Giving Back, Giving Hope: The Best Way to Make a Difference

About the Speakers

Interviewer
Nina Easton
Author, Journalist, and Co-Chair, Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit

NINA EASTON is an author, TV commentator, and journalist. She writes a column for Fortune magazine and provides regular commentary on Fox News. Easton co-chairs Fortune’s Most Powerful Women Summit. She is the author of the acclaimed political history Gang of Five: Leaders at the Center of the Conservative Ascendancy, and co-author of John F. Kerry: The Complete Biography By The Boston Globe Reporters Who Know Him Best.

Panelist
Melinda Gates
Co-Chair, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

MELINDA GATES is co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. While involved in setting the overall direction of the organization and shaping its strategies, her focus on keeping women and girls at the heart of the global health and development agenda is a critical driver of her work at the foundation. Gates received her bachelor’s degree from Duke University and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School of Business. After joining Microsoft Corp. in 1987, she distinguished herself as a leader in the development of many multimedia products. In 1996 she retired from her position and since then has directed her energy toward the work of the foundation as well as the Giving Pledge.

Panelist
Nicholas D. Kristof
Columnist, The New York Times

NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF has been a columnist for The New York Times since 2001. Kristof has won two Pulitzer Prizes for his coverage of Tiananmen Square protests and genocide in Darfur, along with many humanitarian awards such as the Anne Frank Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. With his wife, Sheryl WuDunn, he has written several books, most recently A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, a New York Times best-selling book about altruism and how to bring about change in our society using evidence-based strategies.

Panelist
Sheryl WuDunn
Journalist and Co-Founder, Full Sky Capital
Co-Author, with Nicholas D. Kristof, A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity

SHERYL WuDUNN is the first Asian American reporter to win a Pulitzer Prize. She currently works at a small banking boutique helping growth companies, including those operating in emerging markets. She also co-founded FullSky Capital, a social enterprise advisory firm, and advises several growth companies. With her husband, Nicholas D. Kristof, she is a co-author of A Path Appears: Transforming Lives, Creating Opportunity, a New York Times best-selling book about altruism and how to bring about change in our society using evidence-based strategies.