On January 27, 2017, new york, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett attended an event organized by Columbia Business School to discuss topics such as friendship, business, philanthropy, global health, innovation, and leadership. Source: Visual China
Author | Wang Fan
Edit | Jan Pudding
Produced by | Prism Tencent News Xiaoman Studio
On January 26, 2022, on the eve of the Spring Festival, the Gates Foundation announced the list of new directors, which is also regarded as a new milestone for the foundation. This is also the first time that the Gates Foundation has appeared as a director outside of the Gates and Buffett families.
Mark Sussman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, responded to the authors that Buffett's resignation from trusteeship and the addition of new directors will not change the focus of the foundation's work, and will continue to focus on the work of global health, agriculture, environmental sanitation and other key areas.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one of the world's largest private philanthropic foundations, using family wealth and social influence to drive innovation in public policy and field innovation in global health, gender equality, and American education. Since its inception 21 years ago, more than $60 billion in grants have been paid. The foundation currently has more than $50 billion in funding, and Bill and Melinda committed an additional $15 billion last year after their divorce.
How are new directors elected?
The Gates Foundation announced that the four new trustees, in addition to the current CEO Mark Sussman, are Strive Masiyiwa, chairman of the Econet Group, which focuses on the problems of the poor in Africa and other countries, Baron Shafik, who has served as a senior official at the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, and Bridgespan, who has provided management advice to several non-profit organizations and charities Group Co-Chairman and Co-Founder Thomas Tierney.
As the Gates Foundation expanded, only three trustees have been questioned. After the Gatess announced their divorce last year, they pushed uncertainty about the management structure to the forefront. The introduction of a new director is also considered to be the first step in the foundation's response to external doubts.
Asked how the directors are selected and how they meet their obligations, Mark Sussman told the authors that during the selection process, the foundation hired international law firms to conduct external evaluations, while analyzing and studying nearly 30 foundations and charities, mainly in the United States, to select a governance structure suitable for the Gates Foundation. In terms of board selection, in addition to considering a certain understanding of the foundation, Bill and Melinda's familiarity with the candidates will also be considered, "because we believe that mutual trust between new members is very important."
Mark Sussman also responded to the media, including the authors, that the foundation has a clear policy of avoiding conflicts of interest, "which need to be signed every year (to confirm the existence of conflicts of interest), and all new directors will also sign." ”
Mark Sussman has previously said that while Buffett is no longer a trustee, the donation pledge has not changed. Buffett will continue to deliver on his annual commitment to the Foundation, and as of the end of June 2021, Buffett's total donations to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation are close to $33 billion.
As a donor, Buffett also continues to influence the foundation's management. Mark Sussman revealed in his annual letter this year that when he was first named CEO, he flew to Omaha to have lunch with Buffett, who also gave various suggestions, one of which was to remind Mark Sussman of three long-term threats to all of his large institutions: arrogance, bureaucracy and complacency.
China has become a key source of global innovation
At the same time as the management structure of the foundation headquarters is being adjusted, the foundation's Chinese team is also adapting to the new management.
Zheng Zhijie became the chief representative of the Beijing representative office three months ago, leading the foundation to continue to deepen its partnership with China.
Mark Sussman said that in the process of responding to the new crown epidemic, whether it is the development of the new crown vaccine or by supporting COAVX to promote the fair distribution of vaccines around the world, China has played an important role in the world.
"Looking to the future in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, infectious diseases are attracting a lot of attention, and this is an area where China has a special expertise. Together with the Beijing Municipal Government (and Tsinghua University), we have created the Global Center for Health Drug Discovery (GHDDI), which is conducting research on drugs that promise to achieve single-dose treatments for malaria and similar work for other infectious diseases. Mark Sussman introduced.
On June 30 last year, after China officially obtained the World Health Organization's malaria elimination certification, it is also promoting the process of malaria elimination in Africa and even globally. This includes both ongoing research and development, production and supply of antimalarial medicines and supplies, as well as the adaptation of their antimalarial experience to malaria-prone countries in Africa.
On October 26, 2016, local time, London, England, the "Innovation Challenge Project" launched by the Gates Foundation held an annual meeting in London, attended by Bill Gates and Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson. Source: Visual China
"As Bill Gates writes in his signed article, Chinese innovation is important to help other countries achieve development, especially in health and agriculture."
After the addition of four new directors, including the CEO, the board of directors at the foundation headquarters was changed to six, and the board of directors can include up to 9 members.
Mark Sussman also said, "We are actively looking for other candidates, and we are aware that it is important to have some excellent representatives from Asia over time in the future." ”
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