Bill Gates
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory
Bill Gates serves as the Executive Director of the ASU Mechanics of Democracy Laboratory (“MODL”) and is a Professor of Practice of the ASU Watts College of Public Service and Community Solutions. ASU formed MODL in 2024 to serve as a catalyst to professionalize elections administration by furnishing “how to instruction” on bolstering elections administration, providing transparency and accountability, and combating misinformation. In addition to training the next generation of voters and elections officials at MODL, Bill also convenes experts in elections administration and current and former elected officials for discussions of how our democracy works and how we can improve and fortify it against attacks and misinformation.
Bill was elected to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in 2016 and was re-elected in 2020. In 2019, as Chairman of the Board, Bill negotiated a re-organization of the Maricopa County Elections Department with then-Maricopa County Recorder Adrian Fontes. During the November 2022 General Election, Bill participated in 16 press conferences as the eyes of the world were on the Maricopa County Elections Department as numerous statewide races with razor thin margins were counted over a 13-day period. Prior to joining the Board of Supervisors, Bill served on the Phoenix City Council from 2009-2016, including a stint as Vice Mayor in 2013. Bill has been a lifelong Republican who led the Arizona Republican Party’s election integrity efforts in 2006 and 2008 organizing a cadre of poll watchers and attorneys to ensure that every eligible vote was counted.
Bill is the recipient of various awards, commending his years of leadership, service, and defense of democracy including the American Bar Association’s Unsung Hero of Democracy Award in 2024, The Truman Foundation’s Joseph E. Stevens Public Service Award in 2022, The Arizona Republic’s 2021 Arizonan of the Year, and The Phoenix Business Journal’s Forty Under 40 in 2010. Bill was named to the Maricopa County Bar Association Hall of Fame in 2025.
Bill has practiced law in Phoenix, Arizona for 30 years and serves on numerous non-profit boards. Bill holds a B.S. from Drake University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
