Contact us

Please use the contact information below to connect with a specific office or department that can best meet your needs. While it is important to us to be available to our partners, potential grantees, and the public, due to the large number of emails received, we may be unable to respond directly to your inquiry.

If you can't find answers at the links below, please write to us.

Helpful info/ quick links

Media center
Phone: (206) 709-3400
Email: [email protected]

Reporting Scams
[email protected]

Follow us
Twitter: @GatesWA

Careers
Explore current job openings within Washington state and across the Gates Foundation’s work.
Media
If you are a member of the news media, please contact our Media team with questions.
Grant opportunities
Search through our list of our open funding opportunities for which we’ve issued public Requests for Proposals (RFPs).

FAQ

By 2035, our goal is to help 70% of Washington’s students enroll in a postsecondary program after high school—the first step in preparing local students for the good-paying jobs in our state. We expect to see early progress in the regions we’re supporting with focused investments, and we hope to bring those solutions to other regions across the state over the next 10 years.

Education is the core focus of our statewide work. However, our Community Engagement team provides responsive grants in the greater Seattle region to address issues affecting the lives of our most vulnerable neighbors, such as housing security and access to social services.

We chose to focus on enrollment because it felt like the necessary first step in our larger vision to help students attain a college credential that provides a strong path to meaningful employment. Washington state is 46th in the country in the percentage of students who enroll directly in a postsecondary program after graduation, and 47th in the country in FAFSA completion, the form to access federal financial aid.

We will work in partnership with our national Postsecondary Success and Education Pathways teams to look for ways to bring completion solutions into Washington state. In addition, if we make progress in increasing enrollment numbers, we expect to turn to persistence and completion.

Each year, we make grants totaling nearly $40 million to support communities, students, and families in Washington state. 

Our website has a list of open funding opportunities.