Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott awards more than $48M to six Minnesota nonprofits

Three Boys & Girls Clubs affiliates and St. Paul-based Planned Parenthood are among six Minnesota nonprofits getting surprise grants totaling more than $48 million from MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire philanthropist announced Wednesday.

In a blog post, Scott, an author and the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, noted that six Minnesota nonprofits are receiving grants: The Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, the Red Lake Nation Boys & Girls Club, the Boys & Girls Clubs of the White Earth Nation, Planned Parenthood North Central States, United States of Care and Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, which announced its grant Tuesday.

The grants are part of nearly $3.9 billion that Scott has given to 465 nonprofits, nationally and internationally, since last summer. For each of the Minnesota organizations, it's the largest one-time donation they've ever received.

When Thomas Barrett, the CEO of the Red Lake Nation Boys & Girls Club, got the call, he expected to receive the usual $50 or maybe $1,000 donation. Instead, he was stunned by the $875,000 gift.

"I had to ask her to say the number again," Barrett said, adding that it's nearly equivalent to the nonprofit's annual budget. "We've never received a donation that big."

The donation will help pay for a new shelter next year that will house homeless youth and provide critical services for youth on the Red Lake Indian Reservation in northwestern Minnesota.

"It's something we desperately need in our community," Barrett said. "The biggest obstacle is getting the funds for it."

Rural organizations are sometimes overlooked, said Dana Goodwin of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the White Earth Nation, so she was grateful for the $1.25 million donation from Scott. She said it will go toward improving and expanding sites and resources for kids.

"I appreciate that the funds are going all over the state," said Goodwin, director of education at White Earth, one of seven Anishinaabe or Chippewa reservations in the state. "We've had things sitting on the back burner that now we can do."

In all, 62 Boys & Girls Clubs of America affiliates received $281 million from Scott.

"It's life-changing for an organization of our size," said Terryl Brumm, CEO of the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities, which received $4.8 million. "The first thing I thought of is, we can do whatever it takes to help kids."

She said the nonprofit will use the donation to add new club sites over time in Minneapolis and St. Paul, expand programs and bolster staffing to help more kids.

United States of Care, an affordable health care policy organization headquartered in Minneapolis and Washington, D.C., and started by Andy Slavitt, the former UnitedHealth Group executive, received $8 million to expand its work.

The local Planned Parenthood organization received $20 million, which will be used to boost operations at 28 health centers at a time when health care costs are skyrocketing, CEO Sarah Stoesz said.

"This is the most extraordinary act of kindness for humanity," Stoesz said. "It's a gamechanger for us at a moment when we could use it. So far, we've been able to pay our bills. But I've been worried about it."

Scott's grants are unrestricted, which means recipients can use the funds any way they want - as opposed to grants that are awarded for a specific program or purpose.

Scott wrote that she gave the organizations the chance to announce the news first, as Twin Cities Habitat did Tuesday, before she shared their names Wednesday.

In her blog post, she said she focused on grants supporting equity and the needs of underrepresented people. She noted that about 60% of the organizations receiving money are led by women, and 75% are led by people with personal experience in the issues.

"We don't advocate for particular policies or reforms," she wrote. "Instead, we seek a portfolio of organizations that supports the ability of all people to participate in solutions. This means a focus on the needs of those whose voices have been underrepresented."

Scott has pledged to give away most of her wealth in her lifetime. According to the Chronicle of Philanthropy, she's now given out about $12 billion in two years.

"She's been able to do something so substantial," Brumm said. "The impact of her investment is truly transformative."

Kelly Smith covers nonprofits/philanthropy for the Star Tribune and is based in Minneapolis. Since 2010, she's covered Greater Minnesota on the state/region team, Hennepin County government, west metro suburban government and west metro K-12 education.

https://www.startribune.com/philanthropist-mackenzie-scott-awards-more-than-48m-to-six-minnesota-nonprofits/600158762/

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Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All

By MacKenzie Scott

The increasing stridency of opinions in the news can be divisive. But lately I’ve heard something different in it. Turned up so loud, all I can notice is how similar it all sounds. The universal tendency to shout is an ironic reminder of how much we all have in common, as well as encouraging evidence that we have what we need to solve our shared problems. It’s as if the antidote is right there waiting in all that venom. We are all human. And we all have enormous energy to devote to helping and protecting those we love.

