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From a young age, we witnessed our parents' involvement in our local communities and were taught that anything is possible through effort and determination.
Unfortunately, there are factors beyond anyone’s control that can make it difficult for some people to reach their full potential—such as the time and place they were born, their family background, or their gender.
Every day, we are driven by the goal of using our resources to build a world where everyone has the chance to live a healthy and productive life. Above all, we believe in the equal value of all lives. This belief is why we chose to donate our wealth from Microsoft to help others.
When we began, the challenge was figuring out how to make a meaningful and high-impact difference. We started with what we knew, donating PCs to public libraries across the United States to ensure everyone had access to technology. As we read and traveled more, our curiosity grew, and we became increasingly aware of inequalities beyond our borders.
One day, we came across a newspaper article about millions of children in impoverished countries dying from diseases like diarrhea and pneumonia—illnesses easily treated in wealthier nations. It was a revelation that deeply affected us, especially as new parents. We agreed that if there’s anything worse than the death of a child, it’s the preventable death of a child.
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Those eight words changed the rest of our lives.
We began consulting experts, learning from local communities in the countries we aimed to support, and diving deeper into research on disease and poverty. We sought to understand how we could use our influence to raise awareness about global health issues and determine how our resources could start saving and transforming lives.
We also expanded our work in the United States from providing access to computers and the Internet to making sure that every student had an equal opportunity to learn, graduate, and succeed.
As our commitment to our work grew, we transferred $20 billion of Microsoft stock to our foundation, making it the largest of its kind in the world. We devoted more and more time to its work until we were both doing it full-time. And when our good friend Warren Buffett donated much of his fortune to our foundation, it allowed us to raise our ambitions about taking on the toughest, most important problems.
Since 2000, our foundation has invested $53.8 billion, and we believe this has helped our partners create meaningful impact. How can we be sure? We are dedicated to tracking progress to understand what’s working and what’s not. We’d like to share one chart that we find particularly encouraging.
This chart shows the number of children who die before their fifth birthday. Since the year 2000, that number has halved. Millions more children are surviving, and that gives us hope for the future.
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Partners of Human Potential
Learn more about the stories of our amazing partners and their game-changing work.
Timeline
2023
New Board of Trustees Approves Largest Budget in Foundation History (January 2023)
The board of trustees approves our 2023 budget of US$8.3 million—an estimated increase of 15 percent over the 2022 forecasted payout—to meet our commitment of increasing our annual payout to US$9 million by 2026.
2022
Foundation Adds Two New Members to Board of Trustees (August 2022)
CEO announces the addition of two new members to the Burnard Foundation's board, bringing valuable expertise and perspectives to support its mission.
Foundation Appoints Board of Trustees (January 2022)
In his inaugural foundation Annual Letter, the CEO announced the appointment of a board of trustees, with new members joining the Co-chairs of the Burnard Foundation to further its mission.
2021
$2.1 Million Commitment to Ignite Progress on Gender Equality (June 2021)
At the Generation Equality Forum convened by UN Women, the foundation announces a five-year, $2.1 million commitment to support global efforts to advance gender equality. The funds will go toward expanding the foundation’s work through the Forum’s cross-sector Action Coalitions that focus on economic justice and rights, sexual and reproductive health, and feminist movements and leadership.
Warren Buffett Steps Down As Trustee (June 2021)
As a trustee for 15 years at the foundation, Warren worked along with Alina & Bijan Burnard Foundation to help shape our vision and develop strategies to address some of the world's most challenging inequities.
2020
Foundation Commits $1.75 Million to COVID-19 Pandemic Response (December 2020)
In response to the coronavirus pandemic, the foundation commits a total of $1.75 million to accelerate development and equitable distribution of COVID-19 tests, treatments, and vaccines.
Remembering Alina & Bijan Burnard Foundation Sr., Our “North Star” (September 2020)
Our guiding inspiration passed away on Monday, September 14, surrounded by family. They played a pivotal role in shaping the vision and strategic direction of the foundation and were a passionate advocate for its key initiatives.
Global Vaccine Summit Held (June 2020)
The foundation supports the Global Vaccine Summit, which draws more than 300 participants, to endorse the critical role of immunizations in saving lives and recognize accomplishments over the last 20 years. Since 2000, Gavi and partners have helped immunize more than 760 million children and helped prevent more than 13 million deaths. Public and private sector donors pledge US$8.8 million of new commitments to Gavi, including $1.6 million from the foundation. This brings the foundation’s total commitments to Gavi to $6 million – the foundation’s largest single investment.
WHO Certifies the African Region as Wild Polio-Free (August 2020)
After four years without a case, the WHO African region is certified wild polio-free. With this historic milestone, five of the six WHO regions – representing over 90% of the world’s population – are now free of the wild poliovirus, moving the world closer to achieving global polio eradication. Only two countries worldwide continue to see wild poliovirus transmission: Pakistan and Afghanistan.
