Melinda Gates – Co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation

Melinda Gates

born Melinda Ann French,  Melinda French Gates
(August 15, 1964, Dallas, Texas, USA)
Nationality: United States of America
Category: Leaders
Occupation: Philanthropists, Businessmen
Unique distinction: Co-founder and co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Gender: Female
Quotes:
1. All women, everywhere, have the same hopes: we want to be self-sufficient and create better lives for ourselves and our loved ones.
2. If we don’t empower women, we don’t allow them to unlock the potential of themselves and their children.
3. Deep human connection is … the purpose and the result of a meaningful life – and it will inspire the most amazing acts of love, generosity, and humanity.
4. Take time to learn about the lives of women around the world-and try to play a small part in their fight to create the future they deserve.
5. I learn in a different way. I learn experimentally.
6. If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.
7. If you don’t have an effective teacher in front of the classroom, you won’t change the trajectory for students.

Video: Gates Want Energy
Website: Gatesfoundation
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 Achievements and contributions:


Social and professional position: American philanthropist and businesswoman
The main contribution to (Best known for): She is regarded as on of the most famous American philanthropist and Business Leader.
Contributions: The basic Values of the foundation are: Optimism, Collaboration, Rigor, Innovation and the primary aims are, in the world to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty, and in America, to expand educational opportunities and access to information technology, improve public libraries and support at-risk families.
As of 2009, Melinda and Bill Gates have donated more than US$24 billion to the Foundation. And as of 2011 it had an endowment of US$33.5 billion and as of 2012- $37.6 billion. Gates has also donated over $10 million to her high school, Ursuline Academy of Dallas. She is one of the major donors of their Facing the Future Campaign.
In 2012 she pledged $560 million toward improving access to contraception for women in poor countries.
As of 2014, Melinda and Bill Gates have donated $28 billion to the Foundation. In September 2016, Melinda announced her desire to begin working on an issue: the lack of women in technology.
Honors and Awards: In December 2005, Melinda and Bill Gates were named by Time as Persons of the Year alongside Bono. In 2006 Melinda and Bill Gates received the Spanish Prince of Asturias Award for International Cooperation and Order of the Aztec Eagle for their philanthropic work around the world in the areas of health and education.
In May 2006, she was honoured for her work to improve the lives of children locally and around the world. She and her husband, Bill Gates, were both awarded the 2010 «J. William Fulbright» Prize for International Understanding.
Melinda Gates was ranked list of the 100 Most Powerful Women, #12 in Forbes in 2006, #24 in 2007, #40 2008 and #4 in 2012, #3 in Forbes 2013 and 2014. She was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by Duke University (2013), Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (2013), Padma Bhushan (India, 2015). In 2017  Gates were awarded with the France’s highest national award – Legion of Honour for their charity efforts.
Major works: Strategy and Management of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Career and Personal life:


Family background: Her Father – Raymond Joseph French, Jr., an aerospace engineer and mother-Elaine Agnes Amerland French a homemaker (from Germany). She is the second of four children and has an older sister and two younger brothers.
Education: Melinda attended St. Monica Catholic School. She earned a bachelor’s degree in computer science and economics from Duke University in 1986 and an Master of Business Administration, Duke University Fuqua School of Business in 1987.
Career highlights:
1. In 1987 she joined Microsoft Corp. and distinguished herself in business as a unit manager and leader in the development of Microsoft’s multimedia products.
2. In 1996, M. Gates retired from her position as Microsoft’s General Manager of Information Products.
3. She is a former member of the board of trustees of Duke University (1996 to 2003) and is a former co-chair of the Washington State Governor’s Commission on Early Learning.
4. Melinda is Co-founder and co-chair of the largest transparently operated private foundation in the world, which was formed in 1994 and renamed the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (B&MGF) in 1999.
Personal life: She was 16 when her father brought home the first Apple III computer.
Spouse
(div.)- Bill Gates, the Richest Man in the World (Net Worth $89 Billion On 17 October, 2017). They met in 1987 at a Microsoft press event in Manhattan. On 1st of January, 1994, she married Bill Gates in a private ceremony held in Lanai, Hawaii.
Children: Melinda and Bill Gates have three children: daughters Jennifer Katharine Gates (b. 26 April 1996) and Phoebe Adele Gates (b. 2002), and son Rory John Gates (b. 23 May 1999).
Residence: Medina, WA, near Seattle.