Global Health Philanthropy News
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What Gates Is Backing with a $2.5 Billion Women’s Health Commitment
As the U.S. abandons most of its global maternal and child health support, the country’s largest foundation is stepping up with new research-focused funding.
As the U.S. Dials Back AIDS Relief, Can Philanthropy Maintain Lifesaving Services?
PEPFAR-related service disruptions have already resulted in nearly 100,000 deaths. The good news is that AIDS-related philanthropy has ticked up, but more is needed.
A Bold Reset: Philanthropy’s Chance to Reimagine Global Health Now
While it “feels like foreign aid has collapsed,” Seed Global Health’s Lauren McKown writes, this is also a time to build something new and better.
Can Philanthropy Cover for Government Cuts to Global Health? Yes — Sometimes
There is a lot that private funders can do. Here’s one example: the WHO Foundation and ELMA’s move to preserve a network tracking the growing measles threat.
Bill Gates Defends His Legacy on Vaccines and Highlights the Threat to Global Health
Though Gates’ response had been largely muted as Trump decimated global aid, that may be changing. Is the foundation’s new $1.6 billion Gavi commitment a sign of things to come?
Hank Green on Digital Age Philanthropy and Decreasing “World Suck”
We connected with one half of the sibling team behind the Vlogbrothers Youtube channel to talk about how the charitably inclined digital creators approach giving back.
Seven Questions for Supermodel and Maternal Health Advocate Christy Turlington Burns
Turlington’s organization, Every Mother Counts, aims to improve health outcomes for mothers around the world. We talked about her journey, movement building, and her evolving understanding of philanthropy.
The Beginnings Fund: Good News for Mothers and Children as Aid Funding Collapses
The fund will leverage over half a billion in commitments from grantmakers like Gates and ELMA. It stresses that upending maternal and infant deaths means letting local experts lead.
Nine Questions for Peter Singer on Effective Altruism, Global Poverty and Giving with Impact
We connected with the moral philosopher to get his take on the USAID cuts, the EA movement and its detractors, billionaire giving and more.
How Donors Can Maximize Impact Following USAID Cuts: The PRO Initiative
What if donors had a list of vetted, ready-to-go intervention points to save lives as USAID is gutted? That’s what this urgent initiative seeks to provide.
Gates Embraces “Giving While Living.” Now He Needs to Pay More Attention to Power
The ultimate impact of the Gates Foundation’s historic spend down will depend heavily on political conditions. Is Gates ready to engage on that front?
Gates Sets An End Date: 2045. But Do We Really Know How Much He’ll Spend?
The Microsoft cofounder says he will spend “virtually all” his assets in the next 20 years and shutter the foundation. It’s anyone’s guess how much that will actually add up to.
Political Reality Catches Up with the Gates Foundation
Bill Gates and his technocratic foundation imagined that trying to shape who holds power in the United States was someone else’s problem. That bet turned out to be wrong.
Is It Time for Bill Gates to Get Angry?
The Trump administration’s USAID cuts threaten millions of lives — and his philanthropic legacy. But to date, Bill Gates has voiced only polite opposition.
The Future of International Development Is Mutual Aid, Not Donor Aid
Blair Glencorse of Accountability Lab and Malka Older of Global Voices discuss one solution to the U.S. dismantling of international aid infrastructure: Cooperative models, including mutual aid.
Open Philanthropy Backs the Search for New Cures through Old Treatments
Dustin Moskovitz and Cari Tuna’s effective altruist approach extends to Cures Within Reach, which funds global research to repurpose existing medicines for new cures.
The Swarovski Foundation at 10: Bling for the Masses Funds Sustainability Innovators
Water and cut crystal have powered a global network of schools and fellows, with a focus on young creatives working adjacent to the U.N.’s sustainable development goals.
International Aid Will Be Gagged Under Trump, Again. Here’s What Funders Can Do
Global health funders should plan now for the re-imposition of the so-called global gag rule on abortion care. The Safe Abortion Action Fund and Ipas share what’s at stake.
Open Philanthropy Tackles the “Low-Hanging Fruit” in Public Health
Cari Tuna and Dustin Moskovitz’s effective altruism-focused foundation looks for simple, low-cost answers to widespread global health problems — like lead exposure.
Why an L.A. Inventor Gave Big to Launch a New Institute for Immunology
Gary Michelson’s $120 million gift anchors UCLA’s new California Institute for Immunology and Immunotherapy, an ambitious public-private center for research and development.
Remembering Dikembe Mutombo’s Global Philanthropy
The NBA hall of famer — Mt. Mutombo, the man with the resounding and everlasting finger wag — passed away in September. Ade Adeniji looks back at the man’s career and philanthropy.
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Targets Lead Poisoning in the First of Its New “Big Bets”
The consultancy and philanthrosphere stalwart has a new program of collaborative big bets in the works. Its first tackles a global problem that’s benefiting from a recent uptick in funder attention.
Effective Altruism Needs a Gender Lens
Guest author Kate Grant, the founding CEO of Fistula Foundation, wants to shake up effective altruism by focusing on its gender inequality blind spot.
Basic Data, Big Impact: Why Bloomberg’s Doubling Down on Tracking Global Births and Deaths
With additional backing from Gates, Bloomberg Philanthropies is pumping more money into its decade-long project to help low- and middle-income countries collect accurate birth and death data — and act on it.
As Funding Dwindles, HIV and AIDS Remain as Much an Issue of Human Rights as of Health
A new report shows a continued decline in HIV giving as infection rates in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and other regions rise. Long-underserved groups, including women and girls, are disproportionately impacted.
How One Corporate Foundation Is Backing Maternal Health in the U.S. and Abroad
The newly formed GE HealthCare Foundation is hitting the ground running with grants focused on the U.S. and on work in Kenya and Indonesia. Building and training the maternal health workforce is a priority.
The WHO Foundation: Applying a “Start-up Mentality” to the Challenges of Global Health
Founded amid the pandemic, the World Health Organization’s foundation channels philanthropic cash to rapid responses, several medium-term priorities, and bigger bets. We connected with CEO Anil Soni to learn more.
Five Questions for Lim Seok Hui, CEO of the Philanthropy Asia Alliance
With no shortage of wealthy donors, the Asia Pacific region has a lot of philanthropic potential. To learn more, we connected with Lim Seok Hui, who leads a collaborative philanthropy initiative looking to deliver on that.
This New Global Funder Is All About Proximate, On-the-Ground Giving in Africa
Masana wa Afrika, now fully independent from its parent organizations, is based in Africa and is led and run by Africans. It’s backing critical care services for children, those with special needs in particular.
Melinda French Gates Charts a Course for a “New Chapter.” Here Are Some Takeaways
As she departs from the Gates Foundation, Melinda French Gates is quickly ramping things up with a multifaceted, $1 billion commitment focused on women’s rights. What does this all tell us about how her giving might evolve?
