Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal Ventures accelerates social progress by removing barriers that hold people back.
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Pivotal has focused on helping women reach their full potential at work for many years. In 2024, in response to new data about barriers that prevent women from advancing in their careers, Melinda French Gates announced $150 million in additional funding to break down those barriers to create transformative opportunities for women. We are backing both new ideas and proven approaches to help everyone succeed in the workplace of the future.
We are thrilled to announce the launch of the Workplace Innovation Now (WIN) Challenge, a $60 million grant competition to discover and scale innovative ideas to help everyone thrive in the rapidly changing workplace.
The WIN Challenge is a new initiative led by Aspen Digital, a program of the Aspen Institute, and is supported by Pivotal.
The WIN Challenge will offer grants across three pillars: Artificial Intelligence, Culture & Practices, and Narrative. Each pillar will have $20 million to support up to eight innovative awardees, who will receive grants of either $2.5 million or $5 million.
We can build better workplaces for all people by addressing the needs of women.
Flexible Workplaces:
One-third of women say that the hours required for higher positions conflict with other priorities.
Caregiving Support:
Women are twice as likely as men to say they would leave their job to provide childcare.
Physical Safety:
One in five women aged 18-24 say sexual harassment is their biggest career barrier.
Inclusive Attitudes:
More than one-quarter of men believe that men are better suited than women to be senior business leaders.
AI Equity:
On average, women are 22% less likely than men to use generative AI.
There are proven approaches that support women to stay in their jobs, thrive at work, and advance in their careers. Through the Aspen Institute’s WIN Challenge, we are providing resources to scale innovative, evidence-based solutions that will help everyone—and especially women—succeed in the rapidly changing workplace.
Public policy is a powerful tool for establishing new workplace standards, protections, and norms that remove barriers for women. Our partners, including the Bipartisan Policy Center and its Commission on the American Workforce, help identify strong policies and make sure people know about and can take full advantage of them.
The number of women graduating with computing degrees has doubled over the last decade, but women continue to be underrepresented in the tech workforce, from the entry level all the way up to the C-suite. As AI accelerates the pace of change, partners like Break Through Tech find opportunities to help women enter tech with the skills they need, build healthier workplaces, and progress in their careers.
