-Welcome to the show. -Thank you.
It is so good to have you here,
um, especially considering the book that you've written.
Um, I would like to talk
about your journey from the very beginning,
'cause you've lived, like, a really, really interesting life.
For some people, you popped up as Melinda Gates,
but you genuinely have lived an interesting life.
For instance, I didn't know that you were offered a job at IBM,
and you turned it down
to go work at a little company known as Microsoft.
-Right. -Yeah. When you look back at that,
do you ever think to yourself, "That was a moment
that changed everything"?
It was one moment that changed everything.
Just like the moment when I had a teacher
who saw computers and decided to go
to the head nun of our all-girls school
when nobody had computers and say, "Let's get six of them
-to help these girls learn how to code." -Right.
That just didn't happen back then.
So, there are all these forks that happen in life,
and that happened to be a major one for me.
It-it really is a story of forks.
It's a story of decisions,
and that's what it feels like this book is about.
The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women
Changes the World.
Um, one thing that I loved
is I know that you are from Dallas, Texas.
-Mm-hmm. -And I went there.
I was there doing shows a week ago.
And when I was driving around, so many people have stories
of how many things you've done
for the community that you came from.
Giving back is a big part of your life.
It seems like a stupid question, but why?
I think in high school, I learned...
I had a very, uh, a set of very liberal nuns.
-I went to an all-girl Catholic school. -Right.
The motto of the school was Serviam, that is, "to serve."
And they sent us out into the local public school,
the Dallas County Courthouse, the hospitals,
and they taught us that if you are lucky enough
to live in the United States
and to be able to get a good education,
you deser... you-you need to give something back.
And even one person giving something back of their time
can help change lives of others,
and it was our responsibility to do that.
It seems like a responsibility that you've taken on
as, uh, as an opportunity, as well.
You know, you enjoy it.
And what I do like about this book is
you answer a question that many people have
in opposition to the idea,
-empowering women. -Mm.
Some people hear that as an attack on men.
They go, like, "Oh, so what about men?
Don't men deserve to be empowered?"
But in this book, you're arguing about how empowering women
empowers everybody. Why?
Yeah. If you empower a woman,
she is often the center of the family.
And so when she has more economic means
or when she has her voice or can take a decision,
she makes different decisions on behalf of her family.
-Right. -That lifts up her family, a society, an economy.
And it's why now, when we go to the United Nations,
prime ministers and presidents show up,
to talk, finally, about women and girls
-and getting them a great education. -Yes.
'Cause it will help their economy.
When we look at some of the details in the book,
there are so many issues that women face
-as part of their communities, -Mm.
but then there are issues that women will face
just because you are a woman, issues that men don't face--
you know, maternal issues, newborn health,
your-your mortality, um, I mean,
women and girls' education and the disparity between the two.
You've done a lot of work in Africa.
And one of the key things you've been working on
is getting communities to empower their women.
-Right. -That's not easy.
I know that, coming from the African continent,
there are some communities that go, "No, a woman has her place."
But we've started seeing the change.
How did you get people to embrace those ideas?
Well, you can only go in and educate communities
and get them to decide it's something they want to do.
And you have to do it in very culturally sensitive ways,
with people who've been working with that community,
often, for 30 years.
But once they start to understand--
Even a husband understands that his children will be better off
if his wife has certain amounts of income
and he'll be better off,
then he often will start to make changes.
And so it takes very thoughtful discussion.
It takes discussion over a long period of time.
And then you also introduced ideas and tools
that we have here in the United States.
And they start to say,
"Yes, I would like to try that for my family."
I find it really interesting that the conversations
you're having with many people in developing countries
is a conversation in
-and around basic services, you know? -Mm-hmm.
You talk in the book about communities
that you've lived with,
where some of the women will say to you,
"Melinda, I need a vaccine.
"I want my children to live.
"I don't want them to die from diseases that have
technically been eradicated all over the world."
You then look at America and the news today
of the measles outbreak being the largest that it's ever been
-since measles-measles was eradicated in the U.S. -Right.
