Inspired by a heart of love- they planned to give even before they became super rich. (This was a common goal they shared)
In the fall of 1993, when I was 29, Bill and I made our first visit to Africa. We were recently engaged and had decided to go on a safari to celebrate. I will never forget how small I felt under that huge, stretching sky, surrounded by nature. But what was most memorable about that trip wasn’t the savannah. It was the people we met. Our time in East Africa was my first real encounter with extreme poverty. It was both eye-opening and heart-breaking. I have vivid memories of watching women walking down the street, babies on their backs, and wondering what their lives were like. What did they hope for and worry about? What were the barriers keeping them trapped in poverty?
Before we left, Bill and I took a walk on a beach in Zanzibar and had the conversation that would end up changing our lives.
We thought if millions of children were dying, there would be a massive worldwide effort to save them. But we were wrong. We’d already decided to give away most of the resources from Microsoft, but weren’t sure how. Now we had a sense of purpose — and urgency.

He gave up his career and chair position at Microsoft to help heal the world
Bill gates is no longer the world’s richest man- because he is giving all his wealth away.

Bill and Melinda gates foundation was founded in the year 2000, the primary aims of the foundation are, globally, to enhance healthcare and reduce extreme poverty in the world. The foundation, based in Seattle Washington, is controlled by its three trustees: Bill/ Melinda Gates, and Warren Buffet who donated 10million dollars in shares to the foundation.

They have given away billions of dollars of their own money to the foundation, in 2017 they gave 4.8billion dollars. As of May 16, 2013, Bill Gates had donated US$28 billion to the foundation. He works in Microsoft now as tech advisor only but his lifelong mission is dedicated to the foundation.

They are sympathetic to Africa
Out of 4. 8 billion, spent on charity almost 4 billion was spent in Africa.
They worry about how Africa would cope with climate change. According to Melinda gates, Hundreds of millions of people in developing countries depend on farming for their livelihoods. They had almost nothing to do with causing climate change, but they will suffer the most from it. When extreme weather ruins their harvest, they won’t have food to eat that year. They won’t have income to spend on basic necessities like health care and school fees. For smallholder farmers, climate change is not just an ominous global trend. It is a daily emergency.

It’s not fair that we have so much influence while some people don’t
And it’s not fair that our wealth opens doors that are closed to most people. World leaders tend to take our phone calls and seriously consider what we have to say. Cash-strapped school districts are more likely to divert money and talent toward ideas they think we will fund.

We use whatever influence we have, to help as many people as possible and to advance equity around the world.

Empowering women through contraceptives;
Melinda gates took her listening ears to Africa and heard suffering women speak. Lack of contraception and too many children meant that they were not able to fulfil other dreams and were unable to give the best to the children
Because Catholics think contraception led to promiscuity, it was controversial bring up the issue and women suffered in Africa
Gates used the Ted Talks to announce the new agenda for the gates foundation: to not only make birth control universally available, but also to make it uncontroversial and to restore it as a key component of the global health agenda.
The Foundation took a three-pronged approach: education and public relations work to quell the controversies around birth control; funding millions of doses of birth control and coordinating a supply chain to make it reliably available to women; and research into new forms of contraception.
They went through all this trouble to spend their own money on women they did not know

The giving pledge-
In August 2010, 40 of America’s wealthiest individuals and couples joined together in a commitment to give more than half of their wealth away. The giving pledge was created by Bill, Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett,

The Giving Pledge is a simple concept: an open invitation for billionaires, or those who would be if not for their giving, to publicly dedicate the majority of their wealth to philanthropy. And it is inspired by the example set by millions of people at all income levels who give generously–and often at great personal sacrifice–to make the world better.

They are guided by the belief that every life has equal value;
Hence they travel to third world countries in Africa and Asia to find out why they are suffering and what can be done to make their lives even better.
They are intimate and one on one with families and women they meet. They listen to their problems and find out exactly what is needed.
Their giving process is so high level and well researched. They involve governments to make enabling policies, sponsor scientist to create vaccinations, and drugs.