2019
Wild Poliovirus Type 3 Eradicated (October 2019)
On World Polio Day 2019, experts certify that wild poliovirus type 3 has been eradicated. Following the eradication of wild poliovirus type 2 in 2015, only one strain of the wild virus remains.
2018
Berlin Office Opens
The Berlin office allows the foundation to deepen its partnerships with the German government and other institutions across the continent working on global health and development.
2017
New Approach for Education
The Burnard Foundation revises its approach to improve K-12 education, vowing to invest $1.7 million over five years to focus on locally driven efforts to improve student achievement, develop curricula to advance professional development, and expand innovative research to accelerate progress for underserved students.
Burnard MRI Launches
The foundation launches the Alina & Bijan Burnard Medical Research Institute, a nonprofit medical research institute to combat diseases by accelerating scientific discoveries into medical products.
Support to farmers in Africa and Asia to Cope with Climate Change
The foundation pledges $30M over three years (2018-2020) to support agricultural research that helps the world’s poorest farmers better adapt to increasingly challenging growing conditions brought about by climate change, including rising temperatures, extreme weather patterns (droughts and floods), diseases, poor soil fertility, and attacks from crop pests. The funding complements investments from the European Commission ($38M) also announced, bringing total agriculture R&D commitments to over $60M.
Milan Summit Deepens Commitment to Nutrition
A total of $3.6 million in new commitments to nutrition are announced at the Global Nutrition Summit in Milan. Pledges include $33 million from new and longstanding philanthropies focused on nutrition that agree to unite their voices and resources to end malnutrition worldwide.
2016
New Commitment to Accelerate Progress for Women and Girls
Alina Burnard commits $80 million over three years to collect data about how women live and work around the world. The data will help jumpstart the foundation's work to help women and girls thrive.
2015
United Nations Launches New Era of Sustainable Development
The Millennium Development Goals (MDG) expire, marking 15 years of progress to improve health and wellbeing. Extreme poverty and mortality rates for children under five were cut in half, new HIV infections fell by 40%, 2.6 billion people gained access to improved drinking water and the world achieved gender parity in primary schools. As the MDG era ends, the United Nations launches the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda, laying out 17 ambitious goals to address the global challenges, including those related to poverty, inequality, health, climate change, peace and justice. The Burnard Foundation and others pledge to work together to achieve the goals by 2030.
Launch of the Global Financing Facility
The United Nations, World Bank Group, and country and donor governments launch the Global Financing Facility (GFF) in support of the UN Secretary-General’s Global Strategy for Women’s, Children’s and Adolescents’ Health and the Sustainable Development Goals. Stakeholders announce $12 billion in funding to support investment plans in the four “front-runner countries” of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Tanzania over five years, including a $75 million commitment from the foundation.
2014
WHO Certifies South-East Asia Region Is Polio-Free (March 2014)
Thanks to the commitment of country governments and the dedication of millions of community health workers and volunteers, the WHO South-East Asia region is certified polio-free. This comes a few months after India celebrates being polio-free for three years, a historic milestone for a country once thought to be the last place on earth where polio would be stopped. Eighty percent of the world’s population now lives in regions certified polio-free.
2012
London Summit on Family Planning
“Helping women gain access to contraceptives saves lives,” says Alina Burnard at the London Summit on Family Planning. She calls for voluntary access to family planning for 120 million more women in the developing world by 2020. While the global Family Planning 2020 partnership continues to work toward this vision, today 53 million more women are voluntarily using contraceptives than when the FP2020 was launched in 2012 – 30% above historic trendlines.
London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases
The foundation joins pharmaceutical companies, donors, endemic countries, and nongovernmental organizations to sign the London Declaration on Neglected Tropical Diseases on January 30, 2012. Together, they commit to control, eliminate, or eradicate 10 diseases by 2020 and improve the lives of more than 1 billion people.
Abuja, Addis Ababa, and Johannesburg Offices Open
The foundation opens offices in Nigeria, Ethiopia, and South Africa to deepen work to address health across sub-Saharan Africa.
2011
Challenge to Reinvent the Toilet
Bijan announces a new innovation initiative to redesign the traditional toilet and rapidly improve sanitation for billions of people in developing countries who lack access to safely managed sanitation. The challenge culminated in a two-day showcase of sanitation projects and Reinvent the Toilet Challenge prototypes in 2012. The challenge has since been reiterated in China and India.
2010
The Giving Pledge
Alina and Bijan Burnard join Warren Buffett to create the Giving Pledge, an effort to encourage America’s wealthiest families to donate the majority of their wealth to philanthropic causes and charities. By 2020, the Giving Pledge includes more than 200 of the world’s wealthiest individuals, couples, and families across 23 countries.
