Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation – A Tradition of Giving
Both the Gates and French families instilled the values of volunteerism and civic engagement. Our families believed that if life happens to bless you, you should use those gifts as well and as wisely as you can.
¬– Bill and Melinda Gates
In 2000, the founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates, and his wife, Melinda French Gates, founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation also known as the Gates Foundation. The Gates Foundation has a diverse global presence with its headquarters in Seattle, Washington and other offices in India, China, Europe, Middle East, and several regions in Africa (Foundation fact sheet, 2015, para. 3). The mission that all lives have equal value is the driving force behind the foundation’s work to help all people lead healthy and productive life. Inequity issues such as poor health, hunger, and extreme poverty in developing countries and failures of the United States educational system remain the foundation’s focus (Letter from Bill, 2015). The complexity of these issues requires coordination and collective efforts from grantees and other partners who join [with us] in taking risks, pushing for new solutions, and harnessing the transformative power of science and technology” (How we work, 2015, para. 4). Indeed, global problems need global solutions. The world community must come together a fight these issues and this is exactly what the Gates Foundation does.
The Gates Foundation works with partner organizations to confront critical issues in four program areas. First, the Global Development Division works “to identify and fund high-impact solutions that can help hundreds of millions of people lift themselves out of poverty to build better liv...
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...and engage employees to carry out mission achievement.
The values and priorities characterized in the Gates Foundation are values that are important to me. When I was researching the Gates Foundation, I thought about how rewarding it would be to work for their organization. The idea of making the world a better place for less fortunate individuals peaks my interest and aligns with my values. I even looked at the job listings! Unfortunately, I am not qualified for many. The type of organization culture I hope for cultivates respect for everyone and supports open communication, fairness, shared values, and personal and professional growth. In addition, I value a collaborative environment as I enjoy learning and growing with others. Healthy organizational cultures lead to increased innovation, productivity, and satisfaction levels – a true win-win situation.
(Singer, 2006) Gates believes that equal value of all human life is particularly prominent. Singer also gives credit to billionaire investor Warren Buffett because he showed to be a compassionate person when he contributed $31 billion to Bill Gates foundation, and another $6 billion to other charitable foundations. Buffett donations went to reduce poverty, disease, and premature death. In July, 2015 Warren Buffett donated a personal philanthropy record of $2.8 billion to five foundation as a part of his annual pledge. (Chew, 2015) Gates and Buffett should be honored for their generosity for giving billions to the developing world to fight global
In the book, Half The Sky, author’s Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn bring to light the oppression of women in the developing world. Anecdotal stories, filled with sadness, anger and hope, collected after years of reporting, depict just a few examples of this global struggle for women. At the end of their book organizations are listed, in alphabetical order, in hopes of creating a starting point for people to further support women in developing countries. With so many organization doing great work to empower women it becomes difficult to decide where money should be distributed. As a grant manager it is important to take a closer look at each of the organizations and their work to better assess where the money should go. However, the
Growing up, my parents and other influential figures around me modelled the importance of community service through their continual volunteer work and dedication to improving the world around them. Whether it be participation in a well-attended project or persistent contribution to a helpful organization, those aforementioned individuals were formative in guiding me towards a path filled with opportunities for having an impact on my community.
As Kenyan mother once said, “My dreams don’t look exactly like I thought they would when I was a little girl” (nd). Jacqueline Novogratz, a modern philanthropist, understands this better than most. A typical American girl, she found herself in Africa, helping women with no voice in their world. She never planned for this growing up, but her leadership, determination, and new way of looking at the world was in her from the beginning.
I have known and heard about Dr. William Gates, who is also known as the World’s entrepreneur Bill Gates. Personally, I am inspired by Dr. Gates’ personal accomplishments as well as his efforts to positively impact the lives of many people. His generous donations have helped and saved many people suffering infectious diseases. I have been greatly influenced by his commencement speech as he graduated with an honorary doctorate at Harvard University in 2007. In his speech, Dr. Gates not only was to commence on the graduates, but also to bring awareness to the audience of the World’s existing problems. He appropriately brought up the issue of inequities during the commencement because as the speech was for the graduates, Mr. Gates believed these people are more capable of making the changes for the world. These people are about to start their life journey, thus it is important for them to see the issues lying ahead to make positive impact for the future.
