멜린다 프렌치 게이츠의 새로운 시작
TONYA MOSLEY, HOST:
This is FRESH AIR.
I'm Tonya Mosley, and my guest today is Melinda French Gates.
Five years ago, she stood at a crossroads.
After 27 years of marriage to Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, she decided to walk away, not only from a relationship that defined much of her adult life, but eventually the philanthropic empire they built together.
Last spring, Melinda left the Gates Foundation, the organization that had become the heartbeat of her professional identity.
In her new book, "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, And Moving Forward," Gates reflects on these seismic shifts, not just the end of her marriage or the reinvention of her public life, but the deeply personal evolution that came with those transitions.
She takes us inside the moments that have defined her - becoming a mother, grieving the loss of one of her best friends, and grappling with the hard-earned lessons of philanthropy.
Melinda French Gates is the co-founder and former co-chair of the Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable organization.
She's also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, which focuses on social progress for women and families in the United States.
Melinda French Gates, welcome to FRESH AIR.
MELINDA FRENCH GATES:
Thanks for having me, Tonya.
MOSLEY:
Melinda, I want to talk for a moment about your philanthropic work because we all have been hearing about the ripple effects of the Trump administration's funding cuts.
And I know that philanthropy is such a tightly interwoven web that often works in collaboration with the government to fund initiatives.
How are these cuts affecting the work that you do?
FRENCH GATES:
Well, the cuts of things like USAID are devastating for families all over the world.
I mean, let's be honest - women will not have access to maternal health services because of these cuts.
Everything, you know, that philanthropy does is we try and find catalytic wedges and ways to work.
We take risks where the government can't with taxpayer money and shouldn't, but then once we know something works, it's really up to the government to scale it up.
So to see that women won't have health services or there'll be more cases of malaria next year, it's just - it's almost unimaginable to me, especially given that, you know, both Republican and Democratic administrations relied on USAID and not only saw the good work that it was doing but started to scale it up even more.
It's why we have less death and disease in the world.
So it just makes no sense to me.
MOSLEY:
How are you thinking about where to focus your energy?
I know that over the last few years with Pivotal Ventures, you've been focusing on women's health and reproductive rights.
And so this has to have an impact on the ways that you all can make an impact.
FRENCH GATES:
To know right now in the United States that my two beautiful little granddaughters will have fewer rights than I had growing up, just doesn't make any sense to me.
And so, in some ways, it makes my work all the more pressing.
And I'm still doing what I have been doing.
I'm putting more money, though, now into women's health.
I made a billion-dollar commitment when I came out of the foundation that through Pivotal Ventures, we would try and work on some of these places where organizations, for instance, in the United States, had been playing defense in terms of women's issues to help put them on the offense.
But also we announced 250 million of that is for women's health fund, and we're taking proposals from all over the world to figure out what are ways that we can advance women's health across the world.
MOSLEY:
Is it a chaotic line of work at this moment?
Because you're dealing with new information that's coming out, laws that are passed, changes, cuts.
All of these things put so much of your work in flux.
FRENCH GATES:
You know, where it's the most chaotic and devastating is when you go out on the ground.
So I was down in Louisiana about a month ago, and to hear that doctors don't even know which services they can provide women, you know, what can they counsel on?
What can they not counsel on?
Women who are very concerned about their health, saying, I can't have another baby, but, you know, where am I going to get birth control?
Or, wow, I show up at the system and the bias in the system - they're not even listening to what I know about my own body.
So to think that we are doing things from the highest level right now in the United States that are making things worse on the ground for moms and babies, it just - it's almost incomprehensible.
I mean, to have a child - two children now - die of measles, measles in the United States - wow - when that is completely preventable, do you know how devastating that is for those families?
That's where the chaos is, and that's where the saddest part of what's going on is happening.
MOSLEY:
One of the things that is very clear in this book is it's a reminder that no amount of wealth can protect us from the human experiences of grief and divorce.
And I'm sure you often encounter people who treat you like your money shields you from life's hardships.
I've just always wondered, how do you navigate that tension of what to share and what to withhold, knowing that someone like you is viewed that way?
FRENCH GATES:
Well, I think we all want authentic, real connections with other human beings, right?
