Melinda French Gates Grants $250M to Empower Global Women's Health

In November 2025, Melinda French Gates announced a major investment in global women's health organizations. Through a year-long application process, over 80 groups providing healthcare for women worldwide received a total of $250 million in grants from French Gates' Pivotal initiative.

The majority of the grant recipients had not previously received funding from Pivotal or the Gates Foundation, which French Gates co-founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates. The grants, ranging from $1 million to $5 million, are intended to support the organizations' community-based models and elevate their profiles among other major funders.

Cecilia Conrad, CEO of the Chicago-based nonprofit Lever for Change which ran the application process, said the open call for proposals helped uncover organizations that are often overlooked by large donors. The funding comes at a critical time for some recipients, like the Mujeres Aliadas group in Mexico, which had expected grants that did not materialize due to foreign aid cuts.

French Gates' $1 billion commitment to support women's rights over two years also includes $20 million each to 12 individuals to distribute to nonprofits of their choice, as well as $150 million to boost gender equity in workplaces.