Bill Gates Role Model 1

What Makes Bill Gates a Good Role Model

Holley Jacob

Critical Thinking and Problem Solving

Dr. Susan Davis

April 18, 2011

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There is a certain responsibility that accrued to me when I got this unexpected

position. Bill Gates. Bill Gates is considered a philanthropist today more than the

inventor of Microsoft. He displays leadership and role model qualities by his personal

achievement as well as his life satisfaction goals. His social-ethical maturity makes him

a prime candidate to bring to the forefront the major contributions of reflection and

experience (UOPX Writer Network 2010). He is actively involved in promoting and

improving education in this country as well as bringing light on the subject of the

importance of vaccines around the globe. His own personal mission is to have the

worlds richest people donate 50% of their fortunes to charity (Loomis, 2010) and his

organizational skills and people smart qualities make him a productive role model not

just in this country but around the world. Being a lifelong learner and having emotional

intelligence makes him a prime candidate for philanthropy issues and his contributions

the education and vaccine world.

Bill Gates believes in eradicating childhood diseases and the misleading information

parents receive about the diseases by communicating the importance of vaccines. He

is very active in working with manufacturers to obtain the polio vaccine at low costs in

order to vaccinate every child. He is working with the United Nations to buy cheaper

polio vaccines to distribute to all children. Five drug manufacturers have joined the

cause, providing the vaccine at 13 cents versus 14.5 cents (Gates, 2011). He is a

strong supporter that vaccines are necessary and vital to our civilization and that

parents who do not vaccinate their children are misinformed and misguided by others

who only have a monetary gain by leading parents to believe that vaccines cause

Autism. My son is on the Autism Spectrum Disorder and I can state from a nursing and

personal background, vaccines didnt cause my son to have Autism who was exhibiting

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symptoms of Autism at three months old. Vaccines are the most cost effective health

concept invented. This year 1.4 million children will die unnecessarily due to childhood

illnesses. Due to Mr. Gates effort so far there has been a decrease of 42.6% in polio

worldwide in the past year (Gates, 2011).

Bill Gates foundation is also focusing a large portion of money in Education 2.0.

This is money put towards providing the citizens of America the proper, most effective

and efficient educational system to date. His foundation has donated $2 billion in public

education and $2 billion in scholarships (Wallis, 2008). The money was spent to

improve high schools where the poor minority children attended. It was not as

successful as hoped and now he is focusing on Community Colleges with emphasis on

quality of teaching and the relevance of curriculum. This new idea will implement

programs such as performance based scholarship, business-college partnerships and

rapid remediation (Wallis, 2008). Other countries far exceed in their public education

system. My son has been in Special Education for 12 years and we battle to obtain the

services needed for him to become a productive member of society. Although Bill

Gates isnt focusing on Special Education specifically; his concentration in public

education system will affect the public Special Education system. His motto is fewer,

clearer and higher standards so that educational curriculums dont vary from state to

state (Wallis, 2008).

Bill Gates other major contribution is his philanthropy goal call The $600 Billion

Dollar Challenge. He was influenced by Warren Buffet and has an unbreakable bond

with Mr.

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Buffet, who intends on leaving part of his estate to the Bill and Melinda Gates

Foundation. The campaign includes billionaires in the world to donate 50% of their

estate by 2018. Asking this of nation and global billionaires is the brain child of Gates

and Buffett. Mr. Gates was encouraged by Mr. Buffet who in 1986 stated that his whole

fortune should not be left to his family (Loomis , 2010). The fact that Bill Gates and

Warren Buffett are on this crusade together both financially, mentally, socially, and

globally only goes to bring hope to those of us who see the tribulations that people are

experiencing. Gates credits Buffet with the basic idea: that a small group of dedicated

philanthropists be somehow assembled to discuss strategies for spreading gospel to

others (Loomis, 2010). This philanthropy dinner held in NY was to encourage the

nations wealthiest to donate 50% of their net worth which was an estimation, although

Mr. Buffet has pledged 99% of his wealth and is the #1 giver on www.givingpledge.org

(Loomis, 2010).

Using Bill Gates as a role model will not only enable me to put a goal in place that

will lead to my own personal accountability but to use my success in my career to

help others less fortunate than myself. I volunteer my time but looking up to Bill Gates

as a role model helps me strive to give more. I give my time to help in philanthropy

issues but my goal is to contribute monetarily in the same manner as Bill Gates and

Warren Buffet. Providing and effective efficient way to eradicate diseases, improve

education and the giving of fortunes is a way to solve the worlds biggest issues. I

believe that if you show people the problems and you show them the solutions they

will be moved to act (Gates, 2011).

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References

Gale, J. (2010). Bill Gates Closes in on Polio. Bloomberg Businessweek (4205), 32-33.

Gates, B. (2011, February 4). Retrieved February 2011, from The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Loomis, C. J. (2010, July 5). The $600 Billion Dollar Challenge. Fortune, 162 (1), pp. 82- 92. Moody, R. M. (2011). Cornerstone: Creating Success Through Positive Change (6th

Edition ed.). Pearson Education, Inc. Serwer, A. (2009, July 6). Gates on Gates. Fortune, 160 (1), pp. 40-43. UOPX Writer Network. (2010, September 27). www.phoenix.edu. Retrieved September 2010, from University of Phoenix: http;//phoenix.edu/colleges_division/doctoral/ articles/2010/09/the-qualities-of-an-effective-leader.html Wallis, C. (2008, November 26). Bill and Melinda Gates go back to school. Fortune Magazine, pp 113-115.