Alison Varco (She/Her) is a Program Officer with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Women in Leadership team where she leads a portfolio of grants dedicated to advancing women’s power and influence in the global health sector.  She is passionate about challenging and shifting harmful social norms that limit women from achieving their goals, advocating loudly for policies that empower women and supporting individual leaders.  In addition to her role, Alison sits on the Board of Directors for the Washington Women’s Foundation.  Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, she spent over a decade working for health and education focused non-profits designing and directing leadership development programs for youth globally.  Alison holds a Masters of Public Administration from the Evans School of Public Policy and Governance and a BA in Sociology and Political Science from the University of Washington.  She lives in Seattle with her two children.