88 The Australian Women’s Weekly|MAY 2019
ALAMY. GATES ARCHIVE.Exclusive interview
culturethatif youknewwhatyou
weretalkingaboutyou’dhavethe
floor,”shesays.
Datingthebosswas“interesting”,
saysMelinda.“Wecertainlydidn’ttry
tohideit.Ina smallcompanyyou’re
notgoingtokeepsomethinglikethat
secret.”Butassherosetomanager
level,Melindamadeit cleartoher
teamsthatdespiteherrelationship
withtheCEO,shealwaysputthem
firstandhadtheirbacks.“They
neededtoknowI wasn’tleaking
informationtotheboss,”shesays.
Aswetalk,I quicklyrealise
conceptsoffairness,integrityand
equalityarevitallyimportantto
Melinda,deeplyembeddedin her
conscience.Billfamouslydropped
outofHarvardUniversityaftertwo
yearstostartupMicrosoftandwas
a millionairebytheageof26.
Individuallyandtogetherthesetwo
brightsparksareincrediblydriven,
butit’swhattheyhavechosentodo
withtherewardsfortheirbrilliance
andhardgraftthatpicksthemout
fromyouraveragebillionaires.
Familyvalues
Tostartwith,MelindaandBill’sgoals
wereverytraditional– marriagethen
babies,definitelyin thatorder.“Idon’t
remembera momentthatI knewI
wantedtomarryBillbutin thefirst
twoyearsI certainlyknewI loved
him.I rememberthetimewhenwe
bothtoldoneanotherthat,”says
Melinda.“Thenwedidhavea time
whenwewerebothdreamingabout
whatwouldit beliketobemarried
andourdreamsabouthaving
children.Evenif wemarried
somebodyelse,howmanykids
didwewanttohave.
“Webothwantedtohavea family.
Weabsolutelydid,”Melindastresses
earnestly.“IknewI lovedhimbut
therewasnowayI wouldhave
marriedhimif hedidn’twanttohave
kids.I don’tbelieveyoujustfallin
lovewithonepersonin life.Youcan
meetotherpeopleif you’relucky
enoughthataregoodmatches.”
There’sa sciencetoMelinda’s
pragmatismthathasservedherwell.
It’s not that she’s unromantic, but she
is unsentimentalandimpressively
focused.Whiletherestofusflail
throughlife,Melindahasalways
seeminglyhada plan.“Luckilywe
bothwantedtohavekids.Andwe
werebothlucky.Webothcamefrom
familieswithreallygoodvalues.”
Thiswasthesecondpartofthe
puzzleforMelindaandthis,I think,
is wheretheheartcomesin forthis
couple.Theirmeetingofmindsis not
abouta fieryphysicality– although
thatmaywellbetheretoo– it goes
muchdeeper,it’sabouthowtogether
theycandotherightthing.Theyshare
anat timesexhaustingoptimismand,
saysMelinda,“equalvalues;weboth
careaboutpeople”.
I don’timagine,backthen,they
werethinkingofsavingtheworldbut
theseedswerecertainlysown.How
thislovematchdevelopedintoa
foundationtoempowerwomenand
challengepovertyis thesubjectof
Melinda’spowerfulnewbook– part
memoir,partcallforaction–The
MomentofLift. Melinda’s“moments
oflift”– a cutereferencetobeingwith
herfatherwhentheywatchedhis
rocketslaunchintothestratosphere- arethosethrillingtimeswhen
everything you have been working
towardscomestogetherandmoves
intoaction,andit is those moments
shemostsavours.Lightanddark
Melindawasraisedin thebosomof
Catholicism,andis livingproofthat
religionandsciencetrulycangohand
in hand.“Itwasthecentreofourlives.
MysiblingsandI wenttoCatholic
schoolandwhenI wasin elementary
schoolwewenttochurchevery
weekdayfora while.Wewenttomass
togetherasa family,everySunday,and
thenwe’dcomehomeandhavea big
brunch,”sheremembers.
“Iwouldsaymypassionforfaith
andaction,mybeliefin socialjustice
andlookingoutforeverybody,the
rootsofthatcompletelycomefrom
thelessonsoftheCatholicChurch,
andparticularlyI thinkI wasinspired
bya setofnunsat myschool.They
reallytalkedtousaboutquestioning
ourfaith,understandingwhereit
camefrom,andthenteachinguswith
beliefthatyougooutandvolunteerin
thecommunity,andif youchangeone
lifethatcanhavea rippleeffect.”
InthebookMelinda,54,talksfor
thefirsttimein publicabouta dark
time in her life, before she met Bill,