Patty Stonesifer
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Patty Stonesifer is the Co-chair and President of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In 1997, Bill and Melinda Gates asked Ms. Stonesifer to launch the Gates Learning Foundation, which later merged with the William H. Gates Foundation in 2000. The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's $24 billion endowment fund hands out more than a billion dollars a year to "improve access to advances in global health and learning."
Prior to 1997, Ms. Stonesifer was a consultant to DreamWorks SKG and held a senior vice president position at Microsoft. As Senior Vice President of the Interactive Media Division, Ms. Stonesifer was responsible for an $800 million business whose product was interactive entertainment, news, information and service products. In addition, Ms. Stonesifer managed Microsoft's investments in new online content and service products including MSN. During her tenure at Microsoft, her division produced software titles including Microsoft Encarta Encyclopedia, Microsoft's Magic School Bus Series and Microsoft Flight Simulator. In 1996 she negotiated a Microsoft and DreamWorks SKG joint venture, DreamWorks Interactive.
Ms. Stonesifer's is a founding board member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences. She also serves on the board of The Vaccine Fund, which helps to provide vaccines to third world countries. Ms. Stonesifer has also served on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on AIDS. She is a founding co-chair of the CITIES board, which promotes expanding the use of technology in Seattle's community colleges. Ms. Stonesifer donates both time and resources to a number of other regional nonprofit organizations and serves on the board of regents of the Smithsonian Institution and the board of directors of Amazon.com and Viacom Inc. In July 1996, she was named as one of the 25 Most Influential People in America by Time magazine.