Melinda French Gates shows her own philanthropic style

“The time is right for me to move forward into the next chapter of my philanthropy,” she tweeted earlier this month of her choice to exit the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. It appears French Gates is eager to tuck into this next chapter, shirking senioritis and instead striking while the iron is hot.

She proved as much when announcing that she’s donating $1 billion to womens’ rights in a guest op-ed for The New York Times published on Tuesday. Her gift will be distributed by her organization, Pivotal, over the course of the next two years to organizations that are focused on international issues that impact women and families, including reproductive rights in the U.S. This fall, French Gates is set to continue her efforts by introducing a $250 million initiative centered around bolstering the mental and physical health of women and girls across the globe.

Paving French Gates’ way as she departs the organization she co-launched decades ago and enters a new phase of giving, is a piece of advice she received long ago. “Set your own agenda, or someone else will set it for you,” she remembered someone once telling her, adding that she’s “carried those words” since then.

It’s likely that she’s referring to her mother, as French Gates’ spoke of her mom sharing similarly worded guidance in a Shondaland essay published in 2019. French Gates noted that her mother, like many women of her generation, was not able to go to college or pursue her own career. Her mother, therefore, loved that her daughter “had big dreams,” French Gates wrote.

“At first, I took her advice literally: I became a goal-setter,” French Gates notes, explaining that she still has the notebook paper she “used to map this plan out.” She planned on graduating top of her class, going to a top-tier school, pursuing computer science, becoming employed at a software company, and also, being a mother. 

Her mother’s voice proved foundational to not just rising up the ladder but in understanding what to do when she suddenly found herself at the very top. “As it turns out, my mom’s advice not only helped me get where I wanted to go, it also helped me stay true to myself as I navigated the unexpected,” she adds.

Worth $11 billion today, French Gates made her riches mostly due to her stock in Bill Gates’ company, Microsoft. But she’s made a name for herself when it comes to philanthropy. Once referred to by Warren Buffet as smarter than Bill Gates when it comes to “seeing the whole picture,” French Gates appears to give credence to this when it comes to her target donations. She’s one of a few hundred extremely wealthy individuals who are looking to give away large portions of her riches to greater causes, having signed the Giving Pledge to donate her fortune during or after her lifetime.

Explaining in 2019 that she never imagined that she’d marry Bill and then start a foundation when she started working at Microsoft, she explains her new reality as a philanthropist was “daunting” as her experience was really in the tech world. 

“I had no experience with this kind of work or with the often-heartbreaking things I was seeing on these trips. So I did exactly what my mother taught me to do: I listened,” she said, and it inspired how she used her immense resources for helping others. 

Continuing to dedicate her efforts to uplifting women, she notes today that “the second the global agenda gets crowded, women and girls fall off.” Explaining that it’s “frustrating and shortsighted,” French Gates speaks of upheaval across the globe and narrows in on the nation’s own shortcomings. She brings up the high maternal mortality rates for especially Black and Native American women, the chipping away of reproductive rights, and the lack of federally instituted paid family leave. 

Donations are not meeting the immense need, as French Gates says only 2% of giving in the U.S. goes to organizations for women’s rights and just half a percentage point is donated to groups that are especially focused on women of color.“When we allow this cause to go so chronically underfunded, we all pay the cost. As shocking as it is to contemplate, my 1-year-old granddaughter may grow up with fewer rights than I had,” she explains.

And her dedication harkens back to a woman within her lineage. “Thanks to my mother, I knew that I had to set my own agenda—and that the women I met around the world deserved to set their own agendas, too. I decided to do everything I could to bring new energy and resources to family planning,” she said in 2019. Now, French Gates is busy like she once was in high school, setting her goals, and furthering a larger agenda.