Gates Foundation

New Gates Foundation Trustee Led Plot To Overthrow Zimbabwean Leader

February 1, 2022 Alexander Rubinstein, The Grayzone. Educate! Gates Foundation, Public Health, US Imperialism, Zimbabwe

n a shake-up of an institution named for one of the world’s wealthiest and most influential oligarchs, Zimbabwean billionaire Strive Masiyiwa was appointed to the Gates Foundation’s board of trustees this January. He will be joined on the board by a seemingly diverse cast of corporate elites known for their embrace of technocratic and neoliberal policies. Back in 2007, Masiryiwa helped orchestrate a failed attempt to overthrow the government of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe alongside the US and the Zimbabwean opposition party it was backing, the Movement for Democratic Transition. Both the Central Intelligence Agency and the Defense Intelligence Agency were made aware of the regime change plans by the Zimbabwean telecom magnate Masiyiwa, and were advised by the US embassy in Pretoria, South Africa to share “elements” of the US government’s “strategy” with him.

Gates Foundation Tied To Suit Against Common Core Ballot Measure

February 15, 2016 Evan Lips, www.yesmagazine.org Educate! Common Core, Education, Gates Foundation

By Evan Lips for New Boston Post - BOSTON – A lawsuit that aims to prevent Massachusetts voters from weighing in on the controversial Common Core educational standards has backing from people connected to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, a major sponsor of Common Core. Since 2010, the year the Massachusetts Board of Elementary and Secondary Education voted to implement Common Core, through last year, the Gates Foundation donated $776,431 to the Massachusetts Business Alliance for Education.

Bill Gates’ ‘Solution’ Misses Vital Part Of Equation

December 4, 2015 Alec Connon, www.popularresistance.org Resist! Climate Change, COP21, Divestment, Fossil Fuels, Gates Foundation

By Alec Connon for Popular Resistance. Paris, France - Bill Gates was a rare civilian among presidents and prime ministers at the opening session of the Paris climate talks on Monday. The reason that Mr. Gates was there, sharing a stage with the likes of President Obama and Prime Minister Modi of India, was that he was announcing his latest piece of entrepreneurial philanthropy: the Breakthrough Energy Coalition. Including 28 of the world's truly super rich, the raison d' etre of the Gates-headed coalition is to provide financial support to companies that bring innovative clean energy ideas to the marketplace. An initial two billion has been pledged, and that figure is expected to rise dramatically. The coalition was announced in tandem with the Mission Initiative, a commitment that has been made by 20 nation-states, including China, the US and India, to double their investments in clean energy research and development.

A Kayak For Bill And Melinda

November 11, 2015 Alec Connon, www.facebook.com Resist! Divestment, Fossil Fuels, Gates Foundation

By Alec Connon for Gates Divest - In the last 12 months the fossil fuel divestment movement has not so much grown as exploded. Over $2.6 trillion has now committed to divestment, including commitments from venerable institutions such as Stanford University, the University of Washington, the British Medical Association and the World Council of Churches. High-profile supporters of divestment include luminaries such as the UN Secretary General, Ban KI-Moon, World Bank Chief, Jim Yong Kim, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and Prince Charles.

Kayaktivists Tell Gates Foundation ‘Divest’

October 25, 2015 Staff, www.popularresistance.org Organize! Climate Change, Divestment, Fossil Fuels, Gates Foundation

By Staff of Popular Resistance with information from GatesDivest.org. Seattle, WA - Kayaktivists took to the waters of Lake Washington on Saturday, Oct. 24 to visit the mansion owned by Bill and Melinda Gates. They brought an empty kayak for Bill and Melinda in case they decided to join the action. The main focus of the action was to encourage the Gates Foundation to be a world leader by divesting from fossil fuels. It is part of a new campaign, #GatesDivest, that was started earlier this year by Seattle activist Alec Connon.

Teachers Protest Gates Foundation

June 28, 2014 Andrea Germanos, www.commondreams.org Resist! Charter Schools, Education, Gates Foundation, Protest, Teachers

A group of teachers is holding a rally Thursday evening in Seattle to denounce education reform measures they say have been an attack on public education and let corporate interests and high-stakes testing trump real student learning. The target of their protest: The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, whom the teachers say has used its monetary power to push corporate reforms and is symbolic of measures—like Common Core Standards and over-testing—that don't let educators be the decision makers of education policies. The action, organized by the BadAss Teachers (BATs) of Washington, whose vision is to "educate teachers, parents, students and communities on the long term consequences of current education reforms," begins with a rally and will lead to a march to the Gates Foundation headquarters. Julianna Dauble, full-time teacher in Renton, Washington and organizer of the action, told Common Dreams that the Gates Foundation "bought us Common Core," in addition to promoting other things like charter schools, increased testing and Race to the Top, without a democratic process that involves consulting teachers.

Gates Foundation Supports Hold On High-Stakes Tests

June 17, 2014 Jesse Hagopian, www.commondreams.org Resist! Common Core, Education, Gates Foundation, Protest, Testing

“…the Gates Foundation agrees with those who’ve decided that assessment results should not be taken into account in high-stakes decisions on teacher evaluation or student promotion for the next two years, during this transition.” — Vicki Phillips, director of the U.S. education program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation How do you know the United States is currently experiencing the largest revolt against high-stakes standardized testing in history? Because even the alchemists responsible for concocting the horrific education policies designed to turn teaching and learning into a test score have been shaken hard enough to awaken from the nightmare scenario of fast-tracking high-stakes Common Core testing across the nation. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation issued a stunning announcement on Tuesday, saying that it supports a two-year moratorium on attaching high-stakes to teacher evaluations or student promotion on tests associated with the new Common Core State Standards. Labor journalist Lee Sustar put it perfectly when he said of the Gates Foundation’s statement, “Dr. Frankenstein thought things got out of hand, too.”

BDS: Gates Foundation Pulls Investment

June 13, 2014 Staff, www.worldbulletin.net Resist! BDS, Gates Foundation, Israel, Palestine

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it will divest $184 million of its holdings in G4S, a British security firm contracted by Israel. "Bill Gates' divestment [decision] is an indication that the Palestinian struggle and boycott of Israel is gaining new heights," Mohamed Desai of BDS South Africa told Anadolu Agency. John Pinnette, a spokesman for the Gates family, has announced the liquidation of the foundation's entire stake in G4S. A global integrated-security company, G4S has been the target of several successful international boycott campaigns in recent years over accusations of its involvement in Israeli human rights abuses. Desai said it was humbling that a group of committed activists could bring change to the world.

Daily movement news and resources