Christopher Mahan wrote:
Jimbo spoke:
... but I can imagine the howls if I applied to the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation for support.
:-)
Are you HIV positive? Do you live in a sub-saharan nation?
No, but for those of long-range vision, what we are doing is very important for the improvement of the condition of people all over the world. I was actually just joking when I said that, but since you asked, my curiosity was piqued as to what kinds of projects they actually support.
According to their website, "The foundation favors preventive approaches and collaborative endeavors with government, philanthropic and not-for-profit partners. Priority is given to grants that leverage additional support and serve as a catalyst for long-term, systemic change."
I'd say we qualify pretty well within those objectives.
However, further down the page, when they detail which of their programs accept or don't accept letters of inquiry, it's hard to see how we would fit. Possibly if someone were to take articles on health and construct a free textbook suitable for use in developing nations, they might be interested in funding widespread distribution there.
But really, I can't even begin to imagine the controversy that would be caused around here if we took money from Gates, so it's probably best to leave it just as an ironic joke.
--Jimbo