The Moment of Lift
How Empowering Women Changes the World
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4.3 • 46 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER
“In her book, Melinda tells the stories of the inspiring people she’s met through her work all over the world, digs into the data, and powerfully illustrates issues that need our attention—from child marriage to gender inequity in the workplace.” — President Barack Obama
“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
“Melinda Gates has spent many years working with women around the world. This book is an urgent manifesto for an equal society where women are valued and recognized in all spheres of life. Most of all, it is a call for unity, inclusion and connection. We need this message more than ever.” — Malala Yousafzai
"Melinda Gates's book is a lesson in listening. A powerful, poignant, and ultimately humble call to arms." — Tara Westover, author of the New York Times #1 bestseller Educated
A debut from Melinda French Gates, a timely and necessary call to action for women's empowerment.
“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 a 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 finding her voice. 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.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
A culture where women are disenfranchised will never fully thrive. Through her life’s work, Melinda Gates has become convinced of this truth—not by peering down from her mountaintop, but by moving among communities around the world, listening and learning. In her first book, Gates gives the women she’s gotten to know through her philanthropic work and personal life their due. Writing with tenderness and wisdom, Gates shares anecdotes and biographical tidbits both from their lives and her own. And she gives us an even more generous gift: real ideas for how to achieve equity and a passionate explanation for why there’s no time to lose.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Philanthropist, mother of three, and wife of one of the world's richest men, Gates delivers a thoughtful and empathetic treatise that demonstrates how empowering women can change the world and lift families from poverty. Gates's career as a human rights advocate began with family planning issues, that is, a women's right to choose when to get pregnant an unusual stance, she notes, for a longtime practicing Catholic. With each chapter, Gates addresses other thorny issues that hold women down: unreliable maternal and newborn healthcare ("Forty million women a year give birth without assistance"), lack of access to education (both in the U.S. and abroad) and lack of access to contraception, child marriage, sex work, and female genital mutilation. Gates writes movingly of other change makers globally, including investor and philanthropist Warren Buffett (who, with Bill Gates founded the Giving Pledge organization), Pakistani education-activist and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Malala Yousafzai, and Dutch human rights activist Mabel van Oranje, who fights to end child marriage and of the pride she feels in instilling these values in her children, who have volunteered in organizations throughout Africa. Part memoir, part call to action, Gates's compassionate narrative underscores her determination to leave a positive mark on this world. She inspires and emboldens in this eloquently argued work.
Customer Reviews
Easy to read
An interesting narrative of women struggle in many countries.
What an inspiring book!
What an inspiring book! I did not know what to expect when I read this book but it came as a surprising inspirational book. Melinda Gates shares stories of her personal life and those she encountered during her trips around the world doing philanthropy. What you get is how the gender gap affect all facet of society from school, raising children, health, violence, the workplace and even relationships/marriages. You see how a woman from her stature of great wealth shows great empathy and humility to face and try to solve issues around health and poverty around the world. What you realize is how women equity in society impacts these issues around the world. If we don’t have the courage to face them and deal with them, our society as a whole will not progress. I really liked how she showed a parallel in her storytelling with the developing world and low resource countries. Sometimes we are so quick to judge other cultures without seeing our own blind spot in how we treat women in our own communities. This book is also a call to action for men and women to work together to find a common ground to lift society’s gender gaps. Sometimes problems are more complex than they seem and you have to listen to the people at the grassroots level. Melinda does just that with her philanthropy. I really feel inspired that a wealthy women actually cares about people at the margins of society (the outsiders). Really impressive!