Why Women’s Health Is a Workplace Issue with Melinda French Gates and Regina Dugan

Hello Monday with Jessi Hempel

Careers, Business

4.7 • 1.1K Ratings

🗓️ 23 March 2026

⏱️ 28 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Women spend nearly a decade more of their lives in poor health than men. It’s a gap that doesn’t just affect individuals, it holds back entire organizations. This week on Hello Monday, Jessi Hempel sits down with Melinda French Gates, philanthropist and founder of Pivotal, and Regina E. Dugan, President and CEO of Wellcome Leap, to unpack the health disparities impacting women at work, and explore what it will take to close them. Melinda and Regina both operate at the intersection of capital, science, and equity. Together, they are rethinking how we invest in women’s health, examining why progress has been so slow, and identifying what leaders can do to drive meaningful change. Jessi, Melinda, and Regina discuss: Why women spend more years in poor health, and how that affects their careers The ways health inequities limit advancement and economic opportunity Why investing in women’s health isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s a smart move financially The role senior leadership plays in reshaping outcomes for women at work How policy, science, and leadership all play a part in closing the health gap for women Follow Melinda French Gates, Regina E. Dugan, and Jessi Hempel on LinkedIn This conversation was recorded live in Bellevue, Washington. If you’re a premium member, you can watch the extended version, featuring lots more audience questions, here. We will be launching the Hello Monday book club soon. If you’re interested in joining, send us an email at hellomonday@linkedin.com and let us know!

Transcript

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0:00.0	Maybe to deal with hot flashes, we need chill rooms. And that would have an additional benefit
0:04.5	because there's more than a few men that I would have wanted to put in a chill room over course of my career, right?
0:09.9	Yes. So, I mean, say nothing about hot flashes. I feel like chill rooms could be good for any of us at any point.
0:15.1	Exactly. Exactly.
0:19.6	From LinkedIn News, I'm Jesse Hempel, and this is Hello Monday.
0:24.2	Women are about 55% more likely than men to take a career break.
0:29.9	That's according to data from LinkedIn, and no surprise, it takes us a lot longer than the guys to come back to work.
0:36.4	The World Health Organization tells us that women will spend more of their lives in poor health than men.
0:43.3	Now, I don't think these two things are a coincidence.
0:46.3	If you mapped those career breaks onto the timeline of a woman's life,
0:50.3	you'd see they link to major health moments.
0:53.3	Health inequity is workplace inequity.
0:57.0	I'll say it again,
0:58.0	health inequity is workplace inequity.
1:01.0	This week, I am speaking with two women I've known and admired a very long time.
1:06.0	Melinda French Gates and Regina Dugan.
1:09.0	Now, through her company pivotal ventures,
1:11.6	Melinda has dedicated her career to expanding opportunity for women and girls
1:17.6	into challenging the systems that hold us back.
1:20.6	Regina is the CEO of Welcome Leap, where she's backing ambitious scientific breakthroughs
1:25.6	to transform global in women's health.
1:28.3	Regina used to lead DARPA. That's where I first learned about her career, and she worked advancing technology teams at Google and Facebook.
	...

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