The Wall Street Journal-20080131-Gates Foundation Names Lamb Public-Policy Head

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Gates Foundation Names Lamb Public-Policy Head

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The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation named former World Bank official Geoff Lamb managing director of public policy, a new position that highlights the philanthropy's growing need to work more closely with governments world-wide.

The appointment comes as the foundation expands into new areas of giving and Bill Gates prepares in June to end his full-time work at Microsoft Corp., where he will remain chairman, and focus on his foundation.

Mr. Lamb, 63 years old and an Irish citizen, has been a senior adviser to the foundation, a part-time position that started in September 2006. Previously, he was a vice president at the World Bank involved in a range of finance-related projects, including an effort to forgive debts of poor countries. In an interview, he said he will oversee a team to be built from existing Gates Foundation employees and outside hiring.

The new role highlights how closely the foundation will need to work with governments to achieve its goals in areas such as public health, agriculture and finance -- areas that tie in closely with government services, programs and national laws.

Mr. Lamb's role also comes as a range of governments and other nonprofits look toward the foundation for help, increasing the risk that the foundation will be pulled in areas that are out of its purview. The Gates Foundation is the largest private philanthropy in the world by endowment.

Mr. Lamb says the foundation is just one player, however. "Clearly our resources and our efforts are pretty small compared with the prominence we've taken on," he said. "We need to have just a bit more systematic engagement with the big players."