One can never overstate the humanitarian and philanthropic investment of Bill and Melinda Gates. The Gates family continues to find innovative solutions to global issues like poverty, healthcare and are among the top contributors to these causes. Melinda Gates is also an inspirational figure and motivational speaker for millions around the world. As the commencement season comes to an end, Melinda Gates curated some of the best advice for the young generation who will take their first step in the working world. Listed are the five speeches curated by Melinda Gates, which in her opinion, made her pause and inspired her to think differently.
Reshma Saujani
Reshma Saujani is the founder of Girls Who Code, who advises young girls in the STEM field to ‘not play it safe.’ Cultural conditioning has taught us to raise boys who are brave and girls to be perfect, Reshma urges to change this mindset. It’s okay to fail, teach your kids this valuable reason. Because only through failure, will they learn to better themselves and achieve their dreams. The humbling effect of failure will be the foundation stone of their success later in life.
Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg - He needs no introduction. In his recent commencement talk delivered at Harvard, Zuckerberg talked about "a renewed sense of purpose, challenging his audience to create a world where everyone has a sense of purpose." Melinda says that finding one’s purpose is indeed a lifelong calling.
No matter what your age, you will continue to strive for a meaningful existence, and when you see your passions aligned with your world’s needs, at that intersection you will find the much-sought purpose of your life.
Patty Stonesifer
Patty Stonesifer -- Melinda’s third curated talk is by her colleague from Microsoft who also the first CEO of the Melinda Gates Foundation.
What sets Patty apart are her efforts to face barriers as a woman, keeping her white person identity aside. Acknowledgment of her privilege helped her run an organization that focuses on ending poverty. This awareness of privilege should motivate you to the next step, which is ‘awareness to action.’
Kumail Nanjiani
Kumail Nanjiani -- This is the year of Kumail Nanjiani, not only has he received much-deserved acclaim for his performance in the tech satire "Silicon Valley" but also has a movie based on his life, The Big Sick, which got favourable ratings among critics and audiences alike.
In his speech, Kumail talks about his experience as an immigrant. Melinda found Kumail’s speech to be a testimony to immigrant experiences as an integral part of American society.
David O. Brown
David O. Brown the former Chief of Police from Dallas also made it onto Melinda Gates’ list of inspirational people. In a speech, David told graduates that protesting isn’t enough. If they don’t like something, they should be working for a solution to repair that fault. One of the practical suggestions that won Melinda Gates heart was truly inspirational advice: "Invite someone home for dinner that doesn’t look like you." Words to live by, indeed.
Finally, Melinda Gates ended her curated pieces by asking people to look around and they will find enough role models for inspiration.
The World is full of brave, inspirational people who are working every day in their own ways to make "the world a little bit better, a little bit more equitable for everybody." If she can find inspiration from them, so can we.
