Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is the largest private funding agency and largest private foundation in the world. The organization was formed by Bill and Melinda Gates in 2000. The objectives of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are to ensure safe and quality healthcare all across the globe and to reduce poverty (Bates, 2012). Moreover, the foundation also aims to promote educational opportunities and improve accessibility to information technology. Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation provide funding in underdeveloped and developing countries for aiding the healthcare sector in those countries.
Grants are specifically oriented for addressing infectious diseases, malaria, basic nutrition, basic healthcare and family planning. It also provides financial support for the poor, for encouraging agricultural research and for the improving sanitation in developing and underdeveloped countries (Radke & Spuhler, 2013). On the other hand, the foundation itself receives funding from private resources and from their own undistributed assets. For example, in the year 2006, Warren Buffet (the richest person of the world during that time) provided the foundation with 10 million class B shares. However, Buffet provided a clause that the foundation should allocate an equal contribution matching Buffet’s contribution and an additional 5% net assets of the foundation. Hence, the foundation invests their undistributed assets with the goal of maximizing return on investments (Doughton, 2014).

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation does promote equality and empowerment of women. The foundation is exploring new ventures for placing women and girls at the center of development. The foundation is focusing on the approaches to reach and empower the most vulnerable women and girls in the society. The foundation wants to empower women with their ability to play a role in improving health and economic development.
References
Bates, S (2012). Discover Your CEO Brand. United States: McGrawHill. p. iv.
Doughton, S (2014). “After 10 years, few payoffs from Gates’ ‘Grand Challenges'” The Seattle Times, Local News. The Seattle Times. Retrieved 28 November 2016.
Radke, N., Spuhler, D. (2013) Brief overview of conditions for water, sanitation and hygiene grants by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation