- Over 80 organizations dedicated to women's health around the world have benefitted from $250 million in grants from Melinda French Gates
- The funding was provided through the Action for Women's Health initiative
More than 80 organizations that provide women's health care globally have received a total of $250 million in grants from Melinda French Gates after a process that started one year ago.
Most recipients of the Action for Women’s Health Challenge had never before received funding from her organization, Pivotal, or from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which she co-founded with Bill Gates, according to French Gates. She stepped down from the Gates Foundation last year.
“The world will benefit from seeing what happens when organizations like these are no longer chronically underfunded,” Melinda said in a written statement to the Associated Press, which receives support from Pivotal for reporting.
The grants, from $1 million to $5 million, were distributed via a free and open global competition for nonprofit organizations.
The process, run by the Chicago-based nonprofit Lever for Change, drew more than 4,000 applications from 119 countries. CEO Cecilia Conrad said the initiative reflects growing global interest in women’s health and helps bring greater visibility to underfunded organizations.
This is Lever for Change's second-largest funding competition to date, aside from MacKenzie Scott's $640 million in grants to U.S. community-based nonprofits this past March 2024.
To the Likhaan Center for Women's Health in the Philippines, the $5-million grant represents almost a decade's worth of funding.
Its executive director, Junice Melgar, said the award recognizes the community-based service delivery approach that the organization has taken in providing health care and pushing for policy reform in underserved areas.
The funding is part of French Gates' $1 billion broader commitment to support women's rights and gender equality. In addition to the grants, she has distributed $20 million to 12 individuals to give to nonprofits of their choice and committed another $150 million to promote gender equity in workplaces.
Other recipients include Mujeres Aliadas, a nonprofit based in Michoacán, Mexico, that trains midwives and offers reproductive health education for women and teens.
Its executive director, Lisel Lifshitz, said the flexible funding comes at a key time and helps keep the organization working despite cuts in other funding sources.
