--- title: Melinda Gates: It's Time for a New Era for Women description: Melinda Gates writes that under the radar, grassroots organizations led by women are quietly changing the world. canonical: https://time.com/5087358/melinda-gates-its-time-for-a-new-era-for-women/ author: TIME article:opinion: true article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-01-04T11:43:28.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-12T08:44:16.949Z article:section: Ideas og:title: Melinda Gates: It's Time for a New Era for Women og:description: Grassroots organizations led by women are changing the world og:url: https://time.com/5087358/melinda-gates-its-time-for-a-new-era-for-women/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18700e53c8aca8d6/6988f7070a4a226e679d146a/from-mad-men-to-marching-women.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2405 og:image:height: 1353 og:image:alt: from-mad-men-to-marching-women og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Melinda Gates: It's Time for a New Era for Women twitter:description: Grassroots organizations led by women are changing the world twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt18700e53c8aca8d6/6988f7070a4a226e679d146a/from-mad-men-to-marching-women.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Melinda Gates: It's Time for a New Era for Women > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=a63f0df7-bef9-468b-a13d-1ab8b426d392&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers [Watch (HLS stream): TIME Person of the Year 2017: The Silence Breakers](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/jbtW5SvJ.m3u8) (5:02)  _Published 2017-12-06. For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing all of us to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year._ by [Melinda French Gates](https://time.com/author/melinda-gates/) ## Melinda French Gates Jan 4, 2018 11:43 AM UTC For giving voice to open secrets, for moving whisper networks onto social networks, for pushing all of us to stop accepting the unacceptable, the Silence Breakers are the 2017 Person of the Year. by [Melinda French Gates](https://time.com/author/melinda-gates/) ## Melinda French Gates Jan 4, 2018 11:43 AM UTC You may never know their names. They work beneath the headlines and far from the spotlight. When they receive formal recognition from bodies like the Nobel Committee, it is the exception, not the norm. But the fact remains: under the radar, grassroots organizations led by women are quietly changing the world. The year 2017 has been a painful reminder that when men hold most of the power it’s all too easy for them to abuse it. But the moment of reckoning prompted by the “Me Too” conversation has also proven that by coming together and speaking in one voice, women can tip the balance. Thanks to these brave women, men are being held accountable for their actions as never before. It’s easy to dismiss the whispers of one woman. It’s much harder to ignore a movement. This is a story that repeats itself all over the world. Women’s movements have successfully campaigned for workers’ rights in Pakistan, widows’ rights in Ethiopia and disability rights in Indonesia. They successfully pushed for an end to Liberia’s brutal civil war in 2003 and won suffrage in the U.S. back in 1920\. In fact, a 2012 study, published in the American Political Science Review, looking at 70 countries over four decades found that women’s movements were more effective at advancing policy change–particularly on violence against women–than most other factors, including a country’s wealth and the number of women lawmakers in a legislative body. Simply put, women get things done. Why? For one, women’s movements tend to be driven by people who share a deep, personal stake in the future of their communities. When I talked to Leymah Gbowee, who helped lead the movement that brought peace to Liberia, she told me that part of their success stemmed from the fact that the women she organized weren’t motivated by power or politics in the abstract–it was personal. “It was about our livelihood,” Leymah says. Not only do women’s movements bring a sense of urgency to the work that they do, their deep knowledge of the customs that shape their communities offers important insight into solutions. When development policies are set from the top down, even though they may be well-intentioned, their impact doesn’t always reach everyone equally. Women’s organizations help drive progress that is more inclusive and sustainable. What makes their track record even more remarkable is that many local women’s organizations are running on a median budget of just $20,000 a year. Considering their enormous potential to make life better for all of us, I think it’s time we give them a raise. So here is my pitch: if we want to change the world, we should invest in the people who already are. In 2018 that will mean challenging ourselves to do a better job of finding and funding grassroots women’s movements. Right now, less than 2% of global funding for gender issues goes to local women’s organizations. In recent years, governments like those in the Netherlands and Canada have invested significant resources in women’s movements, and I hope that others will follow suit. You can be sure that Bill and I will. Over the next three years, our foundation will be investing in women’s funds like Mama Cash and networks like Prospera, which provides