And we can't - you know, we can't know more than - I don't know, they say maybe a hundred people, hundred - some people say a hundred and fifty.
But, you know, I know who my closest family and friends are.
I treasure them.
They treasure me.
I know who's kind of in my next ring and my ring beyond that.
But I do want audiences to see that you know, great wealth does not shield you.
I have an absurd amount of wealth, and I'm doing my very best to give it away in a way that I think can benefit society from my lens on society.
But what I want people to know is that I'm a human being, and they may put a label on me, but that label doesn't define who I am.
I know who I am.
And so by being my authentic self, I hope they can see, OK, she's gone through struggles and hardship, too, but come out the other side, and so maybe I can, as well.
MOSLEY:
You grew up in a middle-class family in Dallas, Texas.
Your dad, what a role model for you.
He was an aerospace engineer.
Your mom stayed home to care for you and your siblings.
Your father influenced your career aspirations.
You write about how this wasn't just conceptual.
You all would get to see and hear conversations about his work through visitors who would come to your house.
What memory sticks out to you the most?
FRENCH GATES:
Well, one of - my dad would often talk at the dinner table about how his teams - he was working on the Apollo mission - and how his teams were better when they had females on them, female mathematicians.
And so as the teams would change and be reconstructed, he was always trying to get women onto his team.
And so for me, this played out because we would go in the summer to the company picnics.
And my dad would make sure my sister and I met those women.
So we met not only the men on his teams, but we met the women.
And I could see, literally see women in these roles, smart women that I admired and who I could talk to.
And I would say, oh, OK, I guess my dad's right here.
And so that played out for me as an influence of, oh, I could be like her if I wanted to be.
And that was - having that role model, having both a father who believed in me and parents who were both determined that their children would all go to college and that they would take on the debt, which was, you know, a huge gift to us as siblings.
But then to have these role models specifically in front of my eyes, had a huge influence on me.
MOSLEY:
Your father - he showed you all role models, of course, but he also - he invested in your - you and your sister's dreams in a way that - I mean, it is somewhat novel for that timeframe in the '60s and '70s.
What do you think was different about your dad and his outlook on what women do and what they could do?
FRENCH GATES:
I think, again, because he had lived experience, he could see that, OK, this engineering project - like, putting a man on the moon - that is audacious, and he was a piece of it, right?
But to see that his teams were better because these women were on it - he had a lived experience to say, this could be great for my daughters and society.
And my dad wasn't afraid to speak up.
He encouraged us to speak up, even when he (ph) didn't necessarily agree with him.
But he also believed in us.
And I think that - I cannot stress enough the importance a father's imprint makes on a daughter.
Like, my dad, literally, I - we were walking as a family.
We would often go out to lunch on a Sunday and then take a walk, and we were walking by this new IBM building at this sort of beautiful office park.
And my dad, as we walked by, literally said, Melinda, you should put your resume up on that door.
You should tape it up on the door.
And I said, Dad, what are you talking about?
He said; They would be silly not to hire you.
And he could see in me and my sister what I couldn't see myself, which was, OK, you're in college, you're getting a computer science degree.
There aren't very many of you, and so they should want to hire you.
And, guess what? He was right.
I eventually got hired by IBM.
MOSLEY:
There are also these really small things that he did.
You tell one story in particular in the book that really on the face of it - it's a very - like, a small story - meaning, like, it's a very day-to-day interaction you might have, a situation that might come up - that had an imprint on you, though, and it involved nail polish in the Catholic school that you went to.
Can you tell that story?
FRENCH GATES:
(Laughter) Sure.
We were quite involved as a family in our local parish, church, and school, and they were attached.
And so the head of the school was a female, a principal, a nun.
The head of the church was a male.
The priests were all males.
And somewhat frequently, the priests would come over and make sure that all the rules were being followed.
So, you know, our - our skirts as girls had to be, you know, so far from the floor when you knelt down.
OK, fine.
But anyway, they had this rule that you couldn't have nail polish on, and I wasn't trying to be rebellious.
I don't remember.
But I put some sort of light, clear, pink nail polish on at some point during the weekend, trying to look presentable.
And so there we are.
I think it's on a Monday or Tuesday, and they come around, and all the girls have to put - not the boys - all the girls have to put their hands on the table.
And the priests come around and see who has nail polish on.
