Goalkeepers is an initiative launched by the

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be List of wealthiest charitable foundations, the third largest char ...

in 2017 to bring together leaders from around the world to accelerate progress toward achieving the

Sustainable Development Goals The ''2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development'', adopted by all United Nations (UN) members in 2015, created 17 world Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The aim of these global goals is "peace and prosperity for people and the planet" – wh ...

(SDG). The initiative also provides reports and data flow charts over SDGs progress since 1990.Andrew Jack (19 October 2017)
Bill and Melinda Gates on the fight against global inequality
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Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and also published digitally that focuses on business and economic Current affairs (news format), current affairs. Based in London, the paper is owned by a Jap ...

''. Its core event is the annual ''Goalkeepers Conference'' (which usually takes place during

Global Goals Week Global Goals Week is a shared commitment between a coalition of over 160 partners across all industries, which mobilizes annually in September to bring together communities, demand urgency, and supercharge solutions for the Sustainable Developmen ...

and the

UN General Assembly The United Nations General Assembly (UNGA or GA; , AGNU or AG) is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN), serving as its main deliberative, policymaking, and representative organ. Currently in its 79th session, its powers, ...

) at which the ''Changemaker Award'' is bestowed to 'extraordinary individuals who are driving progress in their communities and countries'. Invitations are issued to global leaders and aspiring personalities who have been personally selected by the board. Previous attendees include

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

Emmanuel Macron Emmanuel Jean-Michel Frédéric Macron (; born 21 December 1977) is a French politician who has served as President of France and Co-Prince of Andorra since 2017. He was Ministry of Economy and Finance (France), Minister of Economics, Industr ...

Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva (; born Luiz Inácio da Silva; 27 October 1945), known Mononym, mononymously as Lula, is a Brazilian politician, trade unionist and former metalworker who has served as the 39th president of Brazil since 2023. A mem ...

, Amina J. Mohammed,

Erna Solberg Erna Solberg (; born 24 February 1961) is a Norwegian politician and the current Leader of the Opposition. She served as the prime minister of Norway from 2013 to 2021, and has been the leader of the Conservative Party of Norway, Conservative Part ...

Malala Yousafzai Malala Yousafzai (; , pronunciation: ; born 12 July 1997) is a Pakistani female education activist, film and television producer, and the 2014 Nobel Peace Prize laureate at the age of 17. She is the youngest Nobel Prize laureate in history, ...

, and

Trevor Noah Trevor Noah (born 20 February 1984) is a South African comedian, writer, producer, political commentator, actor, and television host. He was the host of ''The Daily Show'', an American late-night talk show and satirical news program on Comedy ...

. Past award winners have included

Yusra Mardini Yusra Mardini (; born 5 March 1998) is a Syrian former competition swimmer and refugee of the Syrian civil war. She was a member of the Refugee Olympic Athletes Team (ROT) that competed under the Olympic flag at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio ...

, Amika George, Ria Sharma, and Nadia Murad, who later went on to win the

Nobel Peace Prize The Nobel Peace Prize (Swedish language, Swedish and ) is one of the five Nobel Prizes established by the Will and testament, will of Sweden, Swedish industrialist, inventor, and armaments manufacturer Alfred Nobel, along with the prizes in Nobe ...

Conferences and awards

2024

The fifth in-person Goalkeepers event was held in September 2024 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Speakers included: The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was: *

, President of Brazil Further awards went to: * Sabin Nsanzimana: Minister of Health of Rwanda *

Ratan Tata Ratan Naval Tata (28 December 1937 9 October 2024) was an Indian industrialist and philanthropist. He served as the chairman of Tata Group and Tata Sons from 1991 to 2012 and he held the position of interim chairman from October 2016 to Feb ...

: Former chairman of

Tata Group The Tata Group () is an Indian multinational conglomerate group of companies headquartered in Mumbai. Established in 1868, it is India's largest business conglomerate, with products and services in over 160 countries, and operations in 100 c ...

* Tahmeed Ahmed: Scientist and physician with research focus on Gastroenterology, Public Health Nutrition, and Global Health * Ladidi Kuluwa Bako-Aiyegbusi, Director/Head, Nutrition Department, Nigerian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare * Beza Beshah Haile, executive director, HOPE-Spina Bifida and Hydrocephalus * Lilian dos Santos Rahal, National Secretary for Food and Nutrition Security, Ministry of Social Development and Assistance, Family and Fight against Hunger, Brazil * Bhavani Shankar, Professor of Food Systems, Nutrition and Sustainability, University of Sheffield * Jemimah Njuki, Chief, Economic Empowerment at UN Women * Zahra Hoodbhoy, Associate Professor, Pediatrics and Child Health, Aga Khan University, Pakistan * Nancy Krebs, Professor of Pediatrics, Nutrition, University of Colorado School of Medicine

2022

The fourth in-person Goalkeepers event was held in September 2022 at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Speakers included: *

Mia Mottley Mia "Ma" Amor Mottley, (born 1 October 1965) is a Barbadian politician and attorney who has served as the eighth prime minister of Barbados since 2018 and as Leader of the Barbados Labour Party (BLP) since 2008. Mottley is the first woman to h ...

