Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal Ventures accelerates social progress by removing barriers that hold people back.
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Pivotal Launches $250 Million Global Open Call to Improve Women’s Health
Application status: Closed
In May of this year, our founder, Melinda French Gates, announced she was committing an additional $1 billion—to be spent over the next two years—to advance women’s power globally.
As part of that commitment, we’re launching Action for Women’s Health, a $250 million global open call, managed by Lever for Change, that will fund organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health. These grants will be funded by Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation.
Background
For far too long, women’s health has been underfunded, overlooked, and misunderstood. There’s so much we don’t know about women’s mental and physical health, but the data we do have shows that women are being neglected.
Women spend 25 percent more of their lives in poor health compared to men, yet millions of women around the world can’t access the health care they need. Globally, we lose nearly 800 women every day to preventable pregnancy- or childbirth-related complications. More than 1 billion women and girls suffer from malnutrition, and more women than men are living with depression and anxiety.
These health inequities not only impact women’s daily lives, but they can also hurt women’s futures. Because when women are navigating health issues and can’t get quality care, it can become harder for them to pursue the opportunities they want and participate fully in society. The long-term impact this has—not only on women, but on their families, communities, and economies—cannot be ignored.
It’s clear we need to do a better job of addressing the barriers to women’s health. The good news is that there are so many organizations around the world doing just that. We want to ensure they get the attention and funding they deserve—including through our open call. Ultimately, all of our futures depend on the investments we make in health today.
"We hope that this open call will be a catalyst for future change, leading to more funding, more partnerships, more innovation, and more models to scale."
How to apply
Organizations from around the world are invited to apply. Eligible organizations serve women and have a record of improving women’s mental or physical health. They should center equity in their approach and be poised to scale their work to strengthen the health of more women. Interested organizations are invited to visit womenshealth.leverforchange.org for more information regarding eligibility.
Applicants must register to apply before 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Once registered, applicants must submit an online application before 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Friday, January 10, 2025.
Action for Women’s Health will be managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that connects funders with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change.
Spread the word
Share this announcement with organizations who may be a good fit. We’re looking for innovative organizations from all over the world, and we need your help finding them. Please share widely with your networks.
Talk about Action for Women’s Health on your social media channels, using #ActionForWomensHealth and tagging organizations that may be interested.
About Pivotal
Founded by Melinda French Gates in 2015, Pivotal works to advance social progress and expand women's power and influence in the U.S. and around the world. Through high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy, Pivotal seeks to remove the barriers that hold women—and all people—back. Pivotal is comprised of Pivotal Ventures, LLC and Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization launched in 2022.
