The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation believes that everyone deserves “the chance to live a healthy, productive life.”
The foundation seeks to overcome even the most difficult of social problems. It is admirable that they strive for change in areas that seem almost impossible to make a dent in. An awareness that not all projects can succeed leads them to turn their failures into gold. They learn from their mistakes and alter the way they approach future endeavors. The work of the foundation is shaped by the importance they place on optimism, collaboration, rigor and innovation. Building on such values has allowed them to make progress in overcoming problems such as hunger, poverty, and improving health and education.
The foundation’s goal is to improve education in America to ensure that all people have opportunity to reach their full potential in life. They place great importance in getting students to not just complete high school, but to come into college prepared and to graduate with a post-secondary degree. Their goal is to dramatically increase the number of students who complete college, believing that a college degree is essential for success in today’s labor market. Their Postsecondary Success Strategy also involves helping community colleges improve their completion rates, since most low-income students attend these institutions and they are also accessible and affordable.
To help make this all possible, the foundation helps fund several scholarship programs to help students financially with their education. Today only one in 10 low-income students graduates from college, and because of this, the foundation focuses much of its attention on assisting low-income students and students of color. By 2016, the foundation hopes to help more than 27,000 low-income students get to college.
The foundation has also directs a lot effort into early learning education, understanding that the first five years of life is a crucial time for the development of skills needed to succeed in education and life. Their goal is to build a quality early learning system in Washington where children can get individual attention and learn in a nurturing environment.
With their no-fear attitude and goal of creating the biggest impact, the foundation is well on its way to building a stronger education system and more competitive workforce here in America.