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

Melinda French Gates has awarded $250 million in grants to more than 80 women’s health organizations worldwide, culminating a year-long application process that attracted over 4,000 applicants from 119 countries.

The grants, ranging from $1 million to $5 million each, primarily target organizations that have not previously received funding from either Pivotal, French Gates’ organization, or the Gates Foundation, which she co-founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates before stepping away last year.

“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 a written statement. The initiative represents part of her $1 billion commitment to support women’s rights over a two-year period.

Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Chicago-based Lever for Change, which managed the application process, noted the overwhelming response. “This seems to be a topic that resonates,” Conrad said. “I’m excited about helping to uplift and elevate the profile of these organizations with other funders.” This competition ranks as the second largest funding initiative that Lever for Change has overseen, following MacKenzie Scott’s $640 million donation to community-based U.S. nonprofits earlier this year.

For recipients like the Likhaan Center for Women’s Health in the Philippines, the impact is transformative. Executive Director Junice Melgar revealed that their $5 million grant amounts to a decade of funding at their current operating budget. “I could not contain the joy of people in the room,” Melgar said when staff learned of their selection.

The 30-year-old organization provides primary care in impoverished communities while advocating for policy changes. Melgar emphasized that beyond the financial support, the recognition validates their community-based approach.

In Mexico, Mujeres Aliadas received funding that executive director Lisel Lifshitz described as arriving at a critical moment. The organization, which trains midwives and educates women and teens about reproductive health in Michoacán, faced unexpected shortfalls when two anticipated grants fell through due to foreign aid cuts.

“Having this kind of trust-based and unrestricted funding means the world to us,” Lifshitz said. She highlighted the creativity required to operate effectively in rural settings complicated by security concerns and poverty.

While global women’s health has seen significant improvements since 2000—including reduced maternal mortality, increased contraception access, and decreased HIV rates among women—substantial inequalities persist both within and between countries, according to a 2024 United Nations Population Fund report.

Dr. Rahel Nardos, director of Global Women’s Health at the University of Minnesota, points to several contributing factors: women’s historical exclusion from medical research, insufficient research on women-specific health issues like menopause, and women’s tendency to prioritize family members’ health over their own.

Political instability and violence have further stalled progress on reducing maternal mortality, despite well-established knowledge about effective interventions.

Some grant recipients are developing innovative approaches to overcome healthcare access barriers. In Brazil, SAS Brasil cofounders Sabine Bolonhini and Adriana Mallet utilize telemedicine and mobile clinics to deliver specialized care to patients who would otherwise face prohibitive travel distances.

Their organization has partnered with a university to train an artificial intelligence model that identifies potential cervical cancer cases from images. Bolonhini hopes French Gates’ philanthropy will inspire wealthy Brazilians to support similar initiatives.

“For us, it’s also using the funding responsibly and being a good role model for how this money can find solutions that no one else has found yet,” Bolonhini said.

This funding initiative represents a significant boost for women’s health globally at a time when such services face increasing pressure from budget cuts and policy changes in many regions. By directing resources to previously underfunded organizations with proven community connections, French Gates’ grants may help establish sustainable models for improving women’s health outcomes in underserved areas worldwide.