In the 2024 Gates Foundation Annual Letter released on January 25th, CEO Mark Suzman points to this moment as demanding more urgency, more resources, and bolder new ideas. “While money is only part of the equation, it’s critical,” he wrote in an op-ed in Forbes published the same day.
Celebrating billionaire philanthropist, Chuck Feeney, who gave away all his wealth during his lifetime, Suzman said, “He showed us all how the actions of one generous person can set the wheels in motion for generations of progress.”
The Gates Foundation has committed to increasing its annual payout to $9 billion by 2026. And, writes Suzman, “other philanthropists are stepping up too,” sharing why that makes him so hopeful about how much more can be achieved together.
One of the four philanthropists honored in the Letter as an “exemplar in philanthropy” is Jeff Skoll. In 1999, the first President of eBay and founder of the eBay Foundation founded the Skoll Foundation to bring to life his vision of a sustainable world of peace and prosperity for all. Advised by his mentor, John Gardner, to “bet on good people doing good things”, he did just that—investing in and celebrating “social entrepreneurs” tackling some of the world’s biggest problems.
Twenty-four years later, the Skoll Foundation has invested more than $1 billion in hundreds of social entrepreneurs and social innovators across sectors and around the world. One of the social innovators highlighted in the Letter is Dr. Raj Panjabi, who founded Last Mile Health to “take healthcare out of the hospital and the clinic and bring it right to the doorstep of people by training villagers from those communities.”
“‘Business as usual’ has created failing, broken systems designed to resist change,” said Don Gips, Skoll Foundation CEO. “Incremental, siloed efforts will not change those systems. For true transformation, you need bridge-builders who work in an interconnected way to address pressing problems at their root.”
Social innovators are society’s bridge-builders. When Last Mile Health, the Financing Alliance for Health, and the Community Health Impact Coalition came together to create Africa Frontline First (AFF), they created a multiplier effect, attracting partners like the Global Fund, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, and the Skoll Foundation. To date, the AFF Catalytic Fund has mobilized $100 million in commitments to improve community health programs serving nearly 146 million people.
As Gips and Marla Blow, President of the Skoll Foundation, wrote in their 2022/2023 Spring Letter: “When the problems accelerate, so must we. Investing in systems orchestrators, engaging more government and business partners in collective action, and using 100 percent of our endowment to drive social impact are accelerators critical to fulfilling the Foundation’s mission and achieving Jeff Skoll’s galvanizing vision.”
