In a lecture to UCLA students Wednesday, Melinda Gates stressed that addressing gender inequality for women requires efforts from all members of society, especially men – an issue she said she is trying to help resolve with her nonprofit foundation.
“There are all kinds of power structures (that) keep women’s power in check,” Gates said.
Gates, a philanthropist who has donated billions to address poverty and health issues with her husband through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke at Korn Convocation Hall in the Anderson School of Management as part of an annual lecture series.
The UCLA Burkle Center for International Relations, the UCLA Center for World Health and UCLA Health and Human Rights Law Project sponsored the lecture as part of the Arnold C. Harberger Distinguished Lecture on Economic Development, which started in 1997 as a way of bringing economic policy leaders’ views to UCLA.
John Sage, director of stakeholder communications of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, said Gates, who turned 50 in August, came to campus to get students’ thoughts on what her foundation should focus on for the next couple of decades.
“(Gates is thinking,) what kinds of big bets can she make?” Sage said. “She is coming in not professing to know answers, but she is undertaking a very exciting journey.”
Gates emphasized not only creating initiatives to improve women’s rights, but also seeing those projects through so they make more lasting change. Although a lot of focus has been made on how the Gates family has been donating its wealth, she said it’s up to everyday individuals to make change.
“We can be a catalyst,” she said. “If we don’t actually put down resources, we will not get change.”
She said she doesn’t see the foundation lasting long after her or Bill Gates’ death, but claimed that the foundation is trying to address currently relevant issues in society, such as gender inequality.
Before the lecture, Gates also participated in a panel with student journalists where she outlined her attempts to make changes through philanthropy.
When she examined projects from other organizations, Gates said she saw a lot of projects that didn’t end up having a lasting effect. She said that projects will last and spread only if residents in the community can trust the leaders of these projects.
“If they trust someone who is giving the information and see the benefits, you know it will stick if they start teaching it to others,” Gates said.
She emphasized that the foundation is not alone in addressing these issues. For instance, the foundation is trying to address on improving access to contraceptives since many governments are more open to them rather than increasing access to abortion, Gates said.
“We don’t think aid is a forever thing,” she said. “We want to make sure there is a structural change.”
Sage said Gates will travel across the world, including places like the Vatican City, to further flesh out her ideas on the foundation’s direction.
Compiled by Jeong Park, Bruin senior staff.