Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Employee Review

I worked at Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation full-time

Pros – If you like being around smart interesting people with amazing backgrounds and ambitions, BMGF is great. You learn a lot and if you have a great manager, can grow.

Lots of resources for creativity.

Cons – Generally a stressful and competitive place. HR and management is poor-- not a lot of transparency, accountability and feedback loops, poor consistency and standards, lots of people without management experience doing management. Lots of smart people means lots of ego to deal with. The organization is constantly reorganizing and this is also stressful. Top and bottom heavy organization with little clear upward mobility within the organization.

Advice to Senior Management – Teach your POs how to manage. Give people the opportunity to grow wtihin the organization even if it means seconding them to the field for a couple years. Don't assume that something tech-fancy will solve the world, particularly if it's coming from Microsoft. Treat your employees like they matter and are not immediately replaceable. Invest in people, not just ideas.