Gates Foundation Staff Will Double by 2008
As Gates Foundation Grows, So Does Its Staff
Even as the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation confronts the challenge of figuring out how to spend twice as much money each year as it did before Warren Buffett made an unprecedented $31 billion gift to the foundation this summer, it has been busy hiring a diverse group of employees to assist with the task, the Seattle Times reports.
Since January, the foundation has hired about a hundred people, sixty-eight for newly created positions. And at 319 employees, the foundation's staff is expected to more than double over the next two years. "Having the opportunity to be here now is pretty exciting," said Martha Choe, a former Seattle City Council member who directs the foundation's Global Libraries Program. "We're moving quickly, and we're trying to get a lot of things done."
No part of the Gates Foundation has grown as fast as its Global Development Program, which has thirty-six employees and, since its inception in May, has grown from a strategic opportunity into a major program that awards $200 million in grants a year.
Among the foundation's new hires are Geoffrey Lamb, a former World Bank vice president who is guiding strategy and forming partnerships with governments; genetic engineer and scientist Robert Horsch, a former Monsanto vice president who is working to use technology to improve crop yields in the developing world, including sub-Saharan Africa; Lutz Goedde, a former CEO of Alta Genetics whose work as a senior program officer is focused on expanding access to domestic and international markets for small farmers in Asia, Latin America, and Africa; and Amolo Ng'weno, a Kenyan who co-founded Internet service provider Africa Online and also worked for the Trust for African Rock Art.
"We're looking for people who are really driven by the mission," Choe said, "[and have] a willingness to tackle some tough things with not a lot of road signs on how to do it. People who are very comfortable with change."
Heim, Kristi.
“Want to Work for the Gates Foundation?.”
Seattle Times
10/17/06.
Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): Seattle, Washington
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