Indian nonprofits focusing on Covid aid receive grant from MacKenzie Scott

Billionaire Scott gives away $2.7 bn to 286 companies globally

Billionaire and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott along with husband Dan Jewett has given away $2.7 billion grant to 286 nonprofits globally, including Indian organisations such as GiveIndia, Goonj, Antara Foundation, Jan Sahas, Mann Deshi Foundation and The/Nudge Foundation. Most of these organisations are currently working towards pandemic related relief work.

Scott, former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is known for surprise donations, had last year donated $6 billion for Covid-19 relief, gender equity, and education.

“Because we believe that teams with experience on the front lines of challenges will know best how to put the money to good use, we encouraged them to spend it however they choose,” she said in a blog.

According to Forbes after distributing the current $2.7 billion in charity, her fortune will stand at $57 billion, making her the 22nd richest person in the world. 

She added her team spent the first quarter of 2021 identifying and evaluating equity-oriented non-profit teams working in areas that have been neglected.  Some of the core areas in which these organisations are active include higher education, arts and culture and poverty elimination.

“This is a big moment for us as much as it is a big moment for philanthropy. Mackenzie Scott has left it to the organisations receiving the awards to decide on the most impactful way of spending them. This puts a huge onus on us to use the contribution responsibly to further scale our poverty alleviation work,” said Atul Satija, CEO of GiveIndia.

“As an organisation enabling giving back, this would mean enhancing our platform and technology to enable our 2,000 plus NGO partners to scale their crowdfunding, and partnering with corporates and foundations to support their giving,” Satija added.