PART 10: Bill Gates - Full-Time Philanthropist -II
D.C. Achievers Scholarships
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation announced March 22, 2007 a $122 million initiative to send hundreds of the District of Columbia's poorest students to college.
Washington State Achievers Scholarship
The Washington State Achievers program encourages schools to create cultures of high academic achievement while providing scholarship support to select college-bound students.
Texas High School Project
Strong American Schools
On April 25th, 2007, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation joined forces with the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation pledging a joint $60 million to create Strong American Schools, a nonprofit project responsible for running ED in 08, an initiative and information campaign aimed at encouraging 2008 presidential contenders to include education in their campaign policies.
Pacific Northwest
Discovery Institute
Donated US$1 million in 2000 to the Discovery Institute and pledged US$9.35 million over 10 years in 2003, including US$50,000 of Bruce Chapman's US$141,000 annual salary. According to a Gates Foundation grant maker, this grant is "exclusive to the Cascadia project" on regional transportation, and it may not be used for the Institute's other activities, including promotion of intelligent design.
Rainier Scholars
Donated US$1 million
Computer History Museum
Donated US$15 million to the museum in October, 2005
Lifespan
In October 2006 the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation was split into two entities: the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust, which manages the endowment assets and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which "... conducts all operations and grant making work, and it is the entity from which all grants are made." Also announced was the decision to "... spend all of [the Trust's] resources within 50 years after Bill's and Melinda's deaths." This would close the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Trust and effectively end the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In the same announcement it was reiterated that Warren Buffett "... has stipulated that the proceeds from the Berkshire Hathaway shares he still owns at death are to be used for philanthropic purposes within 10 years after his estate has been settled."
The plan to close the Foundation Trust is in contrast to most large charitable foundations that have no set closure date. This should lead to lower administrative costs over the years of the Foundation Trust's life and ensure that the Foundation Trust not fall into a situation where the vast majority of its expenditures are on administrative costs, including salaries, with only token amounts contributed to charitable causes.
Criticisms
Support for Slum Dwellers International
The Gates Foundation recently donated $10 million to the global NGO Slum Dwellers International - SDI. This donation has been heavily criticized by membership driven shack dwellers' organizations on the grounds that SDI functions as a 'sweet heart partner' for repressive states that, like the South African government are subjecting shack dwellers to mass forced removals and the severe repression of their organizations. It has been argued that repressive states use SDI to claim 'partnership' with local shack dwellers when in fact SDI is a global NGO deeply embedded in the institutions that drive anti- poor policies (World Bank, USAID etc). Organizations making this critique note that SDI praises repressive governments with which it has formal partnerships while failing to condemn forced evictions and violent state repression by those governments.
Diversity
The Gates Millennium Scholars fund, according to its official website's frequently asked questions section, only provides scholarships to African American, American Indian/Alaska Native, Asian, Pacific Islander American or Hispanic American applicants. The program has been criticized for its exclusion of Caucasians. However, such programs are argued to be necessary to counteract the systemic racism and institutional racism that still exists in America.
An op-ed by Ernest W. Lefever, published in the Los Angeles Times on November 1, 1999, stated:
"America's most celebrated college dropout had a great opportunity to boost higher education, help needy students and strike a blow against racism, but he blew it. If Bill Gates had been able to chat with Teddy Roosevelt before launching his breathtaking $1-billion program of college scholarships, America would be a better place. Unless significantly amended, Gates' 'minority' scholarships will further inflame racial tensions, delay the achievement of a colorblind society and subvert the cherished virtue of reward by merit. The Gates Millennium Scholarships for thousands of high school seniors over the next 20 years are intended to produce more scientists, engineers, doctors and educators from among American minorities, who, he claims, are woefully underrepresented in college. His commitment to arbitrarily preferred groups is bound to increase racial resentment. Gates' vague concept of 'diversity' confuses the laudable diversity of cultural talents that strengthens the nation with the self-conscious racial diversity that divides it by breeding arrogance and envy." Investments
The foundation invests the assets that it has not yet distributed, with the exclusive goal of maximizing its return on investment. As a result, its investments include companies that have been criticized for worsening poverty in the same developing countries where the Foundation is attempting to relieve poverty. These include companies that pollute heavily and pharmaceutical companies that do not sell into the developing world. In response to press criticism, the foundation announced in 2007 a review of its investments to assess social responsibility. It subsequently cancelled the review and stood by its policy of investing for maximum return, while using voting rights to influence company practices.
Diversion of health care resources
In a January/February 2007 Foreign Affairs article. Laurie Garrett claims that many charitable organizations, among whom the Gates Foundation is prominent, harm global health by diverting resources from other important local health care services. For example, by paying relatively high salaries at AIDS clinics, the foundation diverts medical professionals from other parts of developing nations' health care systems; the health care systems' ability to provide care diminishes (except in the area the foundation funds) and the charities may do more harm than good. Similar findings were reported in a December 2007 Los Angeles Times investigation. Jobs at the Foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates believe every life has equal value. In 2000, they created the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to help reduce inequities in the United States and around the world. The foundation's headquarters are located in Seattle, Washington, with offices in Washington, D.C. and New Delhi, India. The foundation's diverse and talented staff identifies and supports grantee partners who are having an effect on some of the most neglected problems in their region, their country, and the world. As staff members of the foundation, they believe they are helping to better the lives of the people they ultimately serve.
For Grant Seekers
The foundation awards the majority of its grants to U.S. 501 (c)(3) organizations and other tax-exempt organizations identified by our staff. The Foundation does not award grants to individuals.