, Prime Minister of Barbados The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was: *

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

Maria Pasquini (22 September 2022)
Bill and Melinda Gates Reunite for Foundation 1 Year After Divorce: We're 'Completely Committed to This'
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People The term "the people" refers to the public or Common people, common mass of people of a polity. As such it is a concept of human rights law, international law as well as constitutional law, particularly used for claims of popular sovereignty. I ...

''. Further awards went to: * Zahra Joya: ''Changemaker Award''Thalia Beaty (22 September 2022)
Gates Foundation prods UN, honors inspiration as Goalkeepers
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Associated Press The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City. Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...

''. * Vanessa Nakate: ''Campaign Award'' * Radhika Batra: ''Progress Award''

2021

The 2021 Goalkeepers conference could not take place physically, due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, but had to be held virtually. The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was: * Phumzile Mlambo-NgcukaFrancesca Specter (24 September 2021)
Melinda Gates on choosing the Gates Foundation's Annual Goalkeepers Awards Winners: ‘Women and girls need to be front and centre’
'' Glamour''. Further awards went to: * Jenifer Colpas: ''Changemaker Award'' * Satta Sheriff: ''Campaign Award'' * Fairooz Faizah: ''Progress Award''

2020

The 2020 Goalkeepers conference could not take place physically, due to the

, but had to be held virtually. The winner of the Global Goalkeeper award was: * John Nkengasong, Director of the

Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) is a public health agency of the African Union to support the public health initiatives of member states and strengthen the capacity of their health institutions to deal with dis ...

for being a "relentless proponent of global collaboration and evidence-based public health practices, and a champion for minimizing the social and economic consequences of COVID-19 across the African continent"John Muchangi (1 October 2020)
Bill and Melinda Gates recognise Kenyan innovators
'' The Star''. The Global Goals awards went to: * Bonita Sharma, co-founder and CEO of ''Social Changemakers and Innovators'' (SOCHAI) – a youth-led non-profit organization in Nepal * Hauwa Ojeifo, founder of ''She Writes Woman'', a women-led movement giving mental health a voice in Nigeria * The ''MASH Project Foundation'', a youth led social enterprise based in India that develops and implements support systems for people who work for social causes through partnerships.

2019

New_Zealand_Prime_Minister_Jacinda_Ardern_in_2018

The third annual Goalkeepers event was held September 25–26, 2019, at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Speakers included: *

Jacinda Ardern Dame Jacinda Kate Laurell Ardern ( ; born 26 July 1980) is a New Zealand politician and activist who was the 40th prime minister of New Zealand and Leader of the New Zealand Labour Party, leader of the Labour Party from 2017 to 2023. She was ...

, Prime Minister of New Zealand *

Pedro Sánchez Pedro Sánchez Pérez-Castejón (; born 29 February 1972) is a Spanish politician who has served as Prime Minister of Spain since 2018. He has also been Secretary-General of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party (PSOE) since July 2017, having p ...

, Prime Minister of Spain * Jennifer Eberhardt * Aliko Dangote * Senjuti Saha The Global Goalkeeper Award was given to: *

Narendra Modi Narendra Damodardas Modi (born 17 September 1950) is an Indian politician who has served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India since 2014. Modi was the chief minister of Gujarat from 2001 to 2014 and is the Member of Par ...

, Prime Minister of India, for successfully implementing the

Swachh Bharat Mission Swachh Bharat Mission (SBM), Swachh Bharat Abhiyan, or Clean India Mission is a country-wide campaign initiated by the Government of India on 2 October 2014 to eliminate open defecation and improve solid waste management and to create Open Defe ...

, a cleanliness and sanitation project, including 110 million family and public toilets for poor and middle income families, reducing the Indian

open defecation Open defecation is the human practice of defecating outside ("in the open") rather than into a toilet. People may choose fields, bushes, forests, ditches, streets, canals, or other open spaces for defecation. They do so either because they do ...

rate from 50% to almost 0% in 3 years.PM Modi Global Goalkeeper award for Swachh Bharat Abhiyan
The Hindu, 25 Sept 2019. He personally makes cleaning initiatives -

plogging Plogging is a combination of jogging with picking up litter, merging the Swedish verbs (pick up) and (jog) gives the new Swedish verb , from which the word plogging derives. It started as an organized activity in Sweden around 2016 and spread ...

along the roads and beaches - leading by example to promote mass fitness and cleanliness.PM goes plogging on TN beach, gives Swachh & Fit India drives a big boost
Times of India, 13 October 2019.Ayesha Venkataraman and Jeffrey Gettleman (20 September 2019)

''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

''. Ahead of the ceremony, human rights groups and three Nobel Peace Prize winners –

Shirin Ebadi Shirin Ebadi (; born 21 June 1947) is an Iranian Nobel laureate, lawyer, writer, teacher and a former judge and founder of the Defenders of Human Rights Center in Iran. In 2003, Ebadi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for her pioneering effor ...

