Melinda French Gates pledges $215M to advance women’s health worldwide

Melinda French Gates has pledged to donate $215 million to support contraceptive access and maternal care, as well as initiatives aimed at middle-aged women, including further study of menopause.

The backstory:

Gates has been an avid supporter of women’s healthcare and education, especially since she stepped away from The Gates Foundation in 2024. 

French Gates founded The Gates Foundation alongside her ex-husband, Bill Gates. 

By the numbers:

This latest round of funding reflects an increasingly strategic approach to areas she feels are underfunded. 

It includes a $40 million donation to Co-Impact for an initiative that embeds mental health support into maternal and primary care, especially in Africa. 

French Gates also hopes her $10 million donation to the Menopause Society to improve menopause care in the United States, by educating healthcare practitioners and expanding outreach in areas where care is limited, will encourage other funders to begin working on the issue.

Thursday pushes French Gates’ donations for women’s health over $600 million in the past two years.

What they're saying:

"The role of philanthropy, in my opinion, is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them, show ways of making progress so you can then crowd in other donors and ultimately crowd in government funding," French Gates told The Associated Press. "Part of what I’m doing here, I hope, is sending a signal to say, ‘This is really important. Let’s do something about it.’ And my hope is that I’ll be able to get others who will join me."

HealthWorld