PATH president and CEO Chris Elias, who led the global health nonprofit to prominence over the past decade, is stepping down to become the president of global development at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Elias joined PATH in 2000, when it had an annual budget of $44 million and a staff of 297 employees, according to a statement today from the Seattle-based global health nonprofit. PATH now has an annual budget of $295 million and more than 1,100 employees around the world, the nonprofit organization says.
PATH, as I described in it a February 2009 feature, essentially seeks out clever, affordable technologies, and partnerships with companies to help improve the health of have-nots around the world. The organization has grown rapidly in parallel with the Gates Foundation over the past decade, and it has received more than $1.3 billion from the foundation in its history for efforts to develop low-cost health interventions with big potential impact, like a malaria vaccine.
“Developing and delivering global health solutions with my colleagues at PATH has been an honor and a privilege. It isn’t easy to leave such a talented and committed team. But I leave knowing that PATH is an exceptionally strong organization with an even brighter future ahead,” Elias said in a statement. “I look forward to watching PATH continue to innovate and improve the lives of people around the world.”
In his new job, Elias will help lead the Gates Foundation’s efforts to fight poverty in developing countries. He will stay at PATH through January. PATH chair Molly Joel Coye will lead a board committee that will search for Elias’ successor, PATH said in a statement.
