The forum, Leaders Confronting Global Challenges: What Works? will feature the rich multidisciplinary expertise of EF’s influential global network of leaders from business, government, civil society, technology, education, science, medicine, the arts and journalism. Panel discussions will explore vexing transnational issues ranging from climate change and regional peace and stability to income inequality and the promise and peril of AI and other technologies, with a focus on emerging solutions in various parts of the world that can be applied in other countries and regions.
The highlight of the two-day gathering will be the presentation of the Eisenhower Medal to Ms. French Gates by EF Chairman, Dr. Robert M. Gates, former U.S. secretary of defense on Friday, October 13, 2023 at the Herbst Theatre in the War Memorial Building, site of the signing of the United Nations charter in 1945.
As co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures, Ms. French Gates has dedicated her life’s work to fighting disease and inequity in the United States and around the world and getting more women into positions where they can make decisions, control resources and shape policies and perspectives.
Dr. Gates said Ms. French Gates embodies the values and vision of President Eisenhower and the distinguished independent, nonpartisan nonprofit international leadership organization created in his name.
“For more than two decades, Melinda French Gates has used her enormous influence as a businesswoman, philanthropist and global advocate to advance public health, champion global financial inclusion and inspire women and girls to spark meaningful change around the world,” Dr. Gates said.
“I’m honored to receive this recognition from an organization that promotes such an important vision of leadership, impact and community,” said Ms. French Gates. “From empowering businesswomen in Rwanda to supporting caregivers and children affected by crisis and conflict, the Eisenhower Fellows have set the highest standards of service.”
The Dwight D. Eisenhower Medal for Leadership and Service is awarded annually to a distinguished states person, business leader or other public figure who has achieved, through direct personal dialogue across borders, widely recognized advances toward President Eisenhower’s vision of a world more peaceful, prosperous and just.
Previous Eisenhower Medal winners include late U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright; General Colin L. Powell; U.S. Senators George Mitchell, Sam Nunn and John McCain; former Secretaries of State James A. Baker III and Henry Kissinger; Doctors Without Borders; former New Jersey Gov. Christine Todd Whitman; Presidents George H. W. Bush and Gerald Ford; Washington Post Publisher Katherine Graham; Susan and David Eisenhower; and former Chilean President Michelle Bachelet; among others.
At the Awards Ceremony on October 13, Dr. Gates also will present the James and Carol Hovey EF Impact Award to Eisenhower Fellow Braimah Sulemana of Ghana for his groundbreaking investigative journalism of accountability in Ghana.
Sulemana was selected for EF’s new annual Impact Award to recognize an Eisenhower Fellow or group of Fellows for outstanding project achievement in generating positive impact. His winning project was the establishment of a regional independent nonprofit journalism organization, The Fourth Estate, that has exposed bad governance, official corruption and misappropriation of funds in the country.
Founded as a birthday present to President Eisenhower his first year in the White House, Eisenhower Fellowships brings together diverse, innovative leaders from all fields from around the globe who tackle some of the most pressing challenges of our time to better the world around them. Since its founding in 1953, more than 2,500 mid-career leaders from 119 countries have benefited from the unique, customized experience of an Eisenhower Fellowship.
You can read more about EF and its 70th Anniversary World Forum here and see the organization’s recently published program impact report here.
News organizations interesting in covering the EF World Forum and the Eisenhower Medal presentation to Ms. French Gates can contact:
Lee West
Interim Director of Global Network Programs
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 215-546-1738
Media Contact
Lee West, Eisenhower Fellowships, 215-546-1738, [email protected], www.efworld.org
SOURCE Eisenhower Fellowships
