Remarkable People

About the Foundation

Our belief that every life has equal value is at the core of our work at the foundation. We follow 15 guiding principles, which help define our approach to our philanthropic work, and employ an outstanding leadership team to direct our strategies and grant-making.

Guiding Principles

The 15 principles below reflect the Gates family's beliefs about the role of philanthropy and the impact they want this foundation to have. The principles guide what we do, why we do it, and how we do it.

While many of them are fundamental to the way we operate, we will remain open to amending them as we grow and learn more about our work.

Guiding Principle #1: This is a family foundation driven by the interests and passions of the Gates family.
 
Guiding Principle #2: Philanthropy plays an important but limited role.

Guiding Principle #3: Science and technology have great potential to improve lives around the world.

Guiding Principle #4: We are funders and shapers—we rely on others to act and implement.

Guiding Principle #5: Our focus is clear—and limited—and prioritizes some of the most neglected issues.

Guiding Principle #6: We identify a specific point of intervention and apply our efforts against a theory of change.

Guiding Principle #7: We take risks, make big bets, and move with urgency. We are in it for the long haul.

Guiding Principle #8: We advocate—vigorously but responsibly—in our areas of focus.

Guiding Principle #9: We must be humble and mindful in our actions and words. We seek and heed the counsel of outside voices.

Guiding Principle #10: We treat our grantees as valued partners, and we treat the ultimate beneficiaries of our work with respect.

Guiding Principle #11: Delivering results with the resources we have been given is of the utmost importance—and we seek and share information about those results.

Guiding Principle #12: We demand ethical behavior of ourselves.

Guiding Principle #13: We treat each other as valued colleagues.

Guiding Principle #14: Meeting our mission—to increase opportunity and equity for those most in need—requires great stewardship of the money we have available.

Guiding Principle #15: We leave room for growth and change.

About Us

GLIDE's mission is to create a radically inclusive, just and loving community mobilized to alleviate suffering and break the cycles of poverty and marginalization.

Our Core Values emerge from GLIDE as a spiritual movement. They are rooted in empowerment, recovery and personal transformation. Our values inspire and guide our behaviors.

They are the ground we stand on.

Radically Inclusive

We welcome everyone. We value our differences.

We respect everyone.

Truth Telling

We each tell our story. We each speak our truth.
We listen.

Loving and Hopeful

We are all in recovery. We are a healing community.
We love unconditionally.

For the People

We break through barriers. We serve each other.
We change the world.

Celebration

We sing. We dance. We laugh together.
We celebrate life!

About

NTI is a place of common ground where people with different ideological views are working together to close the gap between the global threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and the global response.

Co-chaired by former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn and philanthropist and CNN founder Ted Turner, NTI is governed by an expert and influential Board of Directors with members from the United States, Russia, Japan, India, Pakistan, China, Jordan, Sweden, France and the United Kingdom.

Board members include a former U.S. Secretary of Defense, members of the legislative branches of government from the United States, France, Russia and the United Kingdom; a member of the Jordanian royal family; a Nobel prize winning economist; a world renowned nuclear physicist; the former commander of U.S. nuclear strategic forces and other top experts in international security issues. The foundation's activities are directed by NTI Co-Chairman Sam Nunn and NTI President and Chief Operating Officer Joan Rohlfing.

Advisors to the Board of Directors include leading figures in science, business and international security. NTI is staffed by experts in nonproliferation, international affairs, communications, security and military issues, public health and medicine who have operational and international experience in their fields.

NTI is an operational organization — actively engaged in developing and implementing projects that bring new strategies, new partnerships and effective action to reduce the dangers from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons.

Since governments have most of the resources and authority in the large-scale work of threat reduction, it is not only what NTI can do to directly to reduce these threats that matters; it is also what NTI can persuade others to do. NTI's focus is on leverage — combining its influential voice with direct action projects to catalyze greater, more effective action by governments and international organizations.