In deciding how to invest its resources most responsibly, the foundation looks for projects that:
* Help reduce inequities in neglected areas
* Produce measurable results
• Catalyze increased momentum, scale, and sustainability of change
• Collaborate with government, philanthropic, private-sector, and not-for-profit partners
* Favor preventative approaches
* Leverage support from other sources
* Advance our current strategies, accelerating the
work we are already supporting
Global Development Program
Grants in this program strive to reduce hunger and poverty in the developing world.
Global Health Program
Grants in this program encourage the development of lifesaving medical advances and help ensure they reach the people who need them most.
United States Program
Grants in this program are designed to reduce inequities by improving access to educational and other opportunities for all residents.
Charitable Sector Support
In addition to its main program areas, the foundation also gives grants to non-profit organizations that are serving and strengthening the overall charitable sector.
Bill Gates Foundation
Alive & Thrive: Reducing avoidable death and disability due to sub-optimal infant and young child feeding
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is committed to reducing death and disability associated with under nutrition in the developing world. One of the two goals of the foundation's Nutrition Strategy is to reduce the disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) lost due to under nutrition in children ages 0 to 24 months by 50 percent.
To contribute to the achievement of this goal, the foundation wishes to invite qualified applicants to submit letters of inquiry (LOI) to implement a new program "Alive & Thrive: Reducing avoidable death and disability due to sub-optimal Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF)" in the developing world, with emphasis on sub- Saharan Africa and south Asia.
The Alive & Thrive program has four components, with the specific program of work described in the pages that follow:
1. Implementation delivery models for IYCF interventions
2. New approaches to overcoming barriers to scale and sustainability
3. Monitoring and evaluation of progress and trends 4. Advocacy
The Alive & Thrive program may be allocated up to U.S. $80 million over 5 years, with a program review after 3 years.
Background And Rationale
The Lancet Series on Maternal and Child Under nutrition (January 2008) estimated that 1.4 million child deaths could be attributed to sub-optimal breastfeeding practices, including 1.0 million deaths due to non- exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life. The series went on to estimate that nutrition-related death and disability could be reduced by 22% with high coverage of effective breastfeeding support interventions and stunting could be reduced by 17% with high coverage of
effective complementary feeding from 6-24 months. The impact of these interventions is not restricted to early childhood. In fact, height at 2 years independently predicts a range of long-term outcomes, including height in adulthood, attained schooling, offspring birth weight, and adult income. In meta-analyses, a one z-score difference in height-for-age at 2 years was associated with half a year of extra schooling, an effect size that is comparable to what has been observed in school feeding and cash transfer programs.
Exclusive breastfeeding is currently recommended for the first 6 months of life, and it is associated with significantly lower risks of morbidity and mortality, and prolonged health benefits compared to other breastfeeding patterns (e.g., predominant, partial, no breastfeeding). Frequent breastfeeding also contributes to birth spacing. In areas where HIV is prevalent, HIV testing is recommended during pregnancy with provision of anti-retroviral treatment or prophylaxis depending on maternal health status, and counseling on the risks and benefits of infant feeding options (i.e., breastfeeding and replacement feeding). Among HIV-positive women who breastfeed, exclusive breastfeeding is associated with lower risk of postnatal HIV transmission than predominant and partial breastfeeding in the first 6 months of life.
Exclusive breastfeeding rates vary by country and region but are approximately 30% in sub-Saharan Africa and 45% in South Asia. No data are presently available for the proportion of children who have adequate complementary feeding, as valid composite indicators that capture food quality, quantity, and frequency have only recently been developed and are not yet routinely calculated. However, the high incidence of growth faltering during the complementary feeding period suggests a wide gap between recommended and actual practices.
There are numerous examples of successful programs to improve Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF), though most programs have been relatively modest in scope and have focused on improvements in early breastfeeding practices - immediate initiation and exclusive feeding for 6 months-- rather than feeding across the entire 0 to 24 month continuum. A recent series of meetings and site visits convened by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation identified the following issues that require immediate resolution if sustainable solutions to sub-optimal IYCF are to be found:
* Learning By Doing At Scale
Optimal breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices have been well-defined. However, the evidence base for how to implement large-scale programs to improve IYCF across the 0-24 month period is lacking. There is an urgent need for integrated IYCF programs with rigorous monitoring, evaluation, and documentation of how to overcome delivery and demand creation challenges at scale.
* Intervention Effectiveness
More effective interventions are needed to increase impact beyond what has been estimated in The Lancet, which was based on current program achievements only.
* Private-public Partnerships
The private sector should be engaged from the outset in IYCF efforts. New and demanding partnerships will be needed to achieve outcomes. Social marketing techniques to build demand and change behaviors can help increase effectiveness of private-public partnerships.
Advocacy
There is an urgent need for advocacy to create consensus and a shared vision, as well as leadership, accountability, demand, and resources for IYCF. Advocacy is also needed to enhance the policy and regulatory environment for related interventions.
Goal
The goal of this program is to reduce death and disability due to poor breastfeeding and complementary feeding practices in countries with high rates of under nutrition and child mortality through identifying, documenting, and addressing key challenges.
Objectives
1. Develop models for creating demand and sustaining improved infant feeding from birth through 24 months, at large scale in 3 countries with strong evaluation components to document impact on nutrition disability-adjusted life years lost.
2. Test novel private-public partnerships and other approaches for removing obstacles to improved breastfeeding and increased use of appropriate complementary foods at the country level.
3. Monitor and evaluate global trends, program effectiveness, and resource allocation to infant and young child feeding and nutrition.
4. Advocate for IYCF and sustained support for addressing under nutrition from conception through 24 months, both globally and at the country level.
This program will fill critical gaps in efforts to improve infant and young child nutrition by addressing the issue across the 0-24 month continuum. The program will contain four specific components to respond to these diverse needs. Successful applicants will be expected to work with existing foundation partners, stakeholders, and organizations working on IYCF-related research, policies, programs, and global monitoring and advocacy.
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