It’s easy to think of different groups struggling within the same systems as not only separate, but also opposing. Yet when we help one group, we often help them all. A growing body of research on this contains numerous examples — bike lanes designed to protect cyclists improving local retail sales and property values for everyone, seatbelt laws adopted to protect young children saving the lives of people of all ages, students of all ethnicities achieving better learning outcomes at schools that are racially diverse, workforce and education opportunities for women and girls leading to global economic growth. And those are just the positive ripple effects that can be easily counted. The dividends of changes in attitude each time disparate groups help each other are harder to trace. But the trend line is clear. Communities with a habit of removing obstacles for different subsets of people tend to get better for everyone.

Below is a list of gift recipients since my post in June, 465 non-profits converting $3,863,125,000 into meaningful services for others. Our team’s focus over these last nine months has included some new areas, but as always our aim has been to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds. The cause of equity has no sides.

Nor can it have a single solution. Equity can only be realized when all people involved have an opportunity to help shape it. And even people who spend years learning about the same problem will disagree on the best approach. When our giving team focuses on any system in which people are struggling, we don’t assume that we, or any other single group, can know how to fix it. We don’t advocate for particular policies or reforms. Instead, we seek a portfolio of organizations that supports the ability of all people to participate in solutions. This means a focus on the needs of those whose voices have been underrepresented. It also means including others within the system who want to help improve it, harnessing insights and engagement from every role. Teachers, administrators, parents, and students. Incarcerated people, crime survivors, police officers, and the family members of them all. Veterans and refugees. Kids enrolled in public schools as well as charters. Rural students as well as urban ones. Affordable housing and job training for people in any geography. Healthcare for people with circumstances and beliefs of every kind. Very few solutions gain universal agreement. I don’t know the best outcome of each debate, but there’s heartening evidence that supporting the capacity of all people to be heard leads to better outcomes for all.

This belief in a diversity of voices also inspires our commitment to a vital category of leaders. The leadership of people directly experiencing inequities is essential, both because it is informed by insights no one else can contribute, and because it seeds power and opportunity within the community itself. Yet only a tiny fraction of global humanitarian assistance today is given directly to local and national organizations, and to organizations focused on the disproportionate challenges experienced by women and girls. Though we support many great organizations doing work for groups distant or different from their own, we invest extra time and money to elevate high-impact teams with leadership from the communities they’re serving. Approximately 60% of the organizations listed below are led by women, and 75% by people with lived experience in the regions they support and the issues they seek to address.

A belief in a diversity of voices drives my own communication choices as well. It’s what inspired me to override a personal preference for privacy and write a series of essays that bring attention to the work of these organizations. It’s what motivated my recent decision to invite them to speak for themselves first, if they want to, before I share their names. It’s what underlies my approach to press inquiries — respecting the autonomy and role of journalists by doing nothing to try to influence or control what they report. And it’s what governs the pace and design of the website we’re creating, which will go live only after it reflects the preferences of every one of these non-profit teams about how details of their gifts are shared.

We look forward to sharing the work of these remarkable organizations through this database of their gifts, 1257 to date since my pledge to give away this money with steadiness and care. Each non-profit it will list was selected through a rigorous process, and has a strong track record of serving under-supported needs. If you are looking for a way to serve humanity’s common cause, every one of them is a great candidate. Helping any of us can help us all.

A New Way of Life

Achievement Network

Active Minds

African Population and Health Research Center

African Women’s Development Fund (AWDF)

Alliance for a Healthier Generation

Amani Global Works

Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum

BellXcel

Benefits Data Trust

Bipartisan Policy Center

Black Teacher Collaborative

Black Women’s Health Imperative

Blue Meridian Partners — The Justice and Mobility Fund

Blue Star Families

Blue Ventures

Bob Woodruff Foundation

Boys & Girls Clubs of America

· Boys & Girls Club of Benton Harbor

· Boys & Girls Club of Collier County

· Boys & Girls Club of the Northern Neck

· Boys & Girls Club of the West Valley

· Boys & Girls Club of Whittier

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Acadiana

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Boston

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Carlsbad

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Florida

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Orange Coast

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Central Texas

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Chicago

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Dane County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Edinburg Rio Grande Valley

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Fresno County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Garden Grove

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Augusta

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Dallas

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater High Point

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Milwaukee

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Oxnard and Port Hueneme

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater St. Louis

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Washington

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Hartford

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Lanier

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Manatee County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Mercer County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Miami-Dade

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Monterey County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of North Alabama

