New America receives grant funding from Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal to advance women’s power and strengthen the security and wellbeing of families in the U.S.
“With this support from Pivotal, New America will be able to build a strong and durable foundation for the next decade of our work focused on women, families, and gender equity and justice," said Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America.
Press Release
May 28, 2024
Washington, DC — New America is thrilled to announce that we have received a grant from Pivotal, a philanthropic organization founded by Melinda French Gates, to advance women’s power and gender equity worldwide and strengthen family security and wellbeing in the United States. As announced this morning, Melinda French Gates announced that she is committing an additional $1 billion through 2026 to advance women’s power globally as the first step in the next chapter of her philanthropy. New America is proud to be one of the organizations she is supporting.
With the rollback of women’s rights and headwinds to social progress in the U.S. and around the world, French Gates believes that now is the time to provide urgent capital to people and organizations fighting to protect and further equality and remove the barriers that hold women back. New America shares this commitment; we have worked for two decades to advance the ability of women to balance the needs of work and family without harming their careers, build an infrastructure of care through policy advocacy and narrative change, support a strong system of early education, and design and deliver social policy to strengthen family economic security and wellbeing. We envision a new America in which all women are fully equal and able to achieve their full potential.
Melinda French Gates’ funding commitment will include:
- Grants aimed at supercharging the work of organizations that are fighting in the U.S. to advance women’s power and protect their rights, including reproductive freedom. These grants will be structured to provide flexible funding to spend as organizations see fit.
- Partnerships with a diverse group of global leaders. Each leader will be provided with a $20 million fund to distribute to charitable organizations they consider to be doing urgent, impactful, and innovative work to improve women’s health and well-being in the U.S. and around the world.
- An open call, launching later this fall, to identify and fund organizations working to improve women’s mental and physical health worldwide.
“My commitment is to ensure we are doing more to unlock women and girls’ power and we are accelerating progress now,” said Melinda French Gates, founder of Pivotal. “The organizations we’re working with have a proven track record in fighting to protect women’s rights and advancing their power and influence in the United States. I look forward to all they will continue to accomplish.”
“I applaud Melinda French Gates’ leadership on advancing the power and protecting the rights of women around the world. To see her translate this commitment into action-oriented support for New America and other important organizations is inspiring and galvanizing,” said Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America. “With this support from Pivotal, New America will be able to build a strong and durable foundation for the next decade of our work focused on women, families, and gender equity and justice.”
Media contact:
David Lanham, VP of Content and Communications
lanham@newamerica.org
About New America
New America is a think and action tank dedicated to renewing the Promise of America in an age of rapid technological and social change. Its work prioritizes care and family wellbeing, advances technology in the public interest, reimagines global cooperation, builds effective democracy, and ensures affordable and accessible education for all. Learn more at newamerica.org.