Lisa Alvarez-Calderón Joins Gates Foundation as Chief Human Resources Officer

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SEATTLE, March 30, 2020 – The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation today announced that Lisa Alvarez-Calderón has been named chief human resources officer. She joins the foundation from Universidad de Chile in Santiago, where she has been serving as academic director of the University’s Center for Organizational Engineering. Alvarez-Calderón assumes her new position effective today and will be based in Seattle.

“Lisa’s impressive background and global experience brings the expertise and insights we need to lead our global workforce and organization,” said Connie Collingsworth, chief operating officer and previous interim chief human resources officer at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. “I’m confident Lisa’s leadership will be instrumental in executing on our critical HR priorities and she will be a meaningful contributor to the foundation’s Executive Leadership Team.”

Alvarez-Calderón has more than 25 years of broad HR experience, from compensation to global mobility to talent and leadership development. Prior to her role at Universidad de Chile, she served as vice president of human resources for BHP. Alvarez-Calderón has held senior human resources positions with Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and Cigna. She earned her B.A. from Trinity College and her M.B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School.

About the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy, productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United States, it seeks to ensure that all people—especially those with the fewest resources—have access to the opportunities they need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, Washington, the foundation is led by CEO Mark Suzman and Co-chair William H. Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett.

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