· Boys & Girls Clubs of North Central Georgia

· Boys & Girls Clubs of North Louisiana

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Florida

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Northeast Ohio

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Oklahoma County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Puerto Rico

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma-Marin

· Boys & Girls Clubs of South County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeast Virginia

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Golden Triangle

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Los Angeles Harbor

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Mississippi Delta

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Pee Dee Area

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Peninsula

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Seminole Tribe of Florida

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Tar River Region

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Three Affiliated Tribes

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities

· Boys & Girls Clubs of the Valley

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Toledo

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Tucson

· Boys & Girls Clubs of Wake County

· Boys & Girls Clubs of West San Gabriel Valley and Eastside

· Cherokee Youth Center

· Kips Bay Boys & Girls Club

· Lumbee Tribe of North Carolina Boys & Girls Clubs

· Marguerite Neel Williams Boys & Girls Clubs of Southwest Georgia

· Red Lake Nation Boys & Girls Club

· The Antelope Valley Boys & Girls Club

· White Earth Nation Boys & Girls Clubs

BRAC

Branch Alliance for Educator Diversity

BrazilFoundation

CARE — Ukraine relief efforts

Center for Black Educator Development

Center for Disaster Philanthropy — Ukraine Humanitarian Crisis Recovery Fund

Center for Health Care Strategies

Center for Law and Social Policy

Center for Rural Strategies

Center for Science in the Public Interest

Center for Tech and Civic Life

ChangeLab Solutions

Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science

Child Mind Institute

Child Trends

Children’s Home Society of North Carolina

Children’s Home Society of Washington

Choose Love — Ukraine relief efforts

Citizen Schools

City Year

Clean Slate Initiative

Climate Justice Resilience Fund

ClimateWorks Foundation — Drive Electric Campaign

Code for America

Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL)

Collaborative for Gender + Reproductive Equity

Common Justice

Communities for Just Schools Fund

Communities In Schools National

· Communities In Schools — Bay Area

· Communities In Schools of Atlanta

· Communities In Schools of Benton-Franklin

· Communities In Schools of Cape Fear

· Communities In Schools of Central Texas

· Communities In Schools of Charlotte-Mecklenburg

· Communities In Schools of Chicago

· Communities In Schools of East Texas

· Communities In Schools of Eastern Pennsylvania

· Communities In Schools of Georgia

· Communities In Schools of Greater Tarrant County

· Communities In Schools of Hampton Roads

· Communities In Schools of Houston

· Communities In Schools of Indiana

· Communities In Schools of Los Angeles (CISLA)

· Communities In Schools of Memphis

· Communities In Schools of Michigan

· Communities In Schools of Mid-America

· Communities In Schools of Nevada

· Communities In Schools of North Carolina

· Communities In Schools of North Texas

· Communities In Schools of Northwest Michigan

· Communities In Schools of NOVA

· Communities In Schools of Ohio

· Communities In Schools of Palm Beach County

· Communities In Schools of Peninsula

· Communities In Schools of Pennsylvania

· Communities In Schools of Renton-Tukwila

· Communities In Schools of San Antonio

· Communities In Schools of South Carolina

· Communities In Schools of South Central Texas

· Communities In Schools of Southeast Texas

· Communities In Schools of Southwest Virginia

· Communities In Schools of Tennessee

· Communities In Schools of the Big Country

· Communities In Schools of the Dallas Region

· Communities In Schools of the Heart of Texas

· Communities In Schools of the South Plains

· Communities In Schools of Virginia

· Communities In Schools of Washington

Community Catalyst

Community Justice Exchange — National Bail Fund Network

Community Organizing and Family Issues

Conectas Direitos Humanos

Convergence Center for Policy Resolution

Dave Thomas Foundation for Adoption

de Beaumont Foundation — Vose River Charitable Fund

DigDeep

Digital Promise

Diverse Elders Coalition

Education Law Center

Education Leaders of Color

EL Education

Equal Justice Initiative

Equal Opportunity Schools

Equality Now

Essie Justice Group

exalt

Fines and Fees Justice Center

Firelight Foundation

First Responders Children’s Foundation

Fondo Centroamericano de Mujeres

Fondo de Mujeres del Sur

FoodCorps

Forward Promise

Fountain House

Four Oaks Family and Children’s Services

FRIDA | The Young Feminist Fund

Friendship Bench

Fugees Family

Fund for Global Human Rights

Fundo Baobá

Fundo Brasil de Direitos Humanos (Brazil Human Rights Fund)

