Bill Gates is funding Rick
Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan. It seemed evident, but the supporting
documentation was missing. The two men have been in the same places at
the same time, working on the same things in Africa. So it seemed
inevitable that there would be an outpouring of funds.
On the
Diane Rehm radio show today, broadcasting on National Public Radio,
she interviewed Patty Stonesifer, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation, the largest grant-making foundation in the world. What
follows is an excerpt that we transcribed while listening to this
interview, 35:36 to 38 minutes into interview:
Question from a
listener: “How to best get a review evaluation of an application
for funding that agrees with Gates Foundation core values to make a
difference in real lives; in this case, it’s a joint effort between
a major university and a community network to use a science-based
prevention model for HIV-AIDS that works through religious leaders.
It’s being used in Zambia and some in Illinois but with support
could be adapted for success anywhere to empower people where they
live to know that HIV is a preventable virus infection. What’s your
response?”
Patty Stonesifer: "There are so many good points to that
question. So the first one that will apply to many of your
listeners, which is how do you actually get an idea in front of The
Gates Foundation? And that is if you go to our website 'gatesfoundation.org'
one of the most prominent buttons is called 'Grant Seekers' and it
tells you how to actually send a letter of inquiry and our teams
take a look at those and take a look at our strategies and our
imperatives that we’ve set up and then try to see who’s looking like
their ideas or their efforts match the resources we have available
for this area and the focus of our efforts. So that’s the first
step."
"But there were two other things that the listener mentioned that I
want to talk about and one was the role of religious leaders
whether that’s through these important efforts on the ground in a
country like Zambia, which I’m visiting later this year, or here in
the United States. And we are partnering with many religious
leaders and those who reach into the religious communities
because so much good work is coming from there; so whether it’s
Bread for the World or Rick Warren’s efforts or many of the
good missionary efforts we see in the developing world, the
religious communities are an important part of not just solving our
problems at home but around the world."
[emphasis added]
How does one get money from
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation? See:
http://www.gatesfoundation.org/ForGrantSeekers/FrequentlyAskedQuestions/
"Q. How do I apply for a
grant through the Global Health Program?
"A. First, review the Global Health Program’s
grantmaking priorities. If you feel that your project aligns
with the program’s scope and strategy, please fill out our letter of
inquiry form."
An
Overview states the ethical foundation of this Grantmaking:
"The
foundation's global health mission is guided by the belief that every life, no matter where it is lived,
has equal value."
[emphasis added]
One of the reasons that today's radio interview was conducted was
due to the bad publicity that the Gates Foundation experienced several
weeks ago when the LA Times raised some ethical issues. Herescope
reported on these newspaper articles at the time:
January 11, 2007: "When the 3 Legs
Intertwine"
January 16, 2007: "When the 3 Legs
Intertangle"
Since the LA Times article critical of the Gates Foundation, reported on
by Herescope several weeks ago, a few significant things have happened.
First, The Seattle Times (http://tinyurl.com/yomlqz),
which also ran the story, reported that:
“The Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation is planning a systematic review of its investments
to determine whether it should pull its money out of companies that
are doing harm to society, Chief Operating Officer Cheryl Scott said
Tuesday.”
The LA Times (
http://tinyurl.com/2f3t3s ), however, ran a letter from Patty
Stonesifer, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation which stated that
“it is naïve to suggest that an individual stockholder can stop that
suffering” and “[c]hanges in our investment practices would have little
or no impact on these issues.”
Philanthropy Today (
http://tinyurl.com/2fos65 ) reported that “Chief Executive of Gates
Foundation Clarifies Its Stance on Social Investing” (1/16/07) which
stated, in part:
“The chief executive of
the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said in a
letter to the editor of the Los Angeles Times that the
philanthropy does not plan to make changes in its investment
policies.
“. . . Patty Stonesifer, the head of the foundation, said it was
‘naïve’ to suggest that individual shareholders could alter
corporate policies.
“. . . The letter comes after the foundation had signaled that it
planned to step up its review of stocks. Cheryl Scott, the chief
operating officer of the foundation, told
The Seattle Times last week that the foundation planned to
conduct a review to determine whether it would divest from companies
doing harm, the
Los Angeles Times noted.”
A full statement of the
Gates Foundation's “Our Investing Philosophy” by Cheryl Scott, CEO of
the Gates Foundation, can be found at
http://tinyurl.com/y63lab. A
statement of “Our Guiding Principles” is posted at
http://tinyurl.com/2yqcof. Note that this foundation views itself as
a “shaper” and says, “we apply our efforts against a theory of change.”
Obviously, Rick Warren's Global P.E.A.C.E. Plan fits the criteria as one
of the "partners," and shares the same "values." In light of the
previous Herescope posts, it seems like a good time to revisit two prior
posts: "Foundation Imperialism" from
June 28th last year and
July 25th "The Peaceful Conquest of the World: Circa 1929."
The Truth:
"O Ephraim, what
shall I do unto thee? O Judah, what shall I do unto thee? for your
goodness is as a morning cloud, and as the early dew it goeth away."
(Hosea 6:4)
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