This summer Melinda Gates urged companies to offer more parental leave to their workers. Now she’s taking her own advice. Late last week, the charitable organization started by Gates and her husband, Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, announced it would offer up to a year of parental leave to employees. The Gates Foundation’s 1,382 employees -- men and women -- can take up to 52 weeks of paid leave during the first year after a child is born or adopted, the company’s HR chief, Steven Rice, said in a statement. “This will enable parents to participate more fully in their children’s lives, while also allowing them the flexibility and financial certainty to meet the needs of their growing families,” said Rice.