Melinda French Gates has announced a significant new commitment of $150 million to help women thrive in the workplace.
This new donation is part of her larger initiative to advance women’s power and influence, which she launched in 2019 with a $1 billion commitment over a decade.
The $150 million commitment will be distributed across three main strategies:
Seeding Workplace Innovations: Funding will support partners in developing evidence-based, scalable solutions to lower barriers for women in the workplace.
Public Policy: Resources will be allocated to establish universal protections for women and working people, recognizing the impact of policy levers on private and public sector workplaces.
AI and Tech Innovation: A significant portion of the funding will focus on increasing women’s representation in the rapidly growing field of artificial intelligence (AI) and technology.
Approximately $45 million of the total commitment will be directed towards increasing women’s representation in AI and tech. This focus is particularly important given that:
Only 30% of individuals employed in AI are women, despite women comprising about half of the overall workforce.
AI is having a growing and disproportionate impact on society.
There are opportunities to leverage AI to remove workplace barriers for women as it is integrated into HR systems and other practices.
The remaining funds will be distributed as follows:
$75 million to The Aspen Institute to establish a workplace innovation council.
$30 million shared among organizations such as Lift Our Voices, Management Leadership for Tomorrow, National Partnership for Women & Families, Responsible Innovation Labs, and the Women and Public Policy Program at Harvard Kennedy School.
Addressing Workplace Barriers
French Gates’ commitment aims to address several key barriers women face in the workplace, including:
Lack of caregiving support and resources
Inflexible work policies
Ongoing discrimination and harassment
Underrepresentation in senior leadership positions
By focusing on these areas, French Gates hopes to create systemic change and achieve true gender equality in the workplace.
This $150 million commitment is a significant step towards French Gates’ goal of advancing women’s power and influence, building on her previous philanthropic efforts and her work with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Women have achieved record representation as public officials, C-suite executives, and venture capitalists over the past five years.
However, challenges like workplace bias, caregiving demands, and systemic barriers remain prevalent, according to a recent Pivotal survey.
Pivotal, led by philanthropist Melinda French Gates, has committed $2 billion since 2019 to advancing women’s power and influence. As part of this mission, the organization surveyed 5,000 U.S. respondents, uncovering critical insights:
Workplace Barriers: Caregiving responsibilities are a growing obstacle, with 29% of women citing conflicts between career demands and other life priorities.
Toxic Work Environments: Women earning less than $25,000 annually are four times more likely to report violence as a career barrier than higher earners. Harassment and bias persist, especially for younger women.
25% of men still believe men are better suited for leadership roles.
The new $150 million in funding to address these issues focuses on three key areas:
Workplace Innovation: Supporting scalable solutions for healthier, more inclusive workplaces.
Policy Advocacy: Promoting universal protections, including fair pay and safety from workplace violence.
Tech and AI Equity: Increasing opportunities for women in tech and ensuring AI systems support gender equity.
Renee Wittemyer, Pivotal’s VP of Program Strategy, emphasized the need for intentional leadership and scalable systems to advance women from workforce entry to retirement, urging policymakers to prioritize women’s economic progress.