Melinda French Gates & Regina Dugan join the 2025 Forbes Power Women's Summit in New York and share their best way to champion your beliefs. Melinda French Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls. For over 25 years, Melinda has led efforts to unlock a healthier, more prosperous, more equal future. Today, she heads Pivotal, an organization she formed in 2015 that works to accelerate the pace of progress and advance women’s power and influence in the U.S.