financial support to women’s funds and grassroots women’s organizations in over 170 countries, spanning Africa to Asia to Latin America. Imagine what’s possible if the world decides to partner with these organizers as their allies. Imagine how much more we can accomplish if the women who are doing so much to move the world forward finally have our full support behind them. I’m hopeful that in 2018, we’ll do more than imagine that future. We’ll start making it a reality. _Gates is a co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation_ ## Transcript [00:00] [ MUSIC ] We can't all be ****. We can't all be asking [00:02] for it. I am here to give you permission to be angry. [00:05] This reality might not have to be our reality anymore. I [00:09] felt this crushing sense of powerlessness. This is the [00:12] time to take my power back. Here's my story. Uber [00:15] promises. Investigation into sexual harrassment. Fox [00:16] News cutting its ties with Bill O'Reilley. I felt it was my [00:19] duty for the women who are silent to be brave. It's [00:23] okay to stand up for yourself. Taylor Swift appearing in [00:26] court today. Harvey Weinstein, the New York- People [00:28] forget a lot that there's a human behind this. Someone [00:31] who was very hurt and wronged. [00:35] [ MUSIC ] [ CROSSTALK ] I [00:42] always thought maybe things could change for my [00:44] daughter. I never thought things could change for me. [00:46] [ MUSIC ] [00:50] Honestly, I was furious. I have had a man grope me in [00:54] front of multiple collegues and I was tired of wondering [00:57] if it was something I wore, I was tired of wondering if it [01:00] was a vibe I was giving off and when I talked to other [01:03] women they were furious too >> I felt that if I [01:07] can speak out, may be if I just stand up then someone [01:10] else would stand up with me >> There wasn't a place [01:14] For us to report these experiences. But I sure did talk [01:18] about it a lot over the years. The least I could do was [01:22] actually tell my own story and validate theirs for them [01:25] in a way, just as I was hoping someone much bigger [01:29] than me would help validate my story. And I knew [01:33] that other women Would continue to apple for jobs [01:36] there and that made me feel really uncomfortable. I [01:39] was afraid of the retaliation, I know the power [01:43] of patriarchy. I know what men can do when their [01:47] angry. They did everything that they could to prevent [01:51] me from raising my concerns further. They asked me if [01:54] there were other girls, maybe that he has done this too [01:56] and can I go get them. I had to show them that I wasn't [02:00] lying And it's like they took me for a joke. And if they [02:03] couldn't stop us from talking, well, they were gonna [02:06] stop everybody from listening to us. People digging [02:09] into my Instagram and pulling up sexy photos [02:14] as if they kind of discredited me. Well, I've seen you in [02:18] committee. You're really tough. Why didn't you just hit [02:20] him? Why did you let it go on for so long? I was a smart [02:23] young woman that had gone to college, that knew how [02:27] to fight, and I still was manipulated and conned. I felt [02:31] ashamed that I hadn't spoken out sooner, not having [02:35] the strength earlier on to make it stop. The feeling [02:40] of being humiliated as a woman And there's a point [02:43] you think is it my fault? For so long I [02:47] went around harboring this ridiculous belief that [02:50] because I was a non white woman in my 20s, it was [02:54] expected that I would have to be treated this way. We [02:57] don't have to just live like this. Few things could change [03:00] from my daughter I never thought things could change [03:03] from me. I'm here to give you permission to be angry, [03:06] people are afraid specially women where conditioned [03:10] since birth to be polite. To be nice, to [03:14] be kind, to be liked to not make waves. ****. [03:19] We can't all be crazy, we can't all be ****, we can't all [03:22] be asking for it. And I'm telling you that all the people [03:25] who stand up, all the people who speak out you are [03:29] teaching people how to treat and you should not be [03:32] shamed for that. The shame is not ours to hold, the [03:34] shame is on perpetrator. Me Too can be a [03:37] conversation starter or it can be the whole [03:38] conversation. It took away the power [03:43] from the predator. And placed the power on the [03:46] victim. And maybe, just maybe we would be able to [03:50] get a glimpse at the magnitude of this problem. The [03:54] amount of people sharing the stories with me is so [03:56] intense. People that were complete strangers reached [04:00] out to tell very personal stories. It's What they did with [04:05] this and they did a lot and not only in France in Hong [04:10] kong japanese. The most months >> I feel like the [04:13] day that I spoke up and I said you are a sexual [04:17] harasser I changed >> some [04:25] of the. Things in the night. [ FOREIGN ]. It's an honor [04:29] to be the person that hey I spoke up about this. I took [04:32] on the risk. And I was very humbled and I was very [04:35] proud. I'm very glad now that the story has been [04:39] heard. It's a direct response to that arrogance and that [04:42] show of power and [ UNKNOWN ]. A sense, we won't [04:46] be silenced. 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