Ole F. Norheim, Mary B. Saltonstall Professor of Ethics and Population Health at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and co-founder of the Bergen Centre for Ethics and Priority Setting in Health (BCEPS) at the University of Bergen, Norway, where he is also an Affiliated Researcher, was honored as a Goalkeepers Nordic Champion at the inaugural Gates Foundation Goalkeepers Nordics Event in Stockholm on January 22, 2026.

The Gates Foundation Goalkeepers initiative is designed to inspire progress towards achieving the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which aim to create a better future for all by 2030 and were agreed upon by all member states of the United Nations. The Goalkeepers initiative honors exceptional global leaders taking a stand on the issues they care about and innovating in their communities to advance the SDGs as “Goalkeepers Champions.” More information can be found at www.gatesfoundation.org/goalkeepers.

The Goalkeepers event in Stockholm was the first in the Nordic region, gathering leaders and changemakers under the theme “We Can’t Stop at Almost” to highlight how Nordic leadership continues to drive progress on global health and sustainable development.

Bill Gates attended the event, alongside fellow speakers Ole Rosling (Swedish statistician and Chairman of the Gapminder Foundation) and Gunhild Stordalen (Norwegian physician and Chair of the EAT Foundation and the Stordalen Foundation). The evening was hosted by Swedish journalist and television host Jenny Strömstedt.

The Gates Foundation states that Ole F. Norheim’s selection as one of six Goalkeepers Nordic Champions was made in recognition of his “influential contributions to advancing global health equity and leadership in shaping evidence-based approaches to priority setting in health systems” and that his work “plays a significant role in advancing equality, innovation, and sustainable development across the region.“
Ole F. Norheim is a physician and ethicist whose decades in research and leadership on priority setting and ethics in global health have shaped policy, research agendas, public conversation, and innovative approaches to global health challenges in the Nordic region and around the world. His research addresses theories of distributive justice, inequality in health, priority setting in health systems, decision science, distributional cost-effectiveness analysis, and universal health coverage in low- and middle-income countries.

Norheim is an elected member of the Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters and of The Lancet Commission on Sustainable Healthcare. He is also Lead Series Editor of The World Bank’s Fourth Edition of the Disease Control Priorities project. In addition, he has served as Chair of the World Health Organization’s Consultative Group on Equity and Universal Health Coverage (2012–2014) and Head of the Norwegian Biotechnology Advisory Board (2019–2023).

The other five Goalkeepers Nordic Champions are Gunhild Stordalen (Norwegian physician and Chair of the EAT Foundation and the Stordalen Foundation), Jesper Theil Thomsen (Co-founder of SOUNDBOX and founder of Sagaorg; Denmark), Nagin Ravand (Danish-Afghan UEFA-licensed football coach and founder of GLOBALL), Asabea Britton (Swedish midwife & influencer), and Martin Blomberg (founder & CEO of Agteria Biotech; Sweden).

According to the Gates Foundation, the aim of the inaugural Goalkeepers event in Stockholm is to “host inspiring conversations, showcase innovative approaches and feature artist performances, reflecting the Nordic legacy of equity and collaboration that inspire solutions to global challenges.”

The six Goalkeepers Nordic Champions were nominated and selected by the Gates Foundation’s Nordic Advisory Council, consisting of Anna Frellsen (CEO of Maternity Foundation), Tommy Ahlers (Chair of CONCITO), Sofia Lindelöw (Managing Director of Norrsken Foundation), Carolina Klüft (Director of Generation Pep), Gustav Magnar Witzøe (Founder and chairman of W Initiative), Ingrid Lærdal (Executive chair of Laerdal Global Health), Eirik Mofoss (Co-founder of Langsikt), and Mads Krogsgaard (CEO of Novo Nordisk Foundation).