Melinda Gates
by Radiyah Shakur
Discovering devastating statistics that only fifty
percent of African-American and Hispanic-Americans
graduate from college, Melinda Gates decided to do
something to reverse the trend.
 The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation initiated
its education program to ensure that all students
graduate from high-school and are prepared for college,
work,
and citizenship. It provides scholarships for minority
ethnic groups to complete an undergraduate degree,
as well as grants for high-school improvements. Additionally,
they have a program in the US and other countries
that aims to increase accessibility to information
and decrease
the technological divide, by providing free internet
access in public libraries.
Through its global healthcare division, Melinda and
her husband have donated millions to the prevention
of AIDS, and other diseases that threaten developing
countries. The organization currently provides 90%
of the world budget for the attempted eradication of
polio, and has donated over $100million to support
children suffering from AIDS. In January 2005, Melinda
and her husband made a further contribution of $75million
to the international Vaccine Fund to help fight diseases
such as diphtheria, whooping cough, measles, polio
and yellow fever. In December of 2005, the charity
announced it would give $84.3 million in grants, including
$60 million to Save the Children, to help prevent newborn
illness and death in 18 developing countries. The grants
will increase access to economical interventions, such
as antibiotics and clean childbirth kits, which could
potentially save millions of lives.
Another aspect of the Foundation includes a local
initiative to remove the thousands of homeless that
sleep on the streets every night in their home state
of Washington and neighboring Portland, Oregon area.
They work with public and private groups to stabilize
the situation of vulnerable families; providing funds
for early learning for children, supportive housing
for homeless families, and grants for disadvantaged
communities.
In 2005, Forbes ranked Melinda Gates at the 10th most
powerful woman, and in the same year she was among
TIME’s Persons of the Year list for her charitable
work. Wife of Bill Gates, chairman and founder of Microsoft,
Melinda co-founded the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
in 2000. With an endowment of $28billion, it is the
world’s largest charitable organization, supporting
projects for greater minority education, disease prevention,
access to healthcare, and eradication of homelessness.
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