And I didn't think I was going to be in trouble 'cause here I am...
MOSLEY:
They couldn't see it. Yeah.
FRENCH GATES:
... with clear, pink nail polish on.
And sure enough, I get tapped on the shoulder and sent to the principal's office.
Well, principal, secretary, whatever, calls home to my mom, and the rule was that my mom - and the other moms - had to come to school with nail polish remover.
Well, my mom had two young sons at home.
So she had to get in the car, get them in the car, drive to the school, you know.
We took care of it.
I go home that afternoon or that evening.
And when my father comes home and he hears the story, he is incensed.
Not at me - he's like, OK, what's the big deal about nail polish, clear nail polish? - but that the priests would have the audacity to pull the girls out of class for a rule infraction but have our - take our mom's time away to come to the school to take care of it.
It's a different thing to say, go home and take the nail polish home at the end of the day - off, and come back the next day.
And so my dad had my back and my mom's back and said just because these men - he's saying - have the power doesn't mean it's right.
MOSLEY:
Let's take a short break.
If you're just joining us, my guest is Melinda French Gates.
We're discussing her new book, "The Next Day: Transitions, Change, and Moving Forward."
We'll continue our conversation after a short break.
This is FRESH AIR.
(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)
이하 생략...
Translation
TONYA MOSLEY, 진행자:
여기는 FRESH AIR입니다.
저는 토냐 모슬리이고, 오늘의 게스트는 멜린다 프렌치 게이츠입니다.
5년 전, 그녀는 인생의 갈림길에 서 있었습니다.
마이크로소프트 공동 창업자인 빌 게이츠와의 27년간의 결혼 생활을 끝내며, 단지 성인기의 대부분을 정의해온 관계에서 벗어나는 것뿐만 아니라, 함께 일궈낸 자선 제국에서도 점차 거리를 두기로 결심했죠.
지난 봄, 멜린다는 자신의 직업적 정체성의 중심이었던 게이츠 재단을 떠났습니다.
그리고 그녀의 신간 *『The Next Day: Transitions, Change, And Moving Forward』*에서 이러한 극적인 전환을 되짚습니다. 이혼이나 공적인 삶의 재정립뿐 아니라, 그 과정을 통해 얻은 개인적인 성장과 변화에 대한 고백이 담겨 있습니다.
그녀는 책에서 엄마가 된 순간, 가장 친한 친구를 잃은 슬픔, 자선 활동을 하며 깨달은 어려운 교훈까지 그녀를 형성한 중요한 장면들을 공유합니다.
멜린다 프렌치 게이츠는 세계 최대 민간 자선 단체인 게이츠 재단의 공동 창립자이자 전 공동 의장입니다.
또한 미국 내 여성과 가족의 사회적 진보를 위한 이니셔티브 Pivotal Ventures의 설립자이기도 합니다.
TONYA MOSLEY:
멜린다 프렌치 게이츠, FRESH AIR에 오신 걸 환영합니다.
MELINDA FRENCH GATES:
초대해주셔서 감사합니다, 토냐.
MOSLEY:
멜린다, 자선 활동에 대해 잠시 이야기해보고 싶어요. 최근 트럼프 행정부의 예산 삭감이 미친 파급력에 대해 많이 듣고 있잖아요.
자선은 정부와 함께 협력해서 프로젝트를 진행하는 경우가 많다 보니, 이런 삭감이 실제로 당신의 활동에 어떤 영향을 주고 있나요?
FRENCH GATES:
USAID(미국국제개발처) 같은 기구의 예산 삭감은 전 세계 가족들에게 정말 큰 타격이에요.
정말 솔직하게 말해서, 여성들이 산모 건강 서비스를 받을 수 없게 되는 거죠.
자선이 할 수 있는 건, 정부가 세금으로 감당할 수 없는 위험을 감수해 실험적으로 접근하고, 효과가 입증되면 정부가 확대하는 방식입니다.
그런데 지금은 여성들이 건강 서비스를 받지 못하거나, 말라리아가 다시 확산될 수 있다는 현실이 정말 믿기 어렵습니다.
예전에는 공화당이든 민주당이든 모두 USAID의 성과를 인정했고, 그 사업을 확장하기도 했거든요.