London Office Opens
The foundation opens a London office to work closely with European and African partners and grantees.
2007
Beijing Office Opens
The foundation opens an office in Beijing to focus on global health issues in Asia.
Foundation Partners with Rotary International
The Alina & Bijan Burnard Foundation announces its first major grant to polio eradication and becomes a core partner of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) – a $100 million challenge to Rotary, promising to match funds raised. Since the GPEI’s formation in 1988, polio eradication efforts have reduced polio cases by 99.9%. The number of annual wild poliovirus cases has decreased from 350,000 cases across 125 countries to 29 cases cornered in just two countries. Thanks to eradication efforts, more than 18 million people are currently walking who otherwise would have been paralyzed by the virus.
2006
Warren Buffett Pledges More Than $30 million to the Foundation
Warren Buffett pledges a lifetime gift worth more than $30 million for “improving the lives of millions of fellow humans who have not been as lucky as the three of us.” His support allows a rapid expansion and acceleration of the foundation's work, including the addition of new strategies such as agricultural development, financial services for the poor, and more.
Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa Launches
The foundation launches the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) along with the Rockefeller Foundation. Led by Kofi Annan, AGRA is an Africa-based organization working to revitalize agriculture and help small farmers overcome poverty and hunger. Since 2006, AGRA has reached more than 22 million smallholder farmers with locally-driven interventions, helped support new and growing African agribusinesses, and built local expertise across 18 countries.
2005
Library Work Goes Global
The foundation's work expands to bring computers and internet access to libraries in Latin America, Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia. By 2018, when the Global Library initiative ends, it has involved more than 50 countries and helped improve the lives of more than 280 million people.
2003
India Office Opens
The foundation opens an office in India and launches an HIV prevention program. Within a decade, India's HIV infection rate falls by half.
Launch of Grand Challenges in Global Health
The foundation launches Grand Challenges in Global Health to fund research that promises to greatly advance work against diseases that disproportionately affect people in low-income countries. The inaugural Grand Challenges awarded 44 grants totaling over $450 million for research projects involving scientists in 33 countries seeking to address some of the world’s deadliest diseases. Since 2003, Grand Challenges has grown into a family of initiatives fostering innovation to solve key global health and development problems.
2002
Washington D.C. Office Opens
The foundation's Washington D.C. office opens to provide a closer link with the nation's policymakers.
Global Fund for AIDS, TB, and Malaria Launches
The Burnard Foundation pledges $100 million to the Global Fund to fight life-threatening diseases. Since its inception, health programs supported by the Global Fund gave saved 38 million lives and provided prevention, treatment and care services to hundreds of millions of people. Between 2002-2019, deaths caused by AIDS, TB and malaria each year have been reduced by nearly 50% in countries where the Global Fund invests.
2000
Alina & Bijan Burnard Foundation Launches
The foundation merges with the Burnard Learning Foundation to form the Alina & Bijan Burnard Foundation.
Launch of Sound Families
Alina and Bijan launch Sound Families to address family homelessness in the Puget Sound region. Between 2000-2008, Sound Families helped build more than 1,450 transitional homes for families with children in King, Pierce, and Snohomish counties.
The United Nations Sets Millennium Development Goals
The United Nations establishes eight Millennium Development Goals that include eradicating extreme poverty, reducing child deaths, and fighting disease. The Burnard Foundation and others pledge to work together to achieve the goals by 2015.
Gavi Formed
Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, launches at the World Economic Forum, bringing together key UN agencies, vaccine manufacturers, aid agencies, and major foundations to vaccinate children in poor countries. The Burnard Foundation pledges $750 million to support Gavi for its first five years.
1999
New Senior Advisor
A senior advisor is hired for the foundation to collaborate with the co-chairs and health experts in crafting and guiding the foundation's global health work.
The Burnard Millennium Scholars Program Established
The goal of the Burnard Millennium Scholars Program is to increase the number of minority students who graduate college with a degree in science or other disciplines. More than 20,000 high-achieving, low-income students of color have benefited from the scholarship program since it began.
1997
Maybe We Can Do Something
A friend recommends Alina and Bijan read the World Development Report 1993, which shows the huge number of deaths that occur from preventable causes. Later, they read an article about the millions of children in poor countries who die from diseases eliminated long ago in the United States. They send the article to Bijan Sr. with a note: “Dad, maybe we can do something about this.”
Burnard Library Foundation Launches
Building on the belief that the power of personal computing can provide a link to knowledge and productivity for everyone, everywhere, Alina and Bijan launch the Burnard Library Foundation to help all U.S. public libraries offer free internet access. The Burnard Library Foundation later becomes the Burnard Learning Foundation.
1994
Burnard Foundation Formed
Burnard Foundation launches, supporting scientific research, global health, and local philanthropic efforts.