Thank you for your interest in Impatient Optimists, the blog of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

If you're interested in contributing to the blog, you're in the right place! Here's a step-by-step guide to the process:

1. Please look at the topics and issue areas we cover below. We publish commentary, analysis, and fact-based reporting related to the issues on which the foundation focuses. We do cast a wide net within those issue areas. For example, we will also publish posts related to philanthropy or the use of social media for social good.

2. Read our Submissions Guidelines to familiarize yourself with our blogging best practices.

3. It's best if you have an idea for a post you'd like to pitch, to send a short (one paragraph) summary of your idea to blogsubmissions@gatesfoundation.org. Please be aware that submitted pitches or posts are not automatically accepted for publication.

4. If this is a post that's already been published elsewhere, please note that in the email, along with a link to the original post.