The problem goes even deeper than you’d think.Īs a Bangladeshi study spanning over two decades has discovered, contraceptives make the lives of both the mothers and the children better and longer. Over 200 million more women in these nations wanted to use contraceptives-but couldn’t get them. Their experiences comply with the available data.Īs Melinda says, in 2012, in the world’s 69 poorest countries, 260 million women were using contraceptives. Namely, most of these poor African women wanted to protect their children, and the best idea they had in mind was not having more of them. In time, Melinda realized that these were not lonely voices in the wilderness-this was the leitmotif. I can’t afford to feed the ones I have now!” “She was talking about Depo-Provera, a long-acting birth control injection that could keep her from getting pregnant.”Ī mother named Sadi Seyni from a small village in Niger said something even more terrifying: “It wouldn’t be fair for me to have another child. “She wasn’t talking about a vaccination,” comments Melinda. “Why do I have to walk twenty kilometers in this heat to get my shot?” What got her attention even more was the answer of a young mother with small kids when asked by her, “Are you taking these beautiful children to get their shots?” Soon after founding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda went to Malawi “and was deeply moved to see so many mothers standing in long lines in the heat to get shots for their kids.” Well, Melinda Gates would like to change your mind! Chapter 1 | The Lift of a Great Idea The main focus is girls and women-because they should be.

In The Moment of Lift, Melinda Gates tells the whole story behind it: its beginnings, its objectives, its utopian dreams of contributing to a better future. Launched in 2000, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) is the largest private foundation of the world (and, thus, the world’s largest private charitable organization as well) with primary aims to reduce extreme poverty, expand educational opportunities, and enhance healthcare all over the world.

from Duke’s Fuqua School, Melinda got a job at Microsoft, where she worked for almost a decade, before leaving the company to focus on her family and philanthropic work.Īs the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda “sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy.” In addition, she has also founded Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company. Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and feminist.Īfter receiving a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University and an M.B.A.

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