The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

I approached this book warily. After all, what does a super-wealthy philanthropist have to say that is relevant in our lives? It turns out, quite a bit. Ms. Gates covers the plight of women throughout the world and their most urgent needs. She delineates the struggle of do-gooders to seize the right solution given the cultural complexities in the neediest populations. She tells personal stories in which she became emotionally transformed. She struggles against the precepts of her strong faith in order to deliver contraception to women who live in the most abject poverty and whose lives cannot bear the burden of one more mouth to feed. Most personally, she details how she found a voice alongside and equal to the richest man in the world; she is married to Microsoft’s Bill Gates. The author talks about becoming vulnerable in order to make personal connections; in other words, to face her own flaws.

This reader learned a lot about the education, work history and ethos of Melinda Gates. I think this book will resonate with many others.

Her’s is a unique voice in the worldwide struggle for female empowerment. She makes a solid case that improving the lives of women can change an entire society. She talks about the power to exclude others and making them an outsider to the economic engines of society. This book is for anyone struggling to find a place in the world and the strength to help others and transform oneself.