The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER

How can we summon a moment of lift for human beings — and especially for women? Because when you lift up women, you lift up humanity.

For the last twenty years, Melinda Gates has been on a mission to find solutions for people with the most urgent needs, wherever they live. Throughout this journey, one thing has become increasingly clear to her: If you want to lift society up, you need to stop keeping women down.

In this moving and compelling book, Melinda shares lessons she’s learned from the inspiring people she’s met during her work and travels around the world. As she writes in the introduction, “That is why I had to write this book — to share the stories of people who have given focus and urgency to my life. I want all of us to see ways we can lift women up where we live.”

Melinda’s unforgettable narrative is backed by startling data as she presents the issues that most need our attention — from child marriage to lack of access to contraceptives to gender inequity in the workplace. And, for the first time, she writes about her personal life and the road to equality in her own marriage. Throughout, she shows how there has never been more opportunity to change the world — and ourselves.

Writing with emotion, candor, and grace, she introduces us to remarkable women and shows the power of connecting with one another.

When we lift others up, they lift us up, too.

“The Moment of Lift is an urgent call to courage. It changed how I think about myself, my family, my work, and what’s possible in the world. Melinda weaves together vulnerable, brave storytelling and compelling data to make this one of those rare books that you carry in your heart and mind long after the last page.” Brené Brown, Ph.D., author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Dare to Lead

“An inspirational look at the need to empower women to make change in the world.” The Washington Post

“[The Moment of Lift] is a moral appeal, imploring each of us who reads it to look around — at our own families, our own workplaces, our own place in a gigantic, but highly connected, world — and get to work making it more equal.” Chicago Tribune

Melinda Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls. She is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and founder of Pivotal Ventures. Melinda grew up in Dallas, TX, received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School. Melinda spent the first decade of her career at Microsoft before leaving to focus on her family and philanthropic work. She lives in Seattle, WA, with her husband, Bill. They have three children.