Catherine Rusoff
Philanthropist Melinda French Gates is donating $1 billion over the next two years to support women and families, including reproductive rights, as she steps away in Bill and Melinda Gates Foundationwhich she helped found almost 25 years ago.
On a New York Times op-ed published Tuesday, French Gates, whose last day at the foundation is June 7, said she is committed to advocating for women and girls.
“While I have long focused on improving access to contraceptives abroad, in the post-Dobbs era I now feel compelled to support reproductive rights here at home,” French Gates said in her op-ed. “For too long, a lack of money has forced organizations fighting for women’s rights into a defensive stance, while the enemies of progress play offense. I want to help level the playing field.”
French Gates said that as part of the funding she is directing new donations through her organization, Fundamental. Donations will go “to groups working in the United States to protect women’s rights and increase 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 said she was motivated to make the donation in part because of the racial disparity in women’s death rates.
“In the United States, maternal mortality rates continue to be unjustified, with Black and Native American mothers at greater risk. Women in 14 states have lost the right to terminate their pregnancies in almost all circumstances. We remain the only advanced economy without any form of paid family leave nationally. And the number of teens experiencing suicidal thoughts and persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness is at a decade high.”
According to Women and Girls Indexreleased by the Women’s Philanthropy Institute, donations to women’s and girls’ organizations represent less than 2% of philanthropic support.
“Despite the pressing need, only about 2% of charitable giving in the United States goes to organizations focused on women and girls, and only about half a percentage point goes to organizations specifically focused on women of color. so chronically underfunded, we all pay the cost,” said French Gates. “As shocking as it is, my 1-year-old granddaughter may grow up with fewer rights than me.”
French Gates said the billion-dollar investment includes $200 million in grants designed to enhance the work of organizations fighting to advance women’s power and protect their rights, including reproductive rights, and $250 million that will be awarded later this fall to organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health around the world.
“As a young person, I never could have imagined that I would one day be part of an effort like this,” French Gates said. “As I have been given this extraordinary opportunity, I am determined to do everything I can to seize it and set an agenda that helps other women and girls set theirs too.”
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