Melinda French Gates

◎ · Instagram @melindafrenchgates

Philanthropist, businesswoman, author, and advocate for women & girls. Founder @pivotaldotcom. Co-founder @gatesfoundation. Proud Mom & Nonna ❤️

• • My hope for the future? That every woman—no matter who she is or where she lives—can step into her full power because she’s able to get the care she needs.
• • If you want proof that our health systems overlook women, just look at menopause. It affects half the population, yet it remains poorly understood and drastically underfunded, leaving women without the care and relief they need. In The New York Times, I share why I’m directing new funding to raise the standard of care for menopause and perimenopause—and what it will take to unlock a menopause revolution. Read the full piece at the link in my bio.
• • Unlocking women’s power changes everything.   In our homes.  In our workplaces.  In our communities.  In the rooms where laws are passed.  And at the tables where decisions are made.
• • If you want to know what determination looks like, meet Shabana Basij-Rasikh.   Shabana was six years old when the Taliban first seized power 30 years ago and banned girls in Afghanistan from attending school. Undeterred, she continued her education in secret schools across Kabul, then went on to graduate magna cum laude from Middlebury College in Vermont and earn a master’s degree in public policy from Oxford.   But Shabana didn’t stop at pursuing her own education. While still in college, she co-founded @sola.afghanistan, Afghanistan’s first boarding school for girls, which attracted students from nearly every province in the country.   When the Taliban returned to power in 2021, they shut girls out of the classroom once again. Yet Shabana fought to keep her school alive, leading the SOLA community’s evacuation to Rwanda.   In the years since, the Taliban have enacted a brutal campaign against women’s rights, barring them from universities, most jobs, traveling without a male relative, and even speaking and singing in public. But Shabana has not given up on her mission. SOLA continues to educate Afghan girls in exile from its campus in Rwanda, and it reaches girls in Afghanistan through online learning.   I’ve been honored to get to know Shabana through Pivotal’s Global Leaders initiative, which provides visionary changemakers with funds to support work they believe in, and I couldn’t think of a more important person to interview for International Day of the Girl. She knows exactly what’s at stake when girls are denied an education—and what’s possible when they can get one.   Read my Q&A with @sbasijrasikh at the link in my bio. #internationaldayofthegirl
• • Margaret Hamilton was an extraordinary woman. One of the first programmers on the Apollo mission, she helped Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin safely reach the moon, coined the term “software engineer,” and inspired countless other people to break barriers in STEM.   She was also a mom. And with the news of her passing, I find myself thinking about a story I once read about her:   Margaret sometimes brought her daughter Lauren to work at NASA. One night, Lauren pushed a button that made the system crash. Margaret immediately realized that an astronaut might inadvertently do the same thing, so she recommended adjusting the software.    Margaret’s bosses ignored her advice. But during the very next mission, the astronauts made the exact same mistake her daughter did. “After that, they let me put the program change in,” she said.   What a powerful reminder of the unique perspectives that parents bring to the table. That breakthroughs and discovery can come from unexpected places. That all around us, unsung heroes are working quietly and faithfully to expand our idea of what’s possible.   Thank you, Margaret, for encouraging us all to soar.