The Projects | Global philanthropy
Internationally acclaimed businessman, philanthropist and billionaire Strive Masiyiwa was this past week announced as one of the new board members of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, by far one of the world biggest philanthropic organisation.
Strive T. Masiyiwa is a Zimbabwean based in London and an international business leader. He has served on the foundation’s board of trustees since January 2022.
Masiyiwa is the Founder and Executive Chairman of South Africa-based Econet Group and Cassava Technologies and is one of the pioneers of the mobile telecoms industry on the African continent. Masiyiwa has also been involved in the development of Africa’s independent media.
In May 2020, Masiyiwa was appointed to serve as an African Union Special Envoy to help coordinate Africa’s private sector efforts to procure medical supplies and fight the spread of COVID-19. As Special Envoy he also heads up the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. He led a similar private sector initiative to fight Ebola in West Africa in 2014-2015.
Masiyiwa is a member of the Giving Pledge. In 1996, he and his wife, Tsitsi, cofounded what is now known as the Higherlife Foundation which has supported the education of over 250,000 orphaned, vulnerable, and gifted children across Africa, as well as health, disaster relief and preparedness, and rural transformation programs. Masiyiwa received a bachelor of engineering degree from the University of Cardiff.
“We are honored that as an initial step three deeply knowledgeable and respected individuals have agreed to join us. Between them, Strive Masiyiwa, Minouche Shafik, and Tom Tierney bring an incredible track record of impact across global business, philanthropy, and development, and we couldn’t be more excited to have them join the board” said Mark Suzman CEO, Board Member, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Baroness Nemat (Minouche) Shafik is a leading economist, whose career spans public policy and academia. She has served on the foundation’s board of trustees since January 2022.
Shafik is the Director of the London School of Economics and Political Science, appointed to that position in September 2017. Her past positions include the youngest ever Vice President of the World Bank—at 36—the Permanent Secretary of the UK Department for International Development, Deputy Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund and as Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, where she sat on all the monetary, financial and prudential policy committees and was responsible for a balance sheet of over £500 billion.
Tom Tierney co-founded The Bridgespan Group, an independent global nonprofit focused on helping philanthropists and nonprofit leaders achieve breakthrough results.
Over two decades, his leadership has nurtured Bridgespan’s growth and innovation. He is a recognized thought leader in philanthropy, having collaborated with a wide range of grantmakers on issues ranging from strategy to organization.
His aspiration is to help increase the flow and effectiveness of philanthropy in ways that reduce inequities. He has served on the foundation’s board of trustees since January 2022
