$173 million from Andrew Forrest to support gender equality programs

Giving Pledgers Andrew and Nicola Forrest’s Minderoo Foundation’s grantmaking increased by 50% yearly to $173 million, with a $100 million commitment to Co-Impact over nine years to support the foundation’s gender equality programs.

The latest gift to the international philanthropic collective is Minderoo’s largest to date.

It will help Co-Impact’s Gender Fund programs, which aim to promote health, education, and economic opportunities for at least 100 million people in the global south—mainly in Asia, Latin America, and Africa—while also advancing gender equality.

The fund makes large-scale, long-term, unrestricted grants to local nonprofits, associations, networks, civil society, and women’s rights organizations, primarily led by women.

The Bill & Melinda Gates and Rockefeller foundations, the Thankyou Charitable Trust, and Giving Pledgers Tsitsi Masiyiwa, MacKenzie Scott, and her ex-husband Dan Jewett are among the fund’s other backers.

The fund hopes to generate $1 billion over the next ten years.

Minderoo’s grantmaking has increased due to its founders’ $3.38 billion contribution in 2023.

All ten executive team members, including CEO John Hartman, are women. “Leaving half of the world’s population behind will prevent us from making meaningful progress in any area,” co-chair of Minderoo and director of Co-Impact Nicola Forrest stated.

Hartman, who also holds the position of CEO of the Tattarang holding company owned by the Forrest family, stated:  “We want to keep thinking globally and acting locally.”

“We want to make sure that we’re uniting partners, supporting partners, and giving our partners the tools they need to effect genuine change.”