More than 80 nonprofits receive $250M for global women’s health from Melinda French Gates

FILE - Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, smiles as she leaves the Elysee Palace in Paris on June 23, 2023. Photo by Christophe Ena /AP

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More than 80 organizations that provide health care for women all over the world received grants Wednesday totaling $250 million from Melinda French Gates after a year-long application process.

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French Gates said the majority of the recipients of the Action for Women’s Health challenge have not previously received funding from her organization, Pivotal, or from the Gates Foundation, which she founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates. She stepped away from the Gates Foundation last year.

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“It will be instructive for the world to see what it looks like when organizations like this aren’t so chronically underfunded,” French Gates said in written responses to The Associated Press, which receives funding from Pivotal for news coverage.

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The grants, which range between $1 million and $5 million, were awarded through a competition that was open to nonprofit organizations from most countries. French Gates said the point of holding such an open call is to learn about organizations that aren’t already known to major funders. The Chicago-based nonprofit Lever for Change ran the application process and said more than 4,000 organizations from 119 countries applied.

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“This seems to be a topic that resonates,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, of global women’s health. “So I’m excited about helping to uplift and elevate the profile of these organizations with other funders.” Her organization often provides donors, both large and small, with advice about what organizations to support, drawing from the list of finalists who have applied to the grant competitions they run.

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This is the second largest funding competition that Lever for Change has hosted, after MacKenzie Scott gave $640 million to community-based nonprofits in the U.S. in March 2024.

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For the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health based in the Philippines, the $5 million grant represents 10 years of funding at their current annual budget.

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“I could not contain the joy of people in the room,” said executive director Junice Melgar when she and her staff learned they had been selected.

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For 30 years, Likhaan has provided primary care to very poor communities and advocated for policy changes to reflect community needs. Beyond the money, Melgar said the recognition affirms the effectiveness and sustainability of their community-based model.

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The investment in global women’s health organizations is part of a $1 billion commitment that French Gates made to support women’s rights over two years. She also gave $20 million each to 12 individuals to distribute to nonprofits of their choice and has pledged $150 million to boost gender equity in workplaces.

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Lisel Lifshitz, the executive director of the small nonprofit Mujeres Aliadas, which also received a grant, said her organization makes “magic” with every dollar they receive. Located in Michoacan, Mexico, Mujeres Aliadas trains midwives and provides education to women and teens about sexual and reproductive health.