Melinda French Gates has announced that she will donate $1 billion over the next two years to individuals and organizations working to support women and families throughout the world, including reproductive rights in the United States.
The move comes after French Gates declared earlier this month that she would be leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next week. Her former husband, tech tycoon Bill Gates, reportedly gave her $12 billion for her future charity, Pivotal, as a condition of her quitting the foundation she had helped co-found nearly 25 years ago.
French Gates, whose final day with the foundation is June 7, stated in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Tuesday that she is dedicated to fighting for women and girls.
“Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make it clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone,” she wrote.
“While I have long focused on improving contraceptive access overseas, in the post-Dobbs era, I now feel compelled to support reproductive rights here at home,” French Gates added. “For too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women’s rights into a defensive posture while the enemies of progress play offense. I want to help even the match.”
The grants will be provided “to groups working in the United States to protect the rights of women and advance their power and influence. These include the National Women’s Law Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Reproductive Rights.”
French Gates has committed a total of two billion dollars in the last five years. She also promised to grant $20 million each to 12 worthy individuals by the end of 2026, allowing them to donate to charitable causes of their choice. A representative for Pivotal Ventures stated that the National Philanthropic Trust, one of the biggest public organizations that provides donor-advised funds, will oversee such assets.
Out of the $1 billion that French Gates had pledged, so far she committed a total of $690 million, which included a “open call” for applications that the group Lever for Change would be handling this autumn.
