Melinda French Gates, the former co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, has announced a 250 million dollar pledge to support women’s health globally. This move marks a new chapter in her individual philanthropic giving since departing from the foundation earlier this year. The pledge is part of a two-year, 1 billion dollar commitment to support women and families worldwide.
The grant competition, run by Lever for Change, a non-profit affiliate of the John D and Catherine T MacArthur Foundation, will provide at least 100 non-profit organizations with between 1 million and 5 million dollars in unrestricted funding. The deadline for registration is December 3rd, and the application deadline will stretch to the end of 2025.
The competition prioritizes giving to organizations that will make a big difference with this amount, although there is no restriction on the size of the organizations eligible to apply. The process includes a peer review by other applicants and an outside review by a panel of experts.
Haven Ley, chief strategy officer at Pivotal Ventures, said the grant competition is a “curtain raiser” for a new focus on funding women’s health globally. Pivotal had previously focused on advancing women’s power in the US, but this new initiative expands its scope to include women’s health worldwide.
Melinda French Gates (Image via Getty)
Ley explained that Melinda French Gates is focusing on women’s health because she believes that women must have their health to be powerful. This approach builds on French Gates’ 20 years of experience in global health, which she gained while working with her ex-husband Bill Gates at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
The grant competition is part of a broader effort to support women’s health globally. Pivotal Ventures is considering a broad range of interventions related to women’s health, including mental health, menopause, gender-based violence, and economic empowerment.
Experts in the field have welcomed the initiative, with Sarah Baird, a professor at the Milken Institute School of Public Health at The George Washington University, advising donors to work through existing institutions and to have a broader focus rather than on a single disease. Baird emphasized the importance of addressing mental health, gender-based violence, and economic empowerment for women.
The Melinda French Gates’ 250 million dollar pledge is a significant investment in women’s health globally, and it is expected to have a significant impact on the lives of millions of women around the world.
