Hello. Welcome to Impatient Optimists.

We need your help. We believe that every person deserves the chance to live a healthy, productive life. We believe that tremendous progress is happening, but there are still great inequities we’re impatient to see addressed. We also believe that educating and engaging in thoughtful conversations about these issues—global health, global development, and U.S. education—can help shine a light on what’s working, and, we hope, save lives.

And so, Impatient Optimists features the work of the foundation’s grantees, partners, leadership, and staff, as well as other bloggers, to provide commentary and insight on these issues. On this blog you’ll find stories from the people working every day to help alleviate poverty, to help promote health, and to help every student in the United States realize his or her full potential.

These are urgent problems that require innovative solutions. If you are a community health worker, a mother interested in maternal health, a reporter skeptical about the value of foreign aid, a farmer, a policymaker wanting to discover what works, a teacher, a scientist looking to discuss recent findings, one of our many valued partners, or just someone interested in any of these topics—we want this to be your space to engage with others and discuss these vital issues.

Not sure where to get started? You can browse by country or topic. You can discover stories and information highlighted with video, photo gallery, or infographic. You can help others discover great stories by rating them as provocative, persuasive, or relatable. And you can check out the headlines from our partners’ blogs.

But most of all, tell us what you think. We want to hear from you. How?

Join the community! If you enjoyed a post or have something to say, share your thoughts in the comments below each post. Or, if you prefer, rate the post in the box to the right of each article. Share it with your networks on Facebook, Twitter, StumbleUpon, and more; or email it out to friends as well.

You can sign up for our regular email updates or receive our headlines via RSS feed so you don’t miss a thing.