Our mission is to create a world where every person has the opportunity to live a healthy, productive life.
From early childhood, we each saw how our parents helped out in our local communities, and we were taught that anything is possible.

Unfortunately, factors outside of anyone’s control make it hard for some people to reach their potential: things like when they were born, who their parents are, where they grew up, whether they are a boy or a girl.

We wake up every day determined to use our resources to create a world where everyone has the opportunity to lead a healthy and productive life. Most importantly, we believe this: All lives have equal value. That’s why we made the decision to donate our wealth from Microsoft to help others.

The challenge when we started out was how to do that in a meaningful and high-impact way. We were drawn to things that sprang from our experience, so we began donating PCs to public libraries across the United States to give everyone a chance to use one. As we read and traveled more, we also became curious about inequalities further from home.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion

We are working toward a future that is more diverse, equitable, and inclusive for all.

Our organization was founded on a simple premise—that people everywhere, regardless of identity or circumstances, should have the chance to live a healthy, productive life.

In 2021, we published our DEI Commitment Statement and developed our first diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) strategic framework, which lays out our plans for achieving transformational outcomes through increased diversity of talent, equitable practices, and an inclusive culture. The framework aims for systemic change across four pillars: Leadership Accountability, Talent, Culture, and Partnerships & Voice.

To have the greatest possible impact, we must make DEI a priority internally—starting with the people we hire and how we work to retain them. As our workforce grows, so does our opportunity to evolve into an organization that is more diverse and reflective of our partners and the communities we serve.

This requires us to cultivate a workplace where employees are treated, evaluated, and valued in an equitable way. We have launched several projects that will make our talent management processes more equitable and fair, including a multiyear project that promotes transparency by building a shared understanding of how jobs at the foundation are defined and organized, how appropriate pay ranges are determined by role, and what our total rewards philosophy and strategy will mean across the foundation and our affiliates.

Join us!

Be part of a diverse global community, working toward our vision that everyone should have the chance to live a healthy and productive life.

Why work at the Gates Foundation?
We tackle some of the world's toughest problems. Our employees are an incredible group of compassionate, committed individuals, drawn by the opportunity to make a difference. They come from academic, scientific, private, government and nonprofit backgrounds and you’ll work alongside top thinkers, problem solvers and doers.

Put your talents to use in a fast-paced, stimulating organization where you can make an outsized impact. Year over year, our employees report they are proud to work here and are willing to go above and beyond in service of our mission to reduce inequities.

We’re proud to have a culture that cares
A sense of shared purpose unites us. Whether it's organizing a new employee resource group or advocating to fund a project that could really make a difference in the world—we want to see things be better. Join us and make a difference

Our employees come here to be a part of something bigger and we bring passion to everything we do.

A stimulating environment where you’ll be challenged
Our employees bring rich perspectives & experiences from around the world. What we work on isn’t easy, but we don’t hire people to come here and do easy things. It’s rewarding and exciting.

Our goal is to create an inclusive, equitable, welcoming workplace
To achieve this, we must consider every perspective, appreciate every contribution, and respect all our employees. We’re working toward a future where all employees demonstrate and reinforce principles and behaviors that support diversity, equity and inclusion.