CASE Chat with Leigh Morgan, COO of Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Leigh Morgan COO Gates Foundation

September 2016

This month’s CASE Chat features Leigh Morgan, COO of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and member of the CASE Advisory Council.  In this CASE Chat, Leigh discusses the trends she sees in the social impact space, including the importance of tri-sector leadership.

On training future leaders in social impact…

“Building the capacity of leaders to understand the diverse perspectives are absolutely the linchpin, the key, to getting things done on hard, complex issues.”

On understanding the different sectors…

“One of the things I’ve learned is that issues related to culture, and incentives, and motivations for driving change really differ across sectors. And so having worked in a number of different sectors, I am able to bring to bear that knowledge, which I would call contextual understanding, about how the public sector approaches an issue.”

On bringing change to complex issues…

“You have to work at three different levels of change. The first level is at the individual level. So this is where we want to make sure every individual brings their true self, their gifts, and their strengths to bear, to whatever issue you’re working on, and that’s just a fundamental. If you don’t have that, it’s hard to stay motivated over time.”

Want to hear more from Leigh? Watch the full CASE Chat:

About Leigh Morgan:

Leigh Morgan is chief operating officer at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington. Her leadership experience spans the corporate, public, nonprofit, and philanthropy sectors with a focus on M&A, governance, operations, and leading organizations through dynamic change. In her current role she is a key driver of the foundation’s transformation efforts.

Her previous leadership roles include associate chancellor at the University of California San Francisco, as vice president and global head of Human Resources, Product Development at Genentech, and serving in North Carolina Governor James B. Hunt’s administration, where she helped establish the AmeriCorps National Service program. Learn more about Leigh here.

About The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation:

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Dr. Susan Desmond-Hellmann and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett. Learn more about the Gates Foundation here.

About CASE Chats:

The CASE Chats video series features the movers and shakers in the field of social entrepreneurship sharing their insights on tri-sector leadership, impact investing, social ventures, and more.  View the all the CASE Chats here.