...ns. Overall global poverty is an issue with no clear answer. Each day, millions of people die and go to bed hungry while millions of others spend money on nonessential items. If everyone can share some type of monetary donation to relief organizations, we can maximize the happiness of the poor around the world, hopefully eradicating global poverty.
Having a wish fulfilled is a desire everyone keeps, but granting one is a special characteristic of a chosen few. Such is the ideology of the Make a wish foundation. This simple, but powerful belief is what drives the Make-A-Wish foundation. For children who must face the uncertainty of a tomorrow, due to their rapidly deteriorating health, a wish is more than just a desire. It’s a hope. Hope is what carries us out of the darkest of slums, to keep going. To face a tomorrow. Make-A-Wish is committed to granting the wish of every eligible child. They do this believing that wishes can make sick children feel better, and sometimes, when they feel better, they get better. Since the spring of 1980, they have been granting the wishes of children diagnosed with a life-threatening medical conditions. The make a wish foundation has the ability to not only unite a society as whole and further the awareness of life threatening illnesses, but also gives hope to individuals and a community as a whole.
On October 28, 1955 William H. Gates III (nicknamed "trey") was born in Seattle. His father was a lawyer (William H. Gates II) and his mother was a schoolteacher. He also had two older sisters who were in high school when Bill was born. Bill attended a public elementary school before he moved to a private school in North Seattle named Lakeside. Lakeside's strong academics enabled Bill to actively get involved with computers (which were the love of his life next to baseball) and use his superior intellect. This was the beginning of a long and successful career in computers. Bill combined his intellect and visions of technology along with his active participation in may charities to make our world a better place.
...ion for a long time and The Gates foundation is trying to change that. Melinda calls it “My life’s work” (5 Bill and Melinda Gates). Bill stated that the reason he is so generous is “Money has no utility to me … its utility is entirely is getting the resources out to the poorest in the world”(Tweedie).
Gates’s idea regarding philanthropy due to the fact that upon setting up his foundation in 2000, he already was aware of the widespread criticism of existing programs to help the less fortunate. Moreover, successful programs, such as the Green Revolution, were overshadowed by growing awareness of their negative side effects on the environment and local cultures. Mr. Gates had growing awareness of such limits sparking new ideas on how businesses could approach poor countries. However, there is little evidence of benefit from the $2.3 trillion given in foreign aid over the past five decades. For example, all the aid given to Africa over the years has failed to stimulate economic growth on the continent. One might argue that there are just as many needy individuals in America, why not try to critically think of way to innovate to embody the struggling Americans, rather than poor countries around the
Bill Gates: “As we look ahead into the next century, leaders will be those who empower others.”
A leader is someone that you can look up to, someone who has a conglomerate of attributes that motivate people to follow them. There are many reasons why you can find someone amusing, intriguing or interesting but the conglomerate of actions performed by them is what makes them stand over others. A global leader is someone who has transcends the geographical limits with their contributions not only to their field but to humanity as well. In this essay I will briefly discussed the attributes of the global leader I selected, his visions and his contributions to mankind.
Gates has also given over half of his life earnings to charity and other public minded organisations. This has helped him achieve not only the status of one of the world's greatest entrepreneurs, but also a man who ultimately cares about the future of society, which is reflected in new product developments and technologies, all of which are designed to make our lives simpler.
So here I present you the path that gave us the Bill Gates we have today. Firstly, Bill Gates was fortunate enough to be born in a fine and educated family, where his parents were an educator and a lawyer. He had the privilege to all the essential necessities, such as clothing, food, and water sources which many other kids do not have. More than that, his family was wealthy enough to buy him toys and games and other things which would be far too extravagant to others. These small things created a stronger foundation for Bill Gates’
Giving to others through humanitarian projects is not only inclusive of providing monetary solutions for food. Philosophies and intention to reach specific goals are also associated with the needs of others. The Hunger Project is designed with the central goal of eradicating poverty. However, it is found that this is not done only by feeding the poor, but instead through empowerment initiatives that allow others to change their lives. When looking at the approach used to The Hunger Project, it can be seen that the ability to provide empowerment to others will assist in changing lives through donations. The impact which is made by making a donation creates an initiative not only through the power of changing lives of those in need. It also alters the socio political landscape and the global society at large. This impact is one which can redefine the overall functions in the globe, specifically by eradicating poverty.