Melinda Gates to donate $1 bn over next 2 years for women’s rights
WASHINGTON: Melinda French Gates says she will be donating $ 1 billion over the next two years to individuals and organisations working on behalf of women and families globally, including on reproductive rights in the US.
It’s the second billion-dollar commitment French Gates has personally made in the past five years. In 2019, she pledged over ten years to expand women’s power and influence.
Earlier this month, French Gates announced she would step down from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and vowed to focus on women and families. As a part of leaving the Gates Foundation, French Gates received $ 12 billion from Bill Gates for her philanthropy going forward.
French Gates, one of the biggest philanthropic supporters of gender equity in the US, said on Tuesday in a guest essay for The New York Times that she’s been frustrated over the years by people who say it’s not the right time to talk about gender equality.
“Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone,” she wrote. French Gates said over the last few weeks she’s started directing what will total $ 200 million in new grants through her organisation, Pivotal Ventures, to groups working in the US to protect women’s rights and advance their power and influence. The grants are for general operating support, meaning they are not earmarked for specific projects. The groups include the National Women’s Law Centre, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Centre for Reproductive Rights.
Teresa Younger, the president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women has long called on donors to give unrestricted, multi-year funding to organizations. She praised French Gates’ new commitment as a part of a larger trend of major women donors giving generously to nonprofits.
“If philanthropy took lessons from the way that women are moving money, we would see more money in the field having greater impact,” Younger said.