And it really does raise the question--
is it a form of privilege where people say,
"Oh, I don't need a vaccine?"
when people in developing nations are saying,
"We're literally dying for these same vaccines"?
It's absolutely a privilege to l...
First of all, to live in this country is a privilege.
And then, to have basic vaccines
and a decent health care system
is a huge privilege.
And so, I think so often
we forget about our past in the United States.
We forget that people used to have polio
in my mom's generation,
or that people used to get small pox.
-We've eradicated that now. -Mm.
Or measles kills children
or people who are immune-compromised.
So, we need to remember our history,
and we need to learn from other people.
I talk to women in so many countries in Africa,
and they've walked ten kilometers in the heat
to get a vaccine for their children
because they know-- they will tell you--
"This will save the life of my child."
When you talk to these women,
one thing that has been apparent in the book,
and it's a really powerful story,
is how you get women who say,
"One of the biggest things that's changed my life
-is having access to birth control." -Mm.
"Being able to choose when and how I have a child
helps me define my life as a woman."
That was a really powerful moment for me in the book,
because it's something I always thought I knew,
but I fully didn't comprehend
until I read some of those stories.
Why is that so crucial for people to understand?
And how does that change a woman's life?
This was something that completely surprised me.
When I first started travelling to Africa
and many different countries, I would be there
to talk to women about vaccines
and basic health services for their children.
And when I would stay long enough, they would say to me,
"But what about my health?
"What about birth control?
"I used to be able to get it in this tiny clinic
"where I can still get vaccines.
-Why can't I?" -Mm-hmm.
And it turned out that what they were asking the world for
we just had stopped delivering because of politics,
mainly in our own country, and religious beliefs.
And yet, over 200 million women were asking us for them
because what they will tell you is,
"It is a life-and-death crisis.
"It's not fair for me to have another child
"to the one I just had if I have five
and I can't feed or educate these."
And so, it is the greatest anti-poverty tool we have,
and I just didn't realize
until I really listened to women that this is something
that is a life-and-death emergency for them,
and we need to deliver it as a world.
There's one part of this book that genuinely surprised me.
I've known about your work.
I've known about your philanthropy.
I know that you are gonna be giving away
all of your-your money, um, to people like me.
-And, um... -(laughter)
and... there was one thing that really surprised me in the book,
and-and I know it sounds like a strange thing to say,
but I didn't ever know about Melinda Gates the woman.
You know? I've spent so long learning
about Melinda Gates the businessperson,
the philanthropist, the-the leader,
but as a woman you have faced challenges yourself.
You... you share very candid stories
about being in an abusive relationship
before you were with Bill.
You share candid stories about how even...
how you faced challenges of being with Bill
where people would only address him
when the two of you were in a room.
What do you think you've had to do in your world...
'Cause challenges are different, don't get me wrong.
I would never compare it to, you know, you and a woman in Africa.
But... for yourself,
in a world where people think you have everything,
what are the challenges you have to constantly try and overcome
-as a woman? -I think, as a woman, um,
women all over the world need to face the fact
that sometimes they are labeled a certain thing,
they're labeled as just a mother
or just a working woman or, in my case,
just a wealthy woman.
No, I'm a woman with a full life.
I have three children,
I have a loving relationship and husband,
but I have faced challenges.
And I think we need to look at the full picture
of women's lives.
One of the reasons I do write a whole page
on abuse and abusive relationship I was in
was not necessarily just to share my story,
but it's to say to people:
that can happen to absolutely anyone.
And if someone faces abuse
and all these barriers we have in society,
you silence women, you silence their voice,
you silence... you stop their self-confidence,
and we need to open up society
and we need to lift these barriers,
and when we do that as men and women,
everybody will rise together.
And so I hoped, in sharing my personal story,
people would see me as a whole human being,
not just one of these categories they might see me in.
I'll tell you, one thing I enjoyed about the book
is it's illuminating, it's fascinating,
and most importantly, it has answers.
So thank you very much for being on the show.
-Thanks for having me. -Wonderful having you.
-(cheering, applause) -The Moment of Lift,
truly inspiring read, is available now.
Melinda Gates, everybody.