Melinda French Gates is an honoree of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year program that recognizes women across the country who have made a significant impact on their communities and society at large. French Gates spoke with us, in part, about how she defines courage. “Knowing you're going to step into something really hard and you do it anyway. Whether that's a difficult meeting or a courageous conversation or using your voice. For me, it's been using my voice on some things that maybe weren't that popular or people weren't going to like me or have a different opinion. It took a lot of courage.” #usatodaywomenoftheyear #womenoftheyear #womenshistorymonth