NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates is co-chairman of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, a nonprofit she and ex-husband Bill Gates founded over the past two decades and built into one of the world's largest philanthropic organizations. Resign.
“This is not a decision I made lightly,” French Gates wrote on the X Platform on Monday. “I am extremely proud of the foundation that Bill and I have built together and the extraordinary work we are doing to address inequality around the world.”
She praised the foundation's CEO, Mark Suzman, and the foundation's board of directors, which was significantly expanded after the couple announced their divorce in May 2021.
“The time is right to move on to the next chapter of philanthropy,” French Gates said in a statement. She already organizes some of her investments and philanthropy through her nonprofit organization, Pivotal Ventures.
In a statement, Bill Gates thanked French Gates for her “significant” contributions to the foundation, saying, “While we are sad to see her leave, we know she will have a tremendous impact on our future philanthropic efforts.” I am confident.”
A spokesperson said the foundation plans to change its name to the Gates Foundation.
French Gates said he will receive $12.5 billion as part of the deal with Gates and will work on future initiatives focused on women and families. The foundation said Gates would provide these funds personally and not from the foundation's endowment.
The Gates Foundation is a major donor to global health, supporting major international organizations such as Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, the World Health Organization, and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria. It also funds research on a wide range of topics, including polio eradication and malaria treatment and prevention, as well as child malnutrition and maternal health. The foundation is also donating billions of dollars to help small farmers adapt to climate change.
In the United States, it funds education policy and research with far-reaching, if mixed effects, and is now pledging to increase support for anti-poverty initiatives.
“This announcement comes as a surprise to many of us, but I don't think it comes out of the blue,” said LaTanya Mapp, president and CEO of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
Mapp said French Gates has already helped strengthen the gender equality focus within the Gates Foundation's programs and ensure that it continues after she leaves office. The foundation's first chair for gender equality was hired in 2020.
When French Gates officially steps down on June 7, Bill Gates will become sole chair of the foundation's board, but Suzman has been in the higher-profile role as CEO for the past three years. For example, he has begun writing the foundation's annual letter outlining its priorities for 2022.
Lindsay McGaughey, professor of sociology at the University of Essex and author of “No Such Thing as a free Gift: The Gates Foundation and the Price of Philanthropy,'' said French Gates' resignation means he will have to exercise his power over the foundation. He said that he was once again raising the question of whether or not the government should do so. It will be more widely distributed.
“Should there be more than just a close core of people in charge?” McGoey asked, adding that foundations control large sums of money and that people do not have a “democratic channel” to challenge how their money is spent. He added that it would have an impact.
Suzman announced French Gates' decision to employees on Monday, the foundation said in an emailed statement.
“After a difficult few years watching women's rights slide backwards in the United States and around the world, she wants to use this next chapter to specifically focus on changing that trajectory. ” Suzman said of French Gates.
Suzman said she knows many people have joined the foundation, in part because of their admiration for her advocacy, especially on gender equality.
“I know how much Melinda is loved here,” Suzman wrote.
The Gates Foundation has endowments of $75.2 billion as of December 2023, and announced in January that it plans to spend $8.6 billion through activities in 2024.
The Associated Press receives funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation for reporting on Africa and from Pivotal Ventures for reporting on women in the workforce.
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