Melinda Gates to resign from Gates Foundation

WASHINGTON – Ms Melinda French Gates is leaving the behemoth foundation she and her former husband Bill Gates founded nearly a quarter-century ago to devote herself fully to her work on behalf of women and girls, which has been the focus of much of her recent philanthropy.

Her move, announced on May 13, marks the end of an era for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation – henceforth known as the Gates Foundation – that she and her former husband founded in 2000, and transformed into a juggernaut that shook up the world of philanthropy and reshaped the fields of global public health and development.

“After careful thought and reflection, I have decided to resign from my role as co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation,” Ms French Gates, 59, said in a post on X.

She added that the foundation was “in strong shape”, and that it was the right time for her to move “into the next chapter of my philanthropy”.

Her last day with the foundation will be June 7.

Ms French Gates will get US$12.5 billion (S$16.9 billion) in resources to direct towards her philanthropic work. In a statement, she said she would use the money she was leaving with to “commit to my work on behalf of women and families”.

Already one of the world’s most influential female philanthropists, Ms French Gates has long argued that the uplifting of women benefits all of society.

Her pivot to women’s rights and gender equality is likely to have a meaningful impact on the world of giving.

“It’s a milestone in the evolution of arguably the most important foundation of our time,” said Dr Amir Pasic, the dean of Indiana University’s Lilly Family School of Philanthropy.

Dr Pasic noted that Ms French Gates’ potential contributions to women’s issues, from the US$12.5 billion she is taking with her, could be influential.

According to the school’s index, contributions to women’s and girls’ organisations in 2020 represented just 1.8 per cent of all giving in the country.

So far, the main vehicle for Ms French Gates’ work has been Pivotal Ventures, a firm she founded in 2015.

Pivotal is not a foundation; rather, it is a limited liability company, a type of entity that can make grants to non-profits as well as for-profit investments and engage in advocacy work.

With dozens of employees, the firm, in Kirkland, Washington, targets issues such as paid family and medical leave and increasing female representation in politics, and invests in funds led by women.

In 2021, it was among the firms that called on the Biden administration to appoint a “caregiving czar”.

Ms French Gates has also worked with former US first lady Michelle Obama and Ms Mackenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is also a philanthropist.

So far, Pivotal has made a commitment of US$1 billion towards its causes; the new funds are likely to give it far more heft.

On X, Mr Gates said he was “sorry to see Melinda leave”, but that she would “have a huge impact in her future philanthropic work”.

He said Ms French Gates was “instrumental” in helping to shape the foundation’s vision, and that he remained “fully committed” to its work.

Mr Gates, who is the world’s seventh-richest man with an estimated net worth of US$130 billion, according to Forbes, will become the sole chair of the Gates Foundation, Mr Mark Suzman, the foundation’s CEO, said in a statement on May 13.

Ms French Gates has “new ideas about the role she wants to play in improving the lives of women and families in the US and around the world”, Mr Suzman said, adding that she would be dedicating her time to altering the trajectory of “women’s rights rolled back in the US and around the world” over the past few years.

When the foundation got its start, Ms French Gates played more of a behind-the-scenes role, although she was engaged from the beginning.

As her children grew older, she started spending more time at the foundation’s offices, staking a claim for herself.

She became its voice on family planning, maternal care and other development-related issues that specifically affected women.

Her departure is the latest step in the evolution of the Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private foundation.

From public health and development to agriculture and education, it is a highly influential player, giving away billions of dollars annually. NYTIMES