Who We Are
LETTER FROM BILL AND MELINDA GATES
Our friend and co-trustee Warren Buffett once gave us some great advice about philanthropy: βDonβt just go for safe projects,β he said. βTake on the really tough problems.β
We couldnβt agree more. Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough challenges: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, and the failures of Americaβs education system. We focus on only a few issues because we think thatβs the best way to have great impact, and we focus on these issues in particular because we think they are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.
For each issue we work on, we fund innovative ideas that could help remove these barriers: new techniques to help farmers in developing countries grow more food and earn more money; new tools to prevent and treat deadly diseases; new methods to help students and teachers in the classroom. Some of the projects we fund will fail. We not only accept that, we expect itβbecause we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses canβt afford to make. As we learn which bets pay off, we have to adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit.
Weβre both optimists. We believe by doing these thingsβfocusing on a few big goals and working with our partners on innovative solutionsβwe can help every person get the chance to live a healthy, productive life.
Bill Gates and Melinda Gates
Co-Chairs