Melinda Gates
Author of The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
About the Author
Image credit: Melinda French Gates, Co-chair and Trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Series
Works by Melinda Gates
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World (2019) — Author; Narrator, some editions — 1,034 copies, 41 reviews
The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward (2025) — Author; Narrator, some editions — 113 copies, 2 reviews
Associated Works
The Mother and Child Project: Raising Our Voices for Health and Hope (2015) — Preface, some editions — 27 copies
Disease Control Priorities: Improving Health and Reducing Poverty (2017) — Foreword, some editions — 5 copies
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Birthdate
- 1964-08-15
- Gender
- female
- Organizations
- Microsoft Corporation
Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation
Pivotal Ventures - Relationships
- Gates, William H., III (ex-husband)
- Nationality
- USA
- Birthplace
- Dallas, Texas, USA
- Associated Place (for map)
- Texas, USA
Members
Discussions
Bill and Melinda Gates in Pro and Con (February 2010)
Reviews
Going into this book I didn't know much about Melinda Gates, or what her foundation did. All overly wealthy people seem to have foundations, so my base assumption would have been that they used it to distribute money to programs and people in need.
Boy was I wrong on that.
This book is a must read for anyone, no matter your sex/gender/lot in life, it's eye opening and empowering. While the title will lead you to believe that the target audience for this book is women, and that reading it show more will leave women empowered, that couldn't be further from the truth.
Melinda tells the story about her journey in empowering women and how it cascaded into changing the views/lives of men and women around the globe. From America to India, and every village in between, she shares stories of people that she admires, and how one idea led to large scale social change for many.
I adore Melinda's take on how to solve problems, and listen with the intent to understand. Each time she thinks she has a handle on a small problem, she discovers a much bigger picture that needs to be addressed. She is humble, and open to to understanding life from a different perspective. It's inspiring. The way she was able to continually tie so much back to family planning shocked me, but also made complete sense.
The story she is telling is laid out in a manner that makes it easy to follow and understand how she is who she is today. From her personal family background, to her struggles with the boys club. It was cool to listen to how she became a more confident and assertive version of herself and spread her own wings of empowerment.
So often people brush off items that aren't their problem, as "since I don't struggle with this, no one is anymore. It's history, a problem that has been solved." But that isn't true. Melinda points out so many areas that we are still working as a society to make better.
I leave this book with a new understanding of her foundation, and how much just listening can blossom a wave of change. I encourage you to read it. The audiobook was great, as she narrates it, and puts the emphasis in all the right places.
Boy was I wrong on that.
This book is a must read for anyone, no matter your sex/gender/lot in life, it's eye opening and empowering. While the title will lead you to believe that the target audience for this book is women, and that reading it show more will leave women empowered, that couldn't be further from the truth.
Melinda tells the story about her journey in empowering women and how it cascaded into changing the views/lives of men and women around the globe. From America to India, and every village in between, she shares stories of people that she admires, and how one idea led to large scale social change for many.
I adore Melinda's take on how to solve problems, and listen with the intent to understand. Each time she thinks she has a handle on a small problem, she discovers a much bigger picture that needs to be addressed. She is humble, and open to to understanding life from a different perspective. It's inspiring. The way she was able to continually tie so much back to family planning shocked me, but also made complete sense.
“…contraceptives are the greatest life-saving, poverty-ending, women-empowering innovation ever created.”
“When women can decide whether and when to have children, it saves lives, promotes health, expands education, and creates prosperity—no matter what country in the world you’re talking about.”
The story she is telling is laid out in a manner that makes it easy to follow and understand how she is who she is today. From her personal family background, to her struggles with the boys club. It was cool to listen to how she became a more confident and assertive version of herself and spread her own wings of empowerment.
So often people brush off items that aren't their problem, as "since I don't struggle with this, no one is anymore. It's history, a problem that has been solved." But that isn't true. Melinda points out so many areas that we are still working as a society to make better.
I leave this book with a new understanding of her foundation, and how much just listening can blossom a wave of change. I encourage you to read it. The audiobook was great, as she narrates it, and puts the emphasis in all the right places.
“And the starting point for human improvement is empathy. Everything flows from that. Empathy allows for listening, and listening leads to understanding. That’s how we gain a common base of knowledge. When people can’t agree, it’s often because there is no empathy, no sense of shared experience. If you feel what others feel, you’re more likely to see what they see. Then you can understand one another. Then you can move to the honest and respectful exchange of ideas that is the mark of a successful partnership. That’s the source of progress.”show less
Melinda Gates not only has more money than most people, she also has more compassion and a better-developed sense of her duty to put that money to work to - truly - change the world.
