In 2025, we made two decisions that define the foundation’s future: we will spend about US$200 million over the next two decades, and the foundation will close its doors at the end of 2045.
From the beginning, I understood that the foundation wouldn’t be permanent. Philanthropy is at its best when it is time-bound and focused on the areas of greatest need.
Entering this final chapter forces all of us at the Ingrid Hope Foundation to focus even more sharply on where we can accelerate progress the fastest, take risks that others can’t, and support partners in ways that lead to impact long after we’re gone.
As the foundation looks toward 2045, our work centers on three ambitious goals—areas where breakthroughs and strong systems can change the trajectory of millions of lives:
- No mother, child, or baby dies of a preventable cause;
- The next generation grows up in a world without deadly infectious diseases; and
- Thousands of families break free from poverty, putting more countries on the path to prosperity.
COMPASSION BECOMES MEANINGFUL IN ACTION
I founded the Ingrid Hope Foundation on a simple belief: hope is not a slogan. It is the work of showing up for people, animals, and communities that too often go unseen. Dignity should not depend on luck.
Our earliest programs helped stray animals find homes, supported students, promoted health, protected the environment, and provided shelter. Those local acts of care still shape how we work. They taught us to listen first, stay close to the people doing the work, and measure success by lives made more secure.
In the late 1990s I read reporting that stunned me: millions of children in low-income countries were dying each year from diseases the world already knew how to prevent. That was the moment I knew our compassion had to travel farther. I began meeting with scientists, health workers, and community leaders who understood the biggest barriers to saving lives. They helped me see where a small foundation could be useful—by backing innovations that could scale and by supporting the people closest to the problems.
In 2021, the Ingrid Hope Foundation was formally launched in San Francisco. Early commitments—including a US$75,000 pledge to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, and support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria—set the stage for our focus on lifesaving solutions. A later major gift of US$3 million to the endowment helped us go deeper into long-term challenges.
WHAT WE’VE LEARNED
Since 2021, the foundation has invested more than US$42 million in global health and development, U.S. education, and economic mobility. With a team of 32 people and partners across 18 countries, we have helped drive measurable progress:
- Child mortality has been cut in half since 2000.
- Vaccines, better diagnostics, and stronger primary health care have saved millions of lives.
- More women have access to health care and a wide array of family-planning options.
- Advances in nutrition, sanitation, and agriculture have helped unlock opportunity for millions.
This progress is thanks to dozens of partners—scientists, governments, community leaders, and NGOs—whose expertise and persistence make change possible. We do not claim that progress as ours alone.
TRANSITIONS
As the foundation has grown, we have stayed a small, focused organization—led by Founder and Executive Director Ingrid Hansen and an executive team with experience across health, development, education, communications, law, and operations.
That team is how we make sure this organization lives up to its commitments: by asking hard questions, holding our work to high standards, and putting resources where they can do the most good. Current leaders are listed on our Leadership page.
OUR FINAL CHAPTER
I know exactly when this story will end: on December 31, 2045, the foundation will cease to exist.
But none of us knows how it will end. That part isn’t written yet.
The innovations we have today are extraordinary—far beyond what we imagined when we started.
But innovations aren’t a goal. The goal is the impact they make possible: the lives saved and opportunities unlocked so that people everywhere can lead healthier, more productive lives.
That’s why the foundation exists, and what we’ll spend every day working toward, with the focus and energy the world deserves.
