The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

I know I've posted about the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation before. But I would like to dedicate this blog post to their organization. They really are a fantastic organization.

I've copied and pasted a letter that Bill and Melinda have written on their website describing their organization:

Letter from Bill and Melinda Gates

"Our friend and co-trustee Warren Buffett once gave us some great advice about philanthropy: “Don’t just go for safe projects,” he said. “Take on the really tough problems.”

We couldn’t agree more. Our foundation is teaming up with partners around the world to take on some tough challenges: extreme poverty and poor health in developing countries, and the failures of America’s education system. We focus on only a few issues because we think that’s the best way to have great impact, and we focus on these issues in particular because we think they are the biggest barriers that prevent people from making the most of their lives.

For each issue we work on, we fund innovative ideas that could help remove these barriers: new techniques to help farmers in developing countries grow more food and earn more money; new tools to prevent and treat deadly diseases; new methods to help students and teachers in the classroom. Some of the projects we fund will fail. We not only accept that, we expect it—because we think an essential role of philanthropy is to make bets on promising solutions that governments and businesses can’t afford to make. As we learn which bets pay off, we have to adjust our strategies and share the results so everyone can benefit.

We’re both optimists. We believe by doing these things—focusing on a few big goals and working with our partners on innovative solutions—we can help every person get the chance to live a healthy, productive life."

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I love the line from the letter that reads "Don't just go for safe projects. Take on the really tough problems."

Another fantastic thing about the Gates Foundation is that they try different solutions to address various global problems, learn which strategies work best and then they SHARE the results so that everyone can benefit. I believe it is critical and absolutely necessary to share results, insights, findings, etc. with everyone. Working together, and allowing everyone equal and free access to the same information is vital to moving forward and alleviating some of these global issues.

A Few Inspiring TED Talks About Schools And Education

One of my favorite things to do when I have some free time is to browse through the TED website and watch a few videos. The TED conference, which stands for Technology, Education and Design, is a global set of conferences that was created to disseminate 'ideas worth spreading."

TED's mission statement begins:

We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other.

A recent favorite TED video is a talk by Richard Turere, a 13 year old boy from Kenya, who invented "lion lights" to protect his family's cattle from lion attacks. Richard discusses how he created the solar-powered solution and his passion for this project is inspiring. Click below to watch the full video:

Richard Turere: My inventions that made peace with lions


Another recent talk I watched and recommend is by a young woman named Kakenya Ntaiya from Kenya. Kakenya made a deal with her father: She would undergo the traditional Maasai rite of passage of female circumcision if he would let her go to high school. Ntaiya tells the fearless story of continuing on to college, and of working with her village elders to build a school for girls in her community. It’s the educational journey of one that altered the destiny of 125 young women.  Click below to watch the full video.

Kakenya Ntaiya: A girl who demanded a school


Watching these videos are so inspiring. Particularly inspiring is that these are young students, with extremely limited resources. These particular kids, Richard and Kakenya, come from impoverished backgrounds and were still able to make a substantial, innovative, meaningful change to their communities. I am so impressed with them, and so grateful that they were able to share their story through TED talks.

More about TED:

The TED organization addresses a wide range of topics within the research and practice of science and culture, often through storytelling. The speakers spend about 20 minutes presenting their ideas in the most innovative and engaging ways they can. Past presenters include Bill Clinton, Jane Goodall, Malcolm Gladwell, Al Gore, Gordon Brown, Bill Gates,Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and many Nobel Prize winners. 

Since June 2006, the talks have been offered for free viewing online. As of November 2011, over 1,050 talks are available free online.By January 2009 they had been viewed 50 million times. In June 2011, the viewing figure stood at more than 500 million, and on Tuesday November 13, 2012, TED Talks had been watched one billion times worldwide, reflecting a still growing global audience.