The Moment Of Lift By Melinda French Gates

A philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls. Melinda Gates has spent her career pursuing the idea that when you lift up women, you can lift up humanity.

As co-founder of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest charitable organization, Melinda has worked hard to understand the challenges faced by people living in the poorest places in the world and find ways to address them. Her travels have brought her face to face with many women whose lives are held back by lack of basic resources like vaccines, health care, and education. In these meetings, one thing has become clear to her: to fully lift up the world, you have to start by lifting up women.

Melinda grew up in Dallas, Texas, and earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University. After graduating, she spent the first decade of her career developing multimedia products at Microsoft, but ultimately left to focus on her philanthropic work and family.

In the 20 years since, Melinda and her husband have dedicated their fortune to reducing poverty in the US and around the globe. Melinda’s work has spanned across a variety of areas, from health to education and beyond, but her driving goal is to understand the root causes of these issues and find solutions.

Melinda has stayed true to her convictions in these endeavors, even when it has cost her personal comfort. Often, she and her three children, Jenna, Rory, and Phoebe, have lived with the afflicted families they serve for days at a time in order to get a fuller understanding of the struggles they face. In The Moment Of Lift, Melinda shares her experiences and convictions in hopes of empowering others to make a difference.