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in Editorial Melinda French Gates offered a glimpse into the next phase of her philanthropic endeavors in an article published in The New York Times on Tuesday.
She is leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next week. Co-founder In 2000, she announced that she would donate $1 billion over the next two years to women’s advocacy groups.
“You set your own agenda or someone else sets it for you,” French said in explaining why he left the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to spearhead the new effort.
Related: Melinda French Gates steps down as co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
“Because I have been given this unique opportunity, I will do everything in my power to seize it and develop a plan to help other women and girls make their own,” French-Gates wrote.
As part of her $1 billion donation, French Gates has already begun making new grants through her organization, Pivotal, and has formed a group of 12 leading women’s health experts to allocate a $20 million fund to women’s causes as they see fit.
One of the group members, Jacinda Ardernis a former Prime Minister of New Zealand, and the other is Allyson Felixis the most decorated track and field athlete of all time.
American philanthropist Melinda French Gates. (Photo by Mustafa Yalçin/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, the 19th, an independent, nonprofit newsroom specializing in gender, politics and policy reporting share The company received a multimillion-dollar grant from Pivotal over three years.
Another initiative is a $250 million initiative focused on women’s mental and physical health that French Gates plans to introduce in the fall.
“For too long, a lack of funding has forced organizations fighting for women’s rights to be on the defensive and opponents of progress to be on the offensive,” French Gates wrote. “I want to help balance this battle.”
The Global Fund will focus on grassroots organizations with a personal connection to these issues, working with groups like the National Women’s Law Center, the National Domestic Workers Alliance and the Center for Reproductive Rights.
French Gates has been a long-time advocate for women’s health. DecadesBill & Melinda Gates Foundation Pledged It spent $200 million on health care last year.
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