Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill Gates is chair of the Gates Foundation, where he helps set strategy and overall direction and works with grantees and partners on the foundation's equity goals. He co-founded Microsoft in 1975 with Paul Allen before transitioning to full-time foundation work in 2008. Through his private office, Gates Ventures, he pursues work in climate and clean energy, Alzheimer's and other healthcare research, education, and technology, and he founded Breakthrough Energy and co-founded the Giving Pledge.

Mark Suzman leads the Gates Foundation and is overseeing a planned 20-year acceleration of its work ahead of a scheduled closure in 2045. He began his career as a journalist at Johannesburg's The Star and the Financial Times, then joined the United Nations in 2000, where he worked on the Millennium Development Goals and held policy roles under Secretary-General Kofi Annan and at the UN Development Programme. He joined the Gates Foundation in 2007 and previously served as president of the Global Policy & Advocacy Division and chief strategy officer; he holds a doctorate in international relations from Oxford, where he was a Rhodes Scholar, and a bachelor's degree from Harvard.

Melinda French Gates is a philanthropist and businesswoman who founded and co-chaired the Gates Foundation, setting its direction for more than two decades before departing in June 2024. In 2015 she formed Pivotal, an organization she leads that works to advance women's power and influence through investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy. She holds a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics and an MBA from Duke University, and earlier spent about a decade developing multimedia products at Microsoft.

Alex Reid leads communications at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, overseeing areas such as reputation and risk management, regional communications, brand strategy, and internal communications. She previously served as chief communications officer at Gates Ventures and worked at the foundation from 2010 to 2019, where she handled program advocacy communications and ran campaigns including Goalkeepers. She holds a B.A. in politics from the University of Nottingham.

Leads the foundation's efforts to help U.S. students graduate high school, earn a degree, and find good jobs.

Dr. Anita Zaidi leads the Gender Equality Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, working to integrate gender across the foundation's global work with a focus on women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia. She joined the foundation in 2014 and previously directed its Enteric and Diarrheal Diseases and Vaccine Development and Surveillance teams, helping advance vaccines for rotavirus, typhoid, cholera, and polio. She earned her medical degree at Aga Khan University and trained at Duke University, Boston Children's Hospital, and Harvard, and previously chaired the Department of Pediatrics and Child Health at AKU in Karachi.

Ankur Vora oversees the Gates Foundation's work across Africa and India and leads enterprise-wide strategy, advising the chair and CEO on priorities, resource allocation, and long-term planning toward the foundation's intended 2045 closure. Before joining the foundation in 2013, he was director of programs at the Children's Investment Fund Foundation, managing investments across Africa and South Asia, and earlier served as a principal at the Boston Consulting Group and a lecturer in economics at the University of Chicago. He holds a Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

Carolyn Ainslie leads financial planning and management at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, covering accounting, financial analysis, investment strategy, risk and assurance, business management, the Strategic Investment Fund, and broader strategy and planning. She joined the foundation in 2018 after a decade as vice president for finance and treasurer at Princeton University, and previously spent ten years as vice president for planning and budget at Cornell University. She holds an MBA in finance from the University of Rochester and a bachelor's degree from Bucknell University.

Helene D. Gayle is a physician and global health leader who has served as president of Spelman College and previously as president and CEO of The Chicago Community Trust and of the humanitarian organization CARE. She earlier directed the HIV, TB, and Reproductive Health program at the Gates Foundation and spent 20 years at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention working on HIV/AIDS prevention and global health. She holds a B.A. from Barnard College, an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, and an M.P.H. from Johns Hopkins University.

Leads the foundation's talent, culture, and organizational effectiveness strategies, including HR and DEI.

Kalpana Kochhar leads the Gates Foundation's work in international political and economic affairs, managing relationships with governments, intergovernmental organizations, advocates, and philanthropic partners. She previously directed the foundation's Development Policy and Finance team and, before joining in 2021, spent 33 years at the International Monetary Fund, where roles included director of Human Resources and deputy director of both the Asia and Pacific and the Strategy, Policy, and Review departments; she also served as the World Bank's chief economist for South Asia from 2010 to 2012. She holds an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from Brown University, an M.A. from the Delhi School of Economics, and a B.A. from Madras University.

Lauren W. Bright heads the legal team at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, overseeing global legal affairs, governance, conflict of interest matters, and legal risk management, and serves on the Executive Leadership Team and as corporate secretary to the board. She previously served as the foundation's co-general counsel and director of its Washington, D.C., office, and before joining in 2005 worked at the law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman advising nonprofit clients. She holds a J.D. from Villanova University's Charles Widger School of Law and a bachelor's degree from Gettysburg College.

Leads the Global Growth & Opportunity Division covering agricultural development, digital public infrastructure, global education, inclusive financial systems, nutrition, and WASH programs.

Minouche Shafik is an economist, policymaker, and higher education leader with over three decades in international, governmental, and academic institutions. She has served as president of Columbia University and of the London School of Economics, deputy governor of the Bank of England, deputy managing director of the IMF, permanent secretary of the UK's Department for International Development, and vice president of the World Bank. She holds a B.A. from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, an M.Sc. from LSE, and a D.Phil. from Oxford, and in September 2025 took a leave of absence from the foundation board after being appointed Chief Economic Advisor to the UK Prime Minister.

Shana Tarbell is the chief operating officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, overseeing operational teams including Facilities, Events, Travel, Security, Information Technology, and People. She earlier served as the foundation's Chief Security Officer and joined in 2015 as a deputy director on the Security team. Before her work in philanthropy, she spent 18 years at the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency in senior leadership roles.

Sri Mulyani Indrawati is one of Indonesia's longest-serving finance ministers and the country's first woman in the role, having served under three presidents and guided Indonesia through the global financial crisis and the COVID-19 pandemic while restoring fiscal discipline and macroeconomic stability. She reformed and modernized the Ministry of Finance and helped position Indonesia in sustainable finance, including its issuance of a sovereign Green Sukuk. She has previously held senior leadership positions at the World Bank and the IMF.

Strive T. Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean business leader who has served on the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's board of trustees since January 2022. He founded and chairs Econet Group and Cassava Technologies and is an early figure in Africa's mobile telecommunications sector. In 2020 he was appointed an African Union Special Envoy coordinating private-sector efforts on medical supplies and COVID-19, and he holds an engineering degree from the University of Cardiff.

Tom Tierney is a member of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's board of trustees, having joined in January 2022. He co-founded The Bridgespan Group, a global nonprofit advising philanthropists and nonprofit leaders, and previously served as worldwide managing partner of Bain & Company. He holds a BA in Economics from the University of California at Davis and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and has co-authored two books, including Give Smart: Philanthropy That Gets Results.

Trevor Mundel leads the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's work developing interventions against major causes of death and disability in developing countries, overseeing disease-specific R&D in areas such as HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, pneumonia, enteric and diarrheal diseases, and neglected tropical diseases, along with cross-cutting product development programs. Before joining the foundation in 2011, he was global head of development at Novartis and worked in clinical research at Pfizer and Parke-Davis. He holds bachelor's and medical degrees from the University of the Witwatersrand, studied at Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar, and earned a Ph.D. in mathematics from the University of Chicago.

Warren Buffett is a U.S. businessman and philanthropist who served as a trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation from 2006 to 2021. He is chairman and chief executive officer of Berkshire Hathaway Inc. He attended the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, earned his bachelor's degree from the University of Nebraska, and completed a master's in economics at Columbia University in 1951.

Guided the vision and strategic direction of the foundation and advocated for its key issues; deceased 2020; listed under historical leadership.