Susan N. Dorsey
Chief Operating Officer & Chief Financial Officer
sdorsey@gatesfamilyfoundation.org | (303) 722-1881
Sue Dorsey is a distinguished leader with over 25 years of executive management and global finance and operations expertise. She is a strategic and creative thinker recognized for developing and implementing successful strategic plans, finance, operations, and investment management strategies across diverse organizations, including foundations, family offices, startups, and high-growth entities. Sue possesses unique talents in building community, envisioning a future, and making it happen. Her core areas of expertise span executive leadership; global finance, operations, HR, IT, and risk management; vision and strategy development; team and board optimization; and impact investing (including MRI, PRI, and ESG).
Sue’s professional journey features impactful roles across both domestic and international nonprofits and finance organizations. In February 2026, she returned to the Gates Family Foundation as Chief Operating Officer and Chief Financial Officer, bringing deep institutional knowledge and a proven track record in finance, operations, and impact investing to support the Foundation’s next phase of growth and impact. Most recently, prior to her return to Gates Family Foundation, Sue served as Chief Operating Officer for iAlumbra, LLC (the family office of Christy Walton) from January 2024 to September 2025, where she created budgets and financial reporting, supported business strategy, and built community across the collective of entities. Previously, as Senior Vice President – Finance, Administration, and Impact Investing at the Gates Family Foundation (2016–2023), she led the overhaul of accounting, finance, HR, and IT systems; created visual dashboards; and spearheaded the Foundation’s impact investing strategy, building and stewarding a portfolio with more than 50 investments and $75 million in commitments.
Her experience also includes serving as Chief Financial Officer for Water For People (2009–2016), where she built global finance and operations teams, managed organizational strategy during a period of rapid growth, and negotiated multimillion-dollar corporate partnerships.Earlier in her career, Sue spent over a decade as Executive Director of Friendship Bridge (1996–2008), transforming the international development organization from a startup into an established institution with $5.1 million in assets and expanding operations in Vietnam and Guatemala to serve more than 12,000 clients. She also has a strong background in education, having served as an Adjunct Professor at the University of Denver’s Josef Korbel School for International Studies (2007–2016), where she taught financial management and fundraising for nonprofits. Her early career includes banking and investing roles at First National Bank of Maryland and service as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica (1990–1992), where she established a women’s entrepreneurship program and community revolving loan funds.Sue holds an MBA from the Yale School of Management and a BS in Business Administration with a concentration in Finance from the University of Vermont.Beyond her professional endeavors, Sue is deeply engaged in community and board service. She currently serves as Treasurer for Global Greengrants Fund, Past President and Treasurer of Mountain Area Land Trust, and as a board member for Women’s Bean Project and Evergreen Legacy Foundation. She also serves on the Impact Investment Committee for the Rose Community Foundation. Sue is proficient in Spanish from her years working and living in Latin America. An avid adventurer, she has backpacked through multiple South American countries and biked from Baltimore, MD to Portland, OR. Her personal interests include running, skiing, photography, hiking, and spending time outdoors.
Finally, also in 2023 a total of $410,956 previously committed by Gates to the 
A total of $1,110,956 committed to the 
In 2019, the Community Development program committed $932,500 in strategic grants to 13 organizations and $465,000 in responsive capital grants to 12 organizations. New impact investments supporting vibrant communities in 2019 included a $500,000 MRI to 
Our Focus Landscapes initiative, a key element of our Natural Resources program, underwent a comprehensive review, revision, and re-launch in 2019. This initiative was launched in 2011 to help Colorado achieve landscape-scale conservation through the protection of private lands in specific geographies. A great deal of progress was made in North Park, southeast Colorado, and the San Luis Valley, resulting in more than 200,000 acres of farm and ranch lands conserved, along with their associated ecological values. The strategic review process was done in close partnership with the land trust organizations representing those geographies, providing lessons-learned and an exploration of emerging opportunities. The revised Focus Landscapes initiative will first focus on two geographies: 