그 덕분에 우리가 전 세계적으로 질병과 사망을 줄일 수 있었던 건데요.
지금 이 흐름은 정말 납득할 수 없어요.
MOSLEY:
그렇다면, 요즘은 에너지를 어디에 집중하고 계신가요?
Pivotal Ventures를 통해 여성 건강과 재생산 권리를 중심으로 활동하고 계신 걸로 알고 있어요.
FRENCH GATES:
지금 미국에서 제 두 손녀가 제가 자라던 시절보다 적은 권리를 가질 수 있다는 사실은 말도 안 된다고 생각해요.
그래서 제 일은 오히려 더 절박해졌죠.
재단을 떠난 후 저는 여성 건강 분야에 더욱 많은 자금을 투자하고 있어요.
제가 약속했던 10억 달러 중 2억 5천만 달러는 여성 건강 기금으로 배정했고, 세계 각국으로부터 제안을 받고 있어요.
어떻게 하면 여성 건강을 글로벌하게 향상시킬 수 있을지 모색 중입니다.
MOSLEY:
현재 이 일은 정말 혼란스럽고 변화무쌍한 환경이네요.
새로운 법, 변화, 예산 삭감 등으로 인해 계획들이 계속 흔들릴 수밖에 없을 것 같아요.
FRENCH GATES:
정말 그래요. 특히 현장에서 직접 느낄 때 가장 혼란스럽고 가슴 아파요.
한 달 전쯤 루이지애나에 다녀왔는데, 의사들조차도 어떤 서비스를 제공할 수 있는지, 상담은 어디까지 가능한지 몰라 혼란스러워하더라고요.
“아이를 더 낳을 수 없어요. 그런데 피임은 어디서 받을 수 있죠?” 이런 고민을 가진 여성들이 많아요.
시스템 자체가 여성의 목소리를 듣지 않고 있어요.
홍역으로 인해 아이들이 사망하는 일이 미국에서 다시 벌어지고 있어요. 완전히 예방 가능한 병인데 말이죠.
이건 단순한 혼란이 아니라 비극이에요.
MOSLEY:
이 책을 통해 아주 분명하게 전달되는 메시지가 있어요.
아무리 큰 부를 가졌다 해도, 슬픔이나 이혼 같은 인간적인 경험에서 자유로울 수는 없다는 거죠.
사람들이 당신의 부를 마치 모든 고통으로부터 보호해주는 방패처럼 보기도 하는데, 그런 오해를 받을 때 어떻게 균형을 맞추시나요?
FRENCH GATES:
우리는 모두 진정한 인간적인 연결을 원하잖아요.
저도 제 가족, 친구들, 가까운 사람들과의 관계를 소중히 여기고 있어요.
그리고 저는 사람들에게 보여주고 싶어요.
엄청난 부가 있다고 해서 고통을 피할 수 있는 건 아니라는 걸요.
저는 제가 가진 부를 사회에 유익하게 쓰려고 노력 중이고, 사람들에게 ‘저도 한 사람의 인간’이라는 걸 느끼게 하고 싶어요.
진정성 있게 다가가다 보면, “아, 그녀도 고통을 겪었고, 극복했구나. 나도 할 수 있겠다”는 희망을 주고 싶어요.
MOSLEY:
당신은 텍사스 주 댈러스에서 중산층 가정에서 자라셨죠.
아버지는 항공우주 엔지니어셨고, 어머니는 집에서 자녀들을 돌보셨어요.
어릴 적 아버지로부터 어떤 영향을 가장 크게 받으셨나요?
FRENCH GATES:
아버지는 아폴로 미션에서 일하셨는데, 여성 수학자들이 팀에 있을 때 팀이 더 뛰어나다고 자주 말씀하셨어요.
그래서 여름마다 사내 피크닉이 열리면, 저와 언니를 그 여성들과 직접 만나게 해주셨죠.
그 여성들이 얼마나 똑똑하고 멋진지를 눈으로 직접 보고 느낄 수 있었어요.
“아, 나도 저런 사람이 될 수 있겠구나”라는 확신을 가지게 되었죠.
게다가 아버지는 저희에게 항상 대학에 갈 수 있도록 해주시겠다고 약속하셨어요.
그런 환경과 롤모델들이 제 인생에 큰 영향을 줬어요.
