“Teach a man how to treat a woman and her body and you have educated a generation.”- ASN

What I learned from this book is that educating men on family planning and how to love the women in their lives without pressuring them to have children in a multitude is as important as treating themselves and societies well with care. Teach a man how to properly care and treat a woman and her body and you have educated a generation and the future of society in a small but powerful way. ( )

Ms Gates does a perfect job of explaining her point of view without ever being elitist or condescending. I thought she related her POV with respect and intention. I agreed with her points and appreciated her examples and personal stories. There is much to be done by all of us. It made me wonder how these points can be shared without those in power feeling attacked or threatened. That is a key point that I wish was addressed but maybe that's for each of us to ponder. ( )

A great and informative read. ( )

Going into this book I didn't know much about Melinda Gates, or what her foundation did. All overly wealthy people seem to have foundations, so my base assumption would have been that they used it to distribute money to programs and people in need.

Boy was I wrong on that.

This book is a must read for anyone, no matter your sex/gender/lot in life, it's eye opening and empowering. While the title will lead you to believe that the target audience for this book is women, and that reading it will leave women empowered, that couldn't be further from the truth.

Melinda tells the story about her journey in empowering women and how it cascaded into changing the views/lives of men and women around the globe. From America to India, and every village in between, she shares stories of people that she admires, and how one idea led to large scale social change for many.

I adore Melinda's take on how to solve problems, and listen with the intent to understand. Each time she thinks she has a handle on a small problem, she discovers a much bigger picture that needs to be addressed. She is humble, and open to to understanding life from a different perspective. It's inspiring. The way she was able to continually tie so much back to family planning shocked me, but also made complete sense.

“…contraceptives are the greatest life-saving, poverty-ending, women-empowering innovation ever created.”

“When women can decide whether and when to have children, it saves lives, promotes health, expands education, and creates prosperity—no matter what country in the world you’re talking about.”

The story she is telling is laid out in a manner that makes it easy to follow and understand how she is who she is today. From her personal family background, to her struggles with the boys club. It was cool to listen to how she became a more confident and assertive version of herself and spread her own wings of empowerment.

So often people brush off items that aren't their problem, as "since I don't struggle with this, no one is anymore. It's history, a problem that has been solved." But that isn't true. Melinda points out so many areas that we are still working as a society to make better.

I leave this book with a new understanding of her foundation, and how much just listening can blossom a wave of change. I encourage you to read it. The audiobook was great, as she narrates it, and puts the emphasis in all the right places.

“And the starting point for human improvement is empathy. Everything flows from that. Empathy allows for listening, and listening leads to understanding. That’s how we gain a common base of knowledge. When people can’t agree, it’s often because there is no empathy, no sense of shared experience. If you feel what others feel, you’re more likely to see what they see. Then you can understand one another. Then you can move to the honest and respectful exchange of ideas that is the mark of a successful partnership. That’s the source of progress.”

( )

A moving book describing the amazing work being done by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Preventing HIV, supporting women in agriculture and delaying child marriages are just some of the areas the Foundation supports.

The novel delves into real stories of women impacted by the work (before & after), what the foundation is doing to support and ultimately why this work is necessary - to bring in the marginalized and empower women so we can all be contributing members of society.

Melinda is a wonderful storyteller - she is authentic, honest and candid. I highly recommend this book for anyone looking to learn from an inspiring women and interested in social justice work. ( )