I was skeptical about her perspective, her intent, and - again, truly - her heart. But not anymore.
This book is a manifesto, a set of bold statements about how important it is to affirm and empower women. Period. She talks about poverty, patriarchy, contraception, spirituality, and every other hard thing that so show more many other powerful people are inclined to talk around, rather than work through.
This book and these messages changed my mind about the difference that Melinda Gates and the foundation are making in the world. I stand with them in declaring that all lives have equal value. Do you? show less
I was skeptical about her perspective, her intent, and - again, truly - her heart. But not anymore.
This book is a manifesto, a set of bold statements about how important it is to affirm and empower women. Period. She talks about poverty, patriarchy, contraception, spirituality, and every other hard thing that so show more many other powerful people are inclined to talk around, rather than work through.
This book and these messages changed my mind about the difference that Melinda Gates and the foundation are making in the world. I stand with them in declaring that all lives have equal value. Do you? show less
I went into this book with the idea that it would be your typical feminist book that talks about empowering yourself, but was pleasantly surprised. The Moment of Lift is about meeting the need of women around the world and how to successfully accomplish that. Melinda isn’t on a high horse telling everyone that they’re wrong and that the only way we can fix things is her way. She opens the dialogue to everyone about their needs and how their foundation can help them meet those needs. In show more the book, it feels like Melinda wants her readers to understand that there are many ways of lifting women up, and that the only ones who truly understand what they need are the women she is trying to help. Listening to their stories is a huge part of this book.
Often, when organizations work with people from other countries, I see them try to “correct” things without any attempts at understanding that cultures motivations. I appreciated what Melinda said about not telling a culture that their practices and traditions are wrong. It is more important to understand why they do what they do and address the deeper issue. You won’t create change by alienating everyone by telling them they are wrong. Melinda includes many stories that demonstrate how beneficial it is to take a step back and listen to what the people you’re working with actually needs.
My favorite story in this book was about the community that came together to banish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Rather than walking in to this community, the Gates foundation had local midwives talk to their communities about the health risks and then they listened to the counter argument from the community members. As it turns out, traditions are not always easy to break and are usually much more complicated than outsiders might think.
Though there are stories in this book that are hard to hear about because of their violent nature, but I am glad she included them because those stories deserve to be heard.
If you’re looking for a book that will offer insight to issues that women face around the world (that are often glossed over or completely ignored in the news), this is the book for you. It may also give you a new lens to look at your own community with. show less
Often, when organizations work with people from other countries, I see them try to “correct” things without any attempts at understanding that cultures motivations. I appreciated what Melinda said about not telling a culture that their practices and traditions are wrong. It is more important to understand why they do what they do and address the deeper issue. You won’t create change by alienating everyone by telling them they are wrong. Melinda includes many stories that demonstrate how beneficial it is to take a step back and listen to what the people you’re working with actually needs.
My favorite story in this book was about the community that came together to banish Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Rather than walking in to this community, the Gates foundation had local midwives talk to their communities about the health risks and then they listened to the counter argument from the community members. As it turns out, traditions are not always easy to break and are usually much more complicated than outsiders might think.
Though there are stories in this book that are hard to hear about because of their violent nature, but I am glad she included them because those stories deserve to be heard.
If you’re looking for a book that will offer insight to issues that women face around the world (that are often glossed over or completely ignored in the news), this is the book for you. It may also give you a new lens to look at your own community with. show less
I have to say that I was skeptical about this book. Melinda Gates is famous because, well, she's married to Bill Gates and in my mind that didn't really make her qualified to speak about the issues that women face around the world.
I was wrong. This book is really about stories of her own life, not only working as a woman at Microsoft, in a predominantly male-dominated business, but mostly what she has seen through her work with the Gates Foundation. The stories are powerful and moving and show more she tells them with humility, wisdom and tremendous empathy. The plight of women in parts of this world is horrifying and some of these stories will bring you to tears. But this book will also inspire you and, yes, lift you up with the hope that there are better times to come for women and all people in the world. show less
I was wrong. This book is really about stories of her own life, not only working as a woman at Microsoft, in a predominantly male-dominated business, but mostly what she has seen through her work with the Gates Foundation. The stories are powerful and moving and show more she tells them with humility, wisdom and tremendous empathy. The plight of women in parts of this world is horrifying and some of these stories will bring you to tears. But this book will also inspire you and, yes, lift you up with the hope that there are better times to come for women and all people in the world. show less
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Statistics
- Works
- 5
- Also by
- 7
- Members
- 1,150
- Popularity
- #22,331
- Rating
- 4.0
- Reviews
- 43
- ISBNs
- 47
- Languages
- 10
- Favorited
- 2