Melinda French Gates - American philanthropist I World's Most Powerful Women

Melinda N. Gates. Nay French. Born, August 15, 1964. American philanthropist and a former general manager at Microsoft. Melinda N. Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes. In 2000, she co-founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation with her husband Bill Gates, the world's largest private charitable organization as of 2015. Melinda N. Gates has consistently been ranked as one of the world's most powerful women by Forbes. Early life. Melinda N. Gates was born on August 15, 1964 in Dallas, Texas. She is the second of four children born to Raymond Joseph French Jr., an aerospace engineer, and Elaine Agnes Amerland, a homemaker. Melinda has an older sister and two younger brothers. Melinda, a Catholic, attended St. Monica Catholic School, where she was the top student in her class. At age 14, Melinda was introduced to the Apple II by her father, which later inspired her interest in computer games and the basic programming language. Graduated as valedictorian from Ursuline Academy of Dallas in 1982. She earned a bachelor's degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an MBA from Duke's Fuqua School of Business in 1987. At Duke, Melinda was a member of the Kappa Alpha Theta sorority, Beta Rho chapter. Career. Gates' first job was tutoring children in mathematics and computer programming. After graduation, she became a marketing manager with Microsoft, being responsible for leading the development of various multimedia products. These included Cinemania, Encarta, Publisher, Microsoft Bob, Money, Works, Macintosh, and Word. She worked on Expedia, which became one of the most popular travel booking websites. Gates later recalled a software demonstration of Microsoft Bob, that was one of the hardest things I've ever done. However, the program was a commercial failure. In the early 1990s, Gates was appointed as general manager of information products, a position which she held until 1996. She left Microsoft to focus on starting and raising her family. Gates served as a member of Duke University's board of trustees from 1996 to 2003. She attends the annual Bilderberg group conference and has held a seat on the board of directors of the Washington Post company since 2004. She was also on the board of directors at drugstore.com, but left in August 2006 to focus on philanthropy projects. Since 2000, Gates has been active in the public eye, stating as I thought about strong women of history, I realized that they stepped out in some way. In 2019, Gates debuted as an author with the book The Moment of Lift, How Empowering Women Changes the World.is has helped her work become recognized while shaping and delivering goals of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. As of 2014, Bill and Melinda have donated 28 billion U.S. dollars to the foundation. In 2015, Gates founded Pivotal Ventures as a separate, independent organization to identify, help develop and implement innovative solutions to problems affecting U.S. women and families. In 2019, Gates debuted as an author with the book The Moment of Lift, How Empowering Women Changes the World. The Moment of Lift. How Empowering Women Changes the World. Former President Barack Obama starred in a comedy sketch in order to promote the book. The book highlights the failure to acknowledge women's unpaid work, drawing on feminist economist Dame Marilyn Waring's book If Women Counted. Personal life. She began dating Microsoft CEO Bill Gates in 1987. In 1994, she married Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii. They have three children, Jennifer, Phoebe and Rory Gates. The family resides in Xanadu 2.0, an earth-sheltered mansion in the side of a hill overlooking Lake Washington in Medina, Washington. Awards and recognition. In 2002, Melinda and Bill Gates received the award for Greatest Public Service Benefiting the Disadvantaged, an award given out annually by Jefferson Awards. In December 2005, Melinda and Bill Gates were named by Time as Persons of the Year alongside Bono. Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation on May 4, 2006, in recognition of their world impact through charitable giving. In November 2006, Melinda was awarded the insignia of the Order of the Aztec Eagle, together with Bill, who was awarded the placard of the same order, both for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education, particularly in Mexico, and specifically in the program on país de lectores. In May 2006, in honor of her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world, Seattle Children's Hospital dedicated the Melinda French Gates Ambulatory Care Building at Seattle Children's, formerly Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center. She chaired a campaign for the hospital to fundraise $300 million to expand facilities, fund undercompensated and uncompensated care, and grow the hospital's research program to find cures and treatments. In 2007, Gates received an honorary doctorate in medicine from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2009, she and her husband received honorary degrees from the University of Cambridge. Their benefaction of $210 million in 2000 set up the Gates Cambridge Trust, which funds postgraduate scholars from outside the UK to study at the university. Lastly, she was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Duke University in 2013 as a tribute for her philanthropic commitment. She was ranked number three in Forbes' 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2017 lists of the 100 most powerful women, number four in 2012 and 2016 and number six in 2011 and 2018. She was awarded the UCSF Medal in 2013. Gates was appointed an honorary Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2013 for services to philanthropy and international development. In recognition of the Foundation's philanthropic activities in India, Bill and Melinda jointly received India's third-highest civilian honor, Padma Bhushan, in 2015. In 2016, President Barack Obama awarded Gates and her husband with the Presidential Medal of Freedom for their philanthropic efforts. In 2017, President Francois Hollande awarded Gates and her husband with France's highest national award, the Legion of Honor, in Paris for their charity efforts. That year, she was awarded the Otto Hahn Peace Medal 2016 of the United Nations Association of Germany, DGVN, Berlin-Brandenburg, for outstanding services to peace and international understanding in the historic Berlin Town Hall. That year, Gates was listed by UK-based company Richtopia at number 12 in the list of 200 most influential philanthropists and social entrepreneurs worldwide. Gates' experience of a male-dominated workplace at Microsoft inspired her to encourage more women in the computing field. In September 2016, Gates announced her desire on increasing the diversity in the workplace, especially in the technology industry, stating, Every company needs technology, and yet we're graduating fewer women technologists. That is not good for society. We have to change it. Gates also spoke about this topic at the 2017 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, an annual series of conferences. In the 2016 annual letter from the Gates Foundation, Gates said women should spend more time doing paid work, starting businesses, or otherwise contributing o the economic well-being of societies around the world. The fact that they can't holds their families and communities back. Bill and Melinda Gates Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Front building of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, BMGF, in Seattle. I encourage potential philanthropists to look to the millions of ordinary people who use their resources to make the world a better place, often at great personal sacrifice. I don't think it's billionaires who are setting the standard for generosity. It's people who are giving even when it's hard. Melinda Gates. Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. Thanks for watching.