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| Melinda Gates and Oprah Winfrey |
While there are many successful women leaders who are giving back, these brilliant minds and philanthropic hearts are truly setting examples for future women in leadership roles.
Melinda Gates
Melinda Gates strongly believes in the power of philanthropy - so much so that her and her husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, are starting to give away their fortune. Together, Bill and Melinda Gates signed the Giving Pledge, which encourages wealthy people to give a majority of their money to charitable causes.
In 2000, the two also founded the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which aims to provide education opportunities and reduce hunger and poverty around the world. In the past, Melinda has also supported the ONE campaign, Save the Children, the United Nations Foundation, and World Vision.
Oprah Winfrey
Also known as the queen of media, Oprah Winfrey has accepted numerous acting, hosting, and producing roles over the years. It’s also no secret that Oprah gives back in several ways. She has contributed to the Time’s Up campaign, founded The Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy for Girls, and donated to a wide range of programs - including Feeding America, the GEANCO foundation, Save the Children, and the US Dream Academy. She also runs her private charity, The Oprah Winfrey Foundation, which gives grants to various nonprofit organizations.
Sheryl Sandberg
Sandberg acts as Facebook’s chief operating officer. As of 2018, she has given
more than $280 million to charity. Sandberg has given to food banks and programs that help women and young girls. One of her more recent donations provided college financial aid and mentoring to KIPP charter school graduates. In addition to her donations, Sandberg founded LeanIn, an organization that brings women together and inspires them to achieve their goals.
LeanIn.org also leads campaigns that promote equal pay and combat gender bias.
Option B, another Sandberg project, aims to help those facing adversity.
Susan Wojcicki
On top of being a busy mom and the CEO of YouTube, Wojcicki still finds time to take a stand for what she believes in. She was an advocate for paid maternity leave at Google, YouTube’s parent company, and
she was the first woman to take leave there. Wojcicki is also a board member of Room to Read, a nonprofit organization that focuses on global gender equality and literacy. She also gives through the Troper Wojcicki Foundation, which funds grants for education and the arts.
Tory Burch
Burch’s handbags, shoes, and other accessories launched in 2004, and they drastically changed the fashion world. In 2009, she started the Tory Burch Foundation, which aims to help women grow their business through education, mentorship, and networking. Thanks to the foundation’s collaboration with Bank of America, female entrepreneurs can have the capital they need to operate their businesses. Additionally, the Tory Burch Foundation’s #EmbraceAmbition campaign gives women a place to own their drive and share their goals.
