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman Announces Initial Plans to Evolve Governance as Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates Commit $15 Billion in New Resources to Deepen and Accelerate the Foundation’s Efforts to Address Inequity

Changes will expand the number of trustees to add diversity of perspectives, strengthen governance, and ensure the foundation is positioned to enhance its impact for years to come

SEATTLE (July 7, 2021) — Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman today announced that co-chairs Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates have committed $15 billion in new resources to the foundation to continue its work to fight poverty, disease, and inequity in the U.S. and around the world. 

The new $15 billion commitment will go to the foundation’s endowment in order to deepen and accelerate the foundation’s work worldwide. Since 2000, the foundation has contributed more than $55 billion to its pursuit of a world where everyone has the chance to live a healthy and productive life.

“Our vision for the foundation has grown over time, but it has always been focused on addressing inequity and expanding opportunity for the world’s poorest people,” said Bill Gates. “These new resources and the evolution of the foundation’s governance will sustain this ambitious mission and vital work for years to come.” 

The co-chairs have also decided to expand the number of trustees overseeing the foundation’s governance and decision-making as a family charitable trust. The additional trustees will bring new perspectives, help guide resource allocation and strategic direction, and ensure the stability and sustainability of the foundation. 

As noted in their divorce announcement in May and demonstrated in their public and private engagements since then, Gates and French Gates are fully committed to continuing to work constructively together at the foundation to advance its program and policy objectives. However, they have also agreed to an additional step to ensure the continuity of the foundation’s work: if after two years either decides they cannot continue to work together as co-chairs, French Gates will resign her position as co-chair and trustee. In such a case, French Gates would receive personal resources from Gates for her philanthropic work. These resources would be completely separate from the foundation’s endowment, which would not be affected.

“I am deeply proud of all that the foundation and its partners have accomplished over the past two decades to bring us closer to a world where everyone, everywhere has the chance to live a healthy and productive life,” said French Gates. “Every success we’ve seen is a testament to our partners and a broad coalition of government leaders, global experts, community organizers, activists, advocates, healthcare workers, farmers, teachers, and researchers—all united in their efforts to promote a healthier, safer, more equal world. Their faith that progress is possible fuels mine. These governance changes bring more diverse perspectives and experience to the foundation’s leadership. I believe deeply in the foundation’s mission and remain fully committed as co-chair to its work.”

Last week, French Gates was in Paris for the Generation Equality Forum, where she announced the foundation’s $2.1 billion commitment to advance gender equality globally. The five-year commitment will advance women's economic empowerment, strengthen women and girls' health and family planning, and accelerate women's leadership.

In expanding the number of trustees, Gates and French Gates expect to appoint individuals who will further enhance the diversity, experience, and expertise of the foundation’s leadership and continue to uphold a culture of integrity. They have asked Suzman and Connie Collingsworth, the foundation’s chief operating officer and chief legal officer, to oversee the process. 

“From the foundation’s earliest days, we’ve sought to include a diversity of voices into our programs, strategies, and decision-making,” said Suzman. “By appointing additional trustees, we’re elevating that approach to the highest levels of the foundation.” 

Over the next few months, Suzman and Collingsworth will lead the foundation’s Executive Leadership Team as it works with experts inside and outside the foundation to develop recommendations for the number of new trustees and the selection process. They will also provide advice on the oversight role of new trustees and the cadence of their engagement with Suzman and the co-chairs. As trustees, Gates and French Gates will approve changes to the foundation’s governance documents by the end of 2021, and the new trustees will be announced in January 2022. 

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 Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates.

Media Contact: [email protected]

###