Communication & Social Change Blog #3: Guest Speaker Haven Ley from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Over the course of this term, we’ve had many guest speakers discuss their interesting experiences working with non-profit organizations and social movements. Many people who spoke about their work talked about starting with little financial and community support, building relationships, and thus building up their organization/movement. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, however, clearly has a “leg up,” particularly in terms of building their foundation and funding; the speaker from the foundation, Haven Ley, and her work in agricultural development, was especially interesting to me.
Although the Gates foundation is far bigger and more well known than other foundations/organizations, Haven Ley said the foundation can’t do “anything,” nor can they go into projects, without maintaining strong relationships. This is something that every speaker has told the class about their approach toward making change and building up their organization. The snappy PowerPoint, accompanied with remarkable photographs, definitely indicated that the foundation covered every aspect of what it means to be an organization working toward social change, such as having a core belief, as step-by-step reasoning that justified their “areas of focus,” and a mission for their “global development” department. Their “core belief:” “All lives have equal value” is short and to the point, and it’s something I believe all people can stand behind.
The Foundation’s “global development” department, which comprises 25% of the foundation, focuses on the lives of those living on less than $1 a day. Their mission is to increase the opportunities for people in developing countries to overcome hunger and poverty. With the knowledge that agriculture has been neglected in sub-Saharan Africa over the past twenty years, the Foundation decided to invest their efforts in agriculture. I think this is an extremely valuable type of work to do in a developing, struggling area, as it is directly focusing on the work/source of money for many people, the land, and nourishment. Also, I really respect that the foundation heavily invests in doing “relentless” research to get to know the women farmers they’re fighting for. The Foundation takes a systemic look at the agricultural system, and tries to make change on that level; however, their projects are a great example of how interconnected personal, community and systemic change can be.
When Ley discussed the Foundation’s projects and grant profiles, it was abundantly clear that nothing is gender neutral in this work, and many projects have failed because some element was socially unacceptable in the Ethiopian and Tanzanian culture in particular. For example, the “treddle pump” bike design failed in Ethiopia because it isn’t socially acceptable to ride bikes in their culture, whereas it was a highly successful design in Ghana because it is socially acceptable. There was also the shortened ho project (3 feet vs. longer) that failed in Tanzania because women’s babies would fall off their back if they leaned that far over. How is it that people designed these projects without connecting and speaking to the people they are trying to help? It seems ridiculous to skip that step in the process, and, in my opinion, making connections with the people you’re fighting/working for, not just those you want support from, are some of the most valuable and important connections that can be made. Thus, the Foundation is spending more time focusing on understanding the culture and the women they are working to help, although this can be difficult as some do not want to be a part of the process.
It was interesting to hear Ley speak, since she represents an organization that does have a lot of money and support; their advertising and rhetorical approach was clearly still linked to the same ideas as the other organizations, but they have the ability to have more research conducted, provide remarkable advertising and photography, and take on projects that may or may not fail. I’m eager to learn more about the work they do.