SEATTLE, Wash. — MacKenzie Scott, the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, says she has given away $4.1 billion in the past four months to hundreds of organizations as part of a giving pledge she announced last year.
The Seattle Times reports Scott announced her pandemic-era philanthropy in a Medium post Tuesday, writing that the pandemic has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires, while things have gotten worse for women, people of color and those living in poverty.
The philanthropist and author says she asked a team of advisers to help her “accelerate” her 2020 giving with immediate help to those financially gutted by the pandemic.
She says the team used a data-driven approach, identifying organizations specifically in communities with high food insecurity, racial inequity and other factors.
As a result, Scott says billions of dollars in “gifts” have been given to 384 organizations across all 50 states, Puerto Rico and Washington D.C.
“Some are filling basic needs: food banks, emergency relief funds, and support services for those most vulnerable,” wrote Scott. “Others are addressing long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis: debt relief, employment training, credit and financial services for under-resourced communities, education for historically marginalized and underserved people, civil rights advocacy groups, and legal defense funds that take on institutional discrimination.”
Click here to learn more about which organizations benefited from Scott’s donations.
