Ashish Dhawan, a philanthropist from India and the CEO of Convergence Foundation, was appointed to the board of trustees of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation on Thursday.
The foundation's board of trustees has recently been expanded to include Dr. Helene D. Gayle, president of Spelman College in the US. According to a release, the new board members will join existing board members Strive Masiyiwa, Baroness Nemat (Minouche) Shafik, Thomas J. Tierney, Gates Foundation CEO Mark Suzman, and co-chairs Bill and Melinda French Gates.
Dhawan is not only the CEO of the Convergence Foundation, which is devoted to accelerating India's economic growth and development, but he also serves as chair of Ashoka University and the Central Square Foundation, a nonprofit organisation that aims to raise the bar for children's education in India. Gayle is a former grantee of the Gates Foundation, and the two new board members have experience working with organisations that make grants to organisations that aim to improve health, education, and economic development.
Gayle served as the president and chief executive officer of The Chicago Community Trust, one of the oldest and biggest community foundations in the United States, before taking the helm at Spelman College. The foundation recently announced that it will expand its payment by 50% over pre-pandemic levels to $9 billion annually by 2026 in response to overlapping crises that threaten two decades of advancement in health, development, and economic opportunity.
In order to meet the enhanced payment and maintain long-term effect, the board will be crucial in determining the foundation's future direction and providing advice on the evolution of its transformational initiatives, programmes, and partnerships, according to the statement.