Flatiron Books Announces New Nonfiction Imprint with Melinda French Gates — MOMENT OF LIFT BOOKS
Today Will Schwalbe, EVP Editorial Development at Macmillan, announced a new nonfiction imprint at Flatiron Books, Moment of Lift Books, to be published in partnership with philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls Melinda French Gates. The imprint will launch with three titles, to be published in 2023 and beyond.
“While we’ve made tremendous progress towards gender equality in recent decades, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to disproportionately affect women’s lives and livelihoods,” said French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, founder of Pivotal Ventures, and New York Times bestselling author. “As the world works to advance an equitable recovery, Moment of Lift Books will publish visionaries who are helping ensure women’s voices and perspectives are not left behind. I hope their stories will inspire readers to join in the global fight for equality.”
MOMENT OF LIFT BOOKS will publish original nonfiction written by experts, advocates, and authors working across a broad range of fields to advance equity for women and girls. The imprint takes its name from Melinda French Gates’ New York Times bestselling book The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World.
“Publishing The Moment of Lift with Melinda French Gates in 2019 was an extraordinary experience,” said Schwalbe, who will be editing the list, alongside Assistant Editors Andrea Mosqueda and Samantha Zukergood. “It was a joy to work with Melinda and see her voice take shape on the page as she shared what she has learned from her own experiences and from the remarkable people who shared their lives and wisdom with her. When I asked Melinda about a second book, she replied that she wanted to promote other voices, those of people working on behalf of women and girls around the world.”
The first three authors on the imprint will be:
- Jina Krause-Vilmar, President and CEO of Upwardly Global, who is writing a book about the systems that keep refugee women at the economic margins, and fail to value the lift they bring to communities, told through portraits of refugee women from around the world
- David Moinina Sengeh, Minister of Basic and Senior Secondary Education and Chief Innovation Officer in Sierra Leone, whose book, Radical Inclusion, will use the story of the fight to allow pregnant girls to attend school in Sierra Leone as a way of discussing how to draw people in from the margins
- Joanne N. Smith, Founder/President and CEO of Girls for Gender Equity, who is writing a book about how our culture imperils the lives and health of Black girls/gender-expansive young people, and how we can help them thrive.
About Melinda French Gates
Melinda French Gates is a philanthropist, businesswoman, and global advocate for women and girls.
As the co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Melinda sets the direction and priorities of the world’s largest philanthropy. She is also the founder of Pivotal Ventures, an investment and incubation company working to drive social progress for women and families in the United States, and the author of the bestselling book The Moment of Lift.
Melinda grew up in Dallas, Texas. She received a bachelor’s degree in computer science from Duke University and an MBA from Duke’s Fuqua School. Melinda spent the first decade of her career developing multimedia products at Microsoft before leaving the company to focus on her family and philanthropic work. She has three children, Jenn, Rory, and Phoebe, and lives in Seattle, Washington.
