Meghan Markle Spoke About Using Her Voice for Change After Leaving the Royal Family

• Meghan Markle spoke (opens in new tab) at Fortune's Most Powerful Next Gen Summit on Tuesday.
• She discussed the importance of using your voice for good, and reflected on being unable to speak out as a senior member of the royal family (opens in new tab).
• "Your voice matters," she said. "You realize it more when you are not able to exercise it. Regardless of my experience over the last few years compared to anyone’s experience, you can’t take for granted the ability you have as a woman to be able to be heard."

Meghan Markle took part in another video chat with Fortune magazine (opens in new tab) Tuesday, People reports (opens in new tab), as part of the Most Powerful Next Gen Summit. She spoke about the importance of utilizing your public platform and exercising your voice for good—something she'd been unable to do as a senior member of the royal family.

"Your voice matters," Meghan said. "You realize it more when you are not able to exercise it. Regardless of my experience over the last few years compared to anyone’s experience, you can’t take for granted the ability you have as a woman to be able to be heard, and now with the platform that people have on social media to actually have that voice heard for a larger audience, I think it's a huge responsibility."

The Duchess of Sussex also shared that becoming a parent to Archie strengthened her resolve to speak out. "It’s interesting because my gut is that [parenthood] makes you more courageous, it makes you so concerned for the world they're going to inherit," she said. "So the things you’re able to tolerate on your own are not the same that you are going to put your child in a position of vulnerability for. You go every single day—how can I make this world better for Archie? That is a shared belief for my husband and I."