Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates
Melinda Ann Gates, DBE is an American businesswoman and philanthropist...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionEntrepreneur
Date of Birth15 August 1964
CountryUnited States of America
country men trying
We have to look at it country by country. In places like the developing world where, as you say, in Mumbai, it's about five hours' gap between what a woman does and a man does. You have to start by recognizing the problem and talking about it, trying to change those roles.
united-states lucky born
I'm constantly saying to myself, 'I'm lucky I was born in the United States.
inspiring girl investing
If you invest in a girl or a woman, you are investing in everybody else.
people making-a-difference trying
All of a sudden people in the United States start to realize that vaccines make a difference. The controversy and the myth that's there, we're always trying to bust through that. So when I see a disease outbreak, I say to myself, "OK, that'll get people realizing how lucky we are to have vaccines."
growing-up empathy parent
When were you born, who are your parents, where did you grow up? None of us earns these things. These things were given to us. So when we strip away all of our luck and our privilege, and we consider where we'd be without them, it becomes much easier to see someone who's poor and say, "That could be me." And that's empathy.
children vaccines ifs
You can have the best vaccines for a woman or her child, but if you can't get her to come and get them then they won't work.
believe stay-true about-yourself
Make sure you continue to trust what you know now about yourself and stay true to what you believe in
world disability economic
We start with an economic approach. We look at what are the greatest causes of death in the developing world, and what causes the largest amount of disability, which would prevent you from getting a job. A lot of those deaths start with diseases, diseases we don't get in such a great number in the United States.
water world energy
Like in Africa, if somebody doesn't have fuel, they're still going and collecting firewood. If they get an oven, that's a huge difference. You can do things to reduce the inequities by making sure that they can get clean energy, safe energy. To make sure they're not having to collect water every day. That's huge for women in the developing world.
children planning birth
The biggest pieces of work that we do are vaccines, because those save lives, and also family planning. Because if a woman can space the births of her children, it changes everything for her health and her child's health.
people inspire helping
Sometimes it's the people you can't help who inspire you the most.
girl matter able
Women and girls should be able to determine their own future, no matter where they're born.
change ambitious great-change
What great changes have not been ambitious?
running autism long
In different places you run into myths around vaccination or around family planning. In the United States, one of the myths that existed for a long time, that has been completely debunked, was that autism was linked to a vaccine.