At the Gates Foundation, we are proud to call ourselves “impatient optimists” – hopeful for the future, yet at the same time eager to make progress and improve lives as quickly as possible. That also describes the current state of our work in our home state of Washington.
As Washington state continues to emerge from the pandemic and turns toward recovery, we continue to be both nimble and responsive in evolving our efforts to better meet the needs of our community and partners. Over the past year, we’ve been focused on supporting districts across the state to recover disrupted learning and accelerate student learning and development with proven solutions and technical supports. Part of our ongoing evolution and aspiration for the future includes welcoming new talent to our leadership team to write the next chapter of our work in the state.
Today, we are thrilled to announce Angela Jones as the next director of the Washington State Initiative (WSI). Most recently serving as Chief Executive Officer of Washington STEM, a statewide nonprofit working to ensure that youth experiencing poverty have access to high-quality STEM education and pathways that will help them thrive in our state’s technology-driven economy, Angela brings critical experience and insight to this role that is well-suited to what’s needed in the moment and the future.