Tawakkol Karman Tawakkol Abdel-Salam Khalid Karman (; ; born 7 February 1979) is a Yemeni journalist, politician, and human rights activist. She co-founded and leads 'Women Journalists Without Chains', a group established in 2005 to advocate for press freedom ...

and Mairead Maguire – criticized in a letter to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation the decision to bestow an award upon Modi, stating that under his leadership, “India has descended into dangerous and deadly chaos that has consistently undermined human rights, democracy.’’ The Global Goals awards went to: * Payal Jangid: ''Changemaker Award'' * Aya Chebbi: ''Campaign Award''John Muchangi (26 September 2019)
What Modi's Goalkeepers Award means for Kenya
'' The Star''. * Gregory Rockson: ''Progress Award''

2018

The second annual Goalkeepers event was held September 25–26, 2018, in New York City. Speakers included: *

, President of France * Julius Maada, President of Sierra Leone *

, Prime Minister of Norway *

King Kaka Kennedy Ombima (born 7 May 1987), popularly known by his stage names King Kaka and Rabbit, is a Kenyan rapper. Kaka met Jorma Taccone, a member of The Lonely Island in February 2011 when Taccone visited Nairobi, Kenya as part of his trip for A ...

The Global Goals awards went to: * Nadia Murad: ''Changemaker Award'' * Amika George: ''Campaign Award'' * Dysnus Kisilu: ''Progress Award''

2017

The first annual Goalkeepers event was held September 25–26, 2017, at

Jazz at Lincoln Center Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. Speakers included: *

, President of the United States *

Justin Trudeau Justin Pierre James Trudeau (born December 25, 1971) is a Canadian politician who served as the 23rd prime minister of Canada from 2015 to 2025. He led the Liberal Party from 2013 until his resignation in 2025 and was the member of Parliament ...

, Prime Minister of Canada *

Queen Rania Rania Al Abdullah (born Rania Al-Yassin, 31 August 1970) is Queen of Jordan as the wife of King Abdullah II. Rania's domestic activities include education, youth, environmental, and health initiatives. Globally, she has campaigned for educati ...

of Jordan *

will.i.am William James Adams Jr. (born March 15, 1975), known professionally as will.i.am (pronounced "will I am"), is an American rapper, singer, songwriter, record producer and actor. He is the frontman of the musical group Black Eyed Peas, which he ...

* Malala *

Stephen Fry Sir Stephen John Fry (born 24 August 1957) is an English actor, broadcaster, comedian, director, narrator and writer. He came to prominence as a member of the comic act Fry and Laurie alongside Hugh Laurie, with the two starring in ''A Bit of ...

* George The Poet President_Barack_Obama.jpg Prime_Minister_Trudeau_-_2020_(cropped).jpg Queen_Rania_of_Jordan_Official_Release_05_(cropped).jpg Will.i.am_in_2018.jpg Shinzō_Abe_and_Malala_Yousafzai_(1)_Cropped.jpg Stephen_Fry_June_2016.jpg

Advisory board

The Goalkeepers program is being advised by several individuals, including the following: *

Hervé Berville Hervé Berville (; born 15 January 1990) is a French economist and politician of Renaissance (RE) who has served as a member of the National Assembly from 2017 to 2022 and again since 2024, representing the department of Côtes-d'Armor. From ...

(since 2022)Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Appoints New Members to Goalkeepers Advisory Group to Accelerate Progress Toward Global Goals

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation The Gates Foundation is an American private foundation founded by Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates. Based in Seattle, Washington, it was launched in 2000 and is reported to be the third largest charitable foundation in the world, holding $ ...

, press release of 9 May 2022. *

Lukas Köhler Lukas Köhler (born 22 August 1986) is a German politician of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) who served as a member of the Bundestag from the state of Bavaria from 2017 to 2024. Early life and education Born in München, Bavaria, Köhler pa ...

(2019–2022)The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Appoints Goalkeepers Advisory Board to Accelerate Progress on the U.N. Sustainable Development Goals
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, press release of 22 May 2019. * Prajakta Koli (since 2022) * Tlaleng Mofokeng (since 2022)

References

{{reflist Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Sustainable development