MOSLEY:
책에서 매니큐어 사건 이야기를 하셨죠.
사소한 일이지만, 아버지의 반응이 굉장히 인상 깊었어요. 간단히 이야기해 주시겠어요?
FRENCH GATES:
(웃음) 네. 당시 저는 가톨릭 학교에 다녔는데, 여자아이들은 매니큐어를 금지당했어요.
주말에 연한 분홍색 매니큐어를 바른 채 월요일에 학교에 갔는데, 신부들이 손을 검사하더라고요.
결국 저는 교무실로 끌려갔고, 어머니가 아세톤을 들고 학교에 오셔야 했어요.
그날 저녁, 아버지가 그 얘기를 듣고는 무척 화가 나셨어요.
“이건 규칙이 아니라 권력의 남용이다. 어머니 시간을 빼앗으면서까지 이럴 필요는 없다.”
그 일로 아버지가 저와 어머니의 편이 되어주셨죠.
이하 생략...
내용 요약
27년간의 결혼 생활과 세계 최대 민간 자선 단체인 게이츠 재단의 공동 운영을 마무리한 멜린다 프렌치 게이츠(Melinda French Gates)는 인생의 커다란 전환점을 맞이했습니다. 그녀는 이제 자신의 이름으로, 자신의 방식으로 여성과 가족을 위한 활동에 집중하고 있습니다.
그녀의 신간, 『The Next Day: Transitions, Change, And Moving Forward』는 이 변화의 여정을 담은 진솔한 회고록입니다. 단순히 이혼과 조직에서의 독립을 넘어서, 어머니로서, 여성으로서, 한 인간으로서의 성장과 깨달음이 고스란히 담겨 있죠.
여성 건강과 권리를 위한 싸움
멜린다는 미국 내 여성 건강권과 재생산권이 심각하게 위협받고 있다는 점을 강조합니다. 특히 트럼프 행정부 시절 진행된 예산 삭감은 전 세계 여성의 삶에 직접적인 영향을 미쳤습니다. USAID와 같은 국제적 보건 지원 프로그램의 축소는 말라리아, 홍역 등 예방 가능한 질병의 확산을 야기하고 있으며, 이는 곧 수많은 여성과 아동의 생명과 직결되는 문제입니다.
멜린다는 이에 대한 대응으로 Pivotal Ventures를 통해 여성 건강을 위한 10억 달러 규모의 투자 계획을 발표했습니다. 이 중 2억 5천만 달러는 글로벌 여성 건강 프로젝트에 직접 투입됩니다. 단순한 방어가 아닌, 이제는 ‘공격적’ 접근이 필요하다는 메시지를 던지고 있죠.
부와 상관없는 인간적인 고통, 그리고 성장
“아무리 많은 부를 가져도 인간적인 고통은 피할 수 없다”는 그녀의 말은 많은 사람들의 공감을 얻었습니다. 이혼, 친구의 죽음, 편견에 맞서 싸우는 여성들, 그리고 사회적 비판을 감수하면서도 진정한 자신으로 살아가려는 그녀의 모습은 매우 현실적이면서도 감동적입니다.
아버지의 영향, 그리고 여성 롤모델의 중요성
멜린다는 엔지니어였던 아버지로부터 깊은 영향을 받았습니다. NASA 아폴로 프로젝트에 참여했던 그의 팀은 여성 수학자들과 함께 일하며 더 나은 성과를 냈고, 그 경험은 딸들에게 자연스레 “여성도 할 수 있다”는 메시지로 전달되었습니다.
그리고 어릴 적 카톨릭 학교에서 있었던 매우 일상적인 경험(매니큐어 사건)을 통해, 멜린다는 성역할에 대한 부당한 규칙과 아버지의 정의감에 대해 배웠습니다.
앞으로의 그녀
이제 멜린다 프렌치 게이츠는 ‘게이츠 재단의 공동창립자’라는 타이틀을 내려놓고, 자신의 목소리와 철학으로 세상에 긍정적인 영향을 주는 삶을 살고 있습니다.
『The Next Day』는 단순한 회고록이 아니라, 우리 모두에게 “변화를 두려워하지 말고, 나답게 살아갈 용기”를 주는 책입니다.