Sometimes it seems like the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is a nation unto itself. Its endowment of over $30 billion makes it the 300-pound gorilla of philanthropy, and the backing of a pair of business superstars (Warren Buffett is a big contributor) adds luster. But the foundation still has to play nice with the actual governments of the world — and lately it’s been beefing up its staff to do so. The foundation plans to open an office in London next year, the WSJ reported this morning, as part of an effort to build closer ties with the aid agencies of

European governments. Earlier this year, the foundation hired a Geoffrey Lamb, a World Bank VP to be its first director of public policy. “There’s an incredible privilege of being part of those conversations, part of those policy debates,” Lamb told the WSJ. But he also said the foundation needs to remember that it’s “not a government.” Bonus Gates : In our recent post on funding for global health , we noted that the Gates foundation accounted for 4% of total global health assistance in 2007. Photo: Bloomberg News

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Gates Foundation Pushes Further Into Public Policy