Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

The Bill and Melinda Gates foundation was created in 1994 by Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft, his wife Melinda, and his dad William Sr. The Foundation targets several areas, in many different countries across the world. The target in the United States is education.

The Gates Foundation sees education as “the great equalizer” among all people, of all races and economic levels. They remark that there is only one path out of poverty, and it is education. The overarching goal of the Foundation is to double the number of young people who earn a postsecondary degree or certificate by the time they reach age 26.

The United States program focuses on these areas:

• Increasing High School Graduation and College Readiness Rates – Their goal is to increase the number of students who graduate from high school and enter college. They especially want to target low-income, Hispanic, and African-American students.
• Increasing Attainment of Postsecondary Credentials – Their goal is to increase the postsecondary degree completion rates among the same target groups.
• Scholarships – They provide scholarships to the same target groups who historically have the most amount of trouble financing postsecondary education.
• Early Learning in Washington State – They want to ensure that all students will start kindergarten ready to learn and succeed. (The Foundation’s headquarters is in Seattle, Washington)
• U.S. Libraries – They help various public libraries by providing technology and services in low-income areas.

Several of the specific initiatives of the Gates Foundation are:

• Creation of smaller schools – It is well known that smaller classrooms result in student success. The Foundation has helped to fund inner city schools to help transition them into a small group setting.
• D.C. Achievers Scholarships – The Foundation provided several million dollars to help send some of the poorest students in DC to college.
• Gates Millennium Scholars – Administered by the United Negro College Fund, The Foundation donated US$1.5 billion in scholarship money to minority students.
• NewSchools Venture Fund – This funds several charter schools in historically underserved areas for college and careers.

The Foundation gave about $2.8 million in 2008.

Source

http://www.gatesfoundation.org