We’ve cast a wide net for potential focus areas, incorporating information on the history of philanthropy as well as what today’s foundations focus on. We’ve sought focus areas that are strong on some combination of the following criteria:

  • Importance

    How many individuals does this issue affect, and how deeply?

  • Neglectedness

    All else equal, is this cause receiving less attention from other actors, particularly other major philanthropists?

  • Tractability

    Are there clear ways in which a funder could contribute to progress in this area?

So far, we’ve concentrated on selecting focus areas in two broad categories: Global Health & Wellbeing and Global Catastrophic Risks. We occasionally also provide support to other grantmaking areas that fall outside of our current priorities.

Current Focus Areas