The Gates Foundation

A 16-month global project crafted to spotlight the partners pushing humanity forward.

We created a campaign that evolved into a brand ethos.
Rather than centering the foundation, Partners of Human Potential turns the spotlight outward—on the partners, the grantees, the communities moving humanity forward.

Signature Story 001

Location UK & Kenya

The Story A true story of partnership between Scientists in Kenya and Scotland — and cows.

Signature Story 002

Location China

The Story A true story of how women in one small town changed China forever.

Signature Story 003

Location India

The Story A true story of how kangaroos inspired doctors to save babies’ lives.

Signature Story 004

Location South Africa

The Story A true story about how high tech toilets lead to higher grades.

Signature Stories
A series designed to reflect the range, scale, and humanity of the Gates Foundation’s work.
Each film offers a window into a different part of the world — giving directors space to bring their own voice, incorporate local flair, and tailor the storytelling style to the subject. From vérité handheld to composed interviews, film to digital, each story was crafted using a mix of tools and perspectives to stay true to the people and places.

Storytelling with Integrity
From the beginning, authenticity was everything.

We filmed on 16mm to honor skin tones and natural light, built custom type systems based on partners’ handwriting, and built the scripts on verbatim quotes pulled from hundreds of hours of pre-interviews. Every detail was designed to reflect the dignity of the people we met.

Global Manifesto
Alongside the individual Signature Stories, we helped craft a unifying piece: a global manifesto for the Gates Foundation.

This film ties together voices and visuals from across continents to show how, despite differences in place or purpose, each partner of human potential is part of the same collective story.

I partnered with my copywriter Cory Frame under the unstoppable creative directors Jono Flannery & Kevin Watkins and ECD Gary Resch at FCB/NY. Alongside the uber-talented directors Stefan Hunt and Zhao Lin.