February 7, 2008 | Read Time: 2 minutes
After helping to build the nation’s largest philanthropy, Patty Stonesifer has announced she is stepping down as chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Ms. Stonesifer, 51, will continue to work at the foundation, overseeing an as-yet-undefined grant-making project.
She will officially leave her current position at the beginning of 2009 and will help the foundation’s co-founders, Bill and Melinda Gates, find a replacement, who could be appointed as early as September.
In an interview with The Chronicle, Ms. Stonesifer said that with Mr. Gates joining the foundation full-time in July and a grant-making plan established for the next few years, 2008 presented a good window to make a change.
“It was an obvious time line in which I either needed to step up to go through this next decade or be ready to pass the baton,” she said.
She said the foundation has hired an executive-search company and will look at candidates from around the world with a mix of corporate, government, and nonprofit experience.
Ms. Stonesifer said she first began thinking about stepping down three years ago, but postponed her decision when Warren Buffett pledged to give the foundation the majority of his massive fortune. The gift will increase the foundation’s annual grant making to about $3-billion by 2009.
Built From Scratch
A former Microsoft executive, Ms. Stonesifer left the software company to help the Gateses’ with their giving in 1997. With one employee and a rented office above a pizza restaurant, Ms. Stonesifer directed their nascent charitable effort to help libraries in the United States gain access to the Internet.
In the next 11 years, the foundation greatly expanded in size, scope, and assets. Today it has 535 employees, $38.7-billion in assets, awards grants to fight poverty worldwide, support global health, and improve American education.
“Patty made our vision a reality, and I am deeply grateful to her,” said Mr. Gates in a statement.
Shunning Compensation
Ms. Stonesifer, who receives no salary for her work at the foundation, said she continues to be passionate about the institution’s mission and looks forward to figuring out her next project.
“As soon as we get to find some time to plan it, I’m going to find a new category of giving and build something new and different from what the rest of the foundation is doing,” she said.
While the position will be a full time, she said it would be a lighter workload than her current job and allow her to play a more “hand’s on” role in charity work.
“This is a tune-up, not a radical change,” she said.
(For background on Ms. Stonesifer’s views, see an exchange she had with The Chronicle in response to an opinion article criticizing the foundation.)
