Melinda French Gates Announces $1B Commitment to Advance Women's Power Globally
Melinda French Gates announced that as the first step in the next chapter of her philanthropy, she’s committing an additional $1 billion through 2026 to advance women’s power and influence globally.
With the ongoing rollback of women’s rights and headwinds to social progress in the U.S. and around the world, French Gates believes that now is the time to provide capital to people and organizations working to support women and families and remove the barriers that hold them back.
"Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone. We know that economies with women's full participation have more room to grow. That women's political participation is associated with decreased corruption. That peace agreements are more durable when women are involved in writing them. That reducing the time women spend in poor health could add as much as $1 trillion to the global economy by 2040." - Melinda French Gates, Philanthropist and Founder, Pivotal.
Grants from this new $1 billion commitment will be made through Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation formed by French Gates in 2022 to support philanthropic grantmaking. The grants will focus on the following areas:
Dismantling Barriers for Women in the Workplace
$150 million will go toward organizations working to dismantle barriers faced by women in the workplace in the United States. The funds will be directed to three focus areas: 1) Identifying and scaling innovations to build healthy workplaces for women and all workers; 2) Informing and raising awareness about public policy changes to modernize the workplace; and 3) Increasing women’s representation and advancement in AI and tech.
Supercharging the Work of Organizations
$235 million will help supercharge the work of organizations fighting to advance women’s power and protect women’s rights in the United States. These grants will be structured to provide flexible funding to be spent as organizations see fit.
Partnering with a Diverse Group of Global Leaders
$240 million will support partnerships with a diverse group of 12 global leaders. Each leader will be provided with a $20 million fund to distribute to charitable organizations they consider to be doing urgent, impactful, and innovative work to improve women’s health and wellbeing globally.
Improving Women's Health Globally
$250 million will be awarded through Action for Women's Health, a global open call Pivotal is running with Lever for Change to identify organizations working to improve women's mental and physical health. Grantees will be announced by the end of 2025.
Funding the Ecosystem
$125 million will be channeled into collaborative funds, which harness the resources and expertise of multiple donors to amplify impact. These grants will support four funds focused on identifying and scaling solutions to a range of issues that impact women’s power and influence in the U.S. and globally. These funds include Blue Meridian Partners, Forward Global, the Women’s Power Fund sponsored by The National Philanthropic Trust, and a new women’s health fund to be launched in the coming months.
To read more about Melinda French Gates’ $1 billion commitment to expand women’s power globally, read her op-ed in The New York Times here: Melinda French Gates: The Enemies of Progress Play Offense. I Want to Help Even the Match.
About Pivotal
Founded by Melinda French Gates in 2015, Pivotal is a group of organizations that work to accelerate the pace of 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 includes Pivotal Ventures, LLC and Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation launched in 2022.
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