Fundo Casa Socioambiental

Fundo ELAS

Gerando Falcões

Glasswing International

Global Citizen Year

Global Health Corps

Grassroots International

Guttmacher Institute

Habitat for Humanity International

· Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity

· Atlanta Habitat for Humanity

· Austin Habitat for Humanity

· Chipola Area Habitat for Humanity

· Columbus Area Habitat for Humanity

· Dallas Area Habitat for Humanity

· DuPage Habitat for Humanity

· Edisto Habitat for Humanity

· Fayetteville Area Habitat for Humanity

· Flower City Habitat for Humanity

· Genesee County Habitat for Humanity

· Golden Crescent Habitat for Humanity

· Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity

· Gwinnett/Walton Habitat for Humanity

· Habitat for Humanity Central Arizona

· Habitat for Humanity Chicago

· Habitat for Humanity Choptank

· Habitat for Humanity East Central Ohio

· Habitat for Humanity for Georgetown County, SC

· Habitat for Humanity Greater Orlando & Osceola County

· Habitat for Humanity Greater Peoria Area

· Habitat for Humanity Greater San Francisco

· Habitat for Humanity Inland Valley

· Habitat for Humanity La Crosse Area

· Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas

· Habitat for Humanity Maui

· Habitat for Humanity MetroWest/Greater Worcester

· Habitat for Humanity of Broward

· Habitat for Humanity of Buffalo

· Habitat for Humanity of Catawba Valley

· Habitat for Humanity of Clallam County

· Habitat for Humanity of Coastal Fairfield County

· Habitat for Humanity of Craven County

· Habitat for Humanity of Durham

· Habitat for Humanity of Dutchess County

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Cincinnati

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Miami

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newark

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Newburgh

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Pittsburgh

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sacramento

· Habitat for Humanity of Greater Sioux Falls

· Habitat for Humanity of Hillsborough County

· Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver

· Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County

· Habitat for Humanity of Omaha

· Habitat for Humanity of Orange County, NC

· Habitat for Humanity of Pinellas & West Pasco Counties

· Habitat for Humanity of South Central New Jersey

· Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk

· Habitat for Humanity of Summit County

· Habitat for Humanity of the Charlotte Region

· Habitat for Humanity of the NC Sandhills

· Habitat for Humanity of the St. Vrain Valley

· Habitat for Humanity of Tuscaloosa

· Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C.

· Habitat for Humanity of York County

· Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia

· Habitat for Humanity Portland Region

· Habitat for Humanity Seattle–King & Kittitas Counties

· Habitat for Humanity Seminole-Apopka

· Habitat for Humanity Susquehanna

· Habitat for Humanity-MidOhio

· Houston County Habitat for Humanity

· Houston Habitat for Humanity

· Kaua’i Habitat For Humanity

· Lafayette Habitat for Humanity

· Loudon County Habitat for Humanity

· Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity

· New Orleans Area Habitat for Humanity

· Paterson Habitat for Humanity

· Richmond Metropolitan Habitat for Humanity

· South Puget Sound Habitat for Humanity

· Southern Crescent Habitat for Humanity

· Sussex County Habitat for Humanity

· Tacoma/Pierce County Habitat for Humanity

· Topeka Habitat for Humanity

· Trinity Habitat for Humanity

· Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity

· Waco Habitat for Humanity

· Wichita Habitat for Humanity

Headstrong Project

Health Leads

Healthy Learners

HIAS — Ukraine relief efforts

Hire Heroes USA

Housing Assistance Council

iCivics

iFoster

Impact Justice

Innocence Project

Institute for Educational Leadership

Institute for Native Pacific Education and Culture

Instituto Dara

Instituto Rodrigo Mendes

Instituto Sou da Paz

Instruction Partners

International Association of Chiefs of Police

International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b)

International Refugee Assistance Project

Ipso — International Psychosocial Organisation

JASS

Justice Defenders

Justice in Aging

KABOOM!

Kawerak

Kenya Community Development Foundation

KFF

Kingmakers of Oakland

Landesa

Last Mile Health

Latinos for Education

Law Enforcement Action Partnership

Leading Educators

LEAP Africa

Learning Policy Institute

Legal Action Center

Lemann Foundation

Living Goods

MADRE

MakeWay

Malala Fund

Maliasili

Mama Cash

MDC

Measures for Justice

Meharry Medical College

Micronesia Conservation Trust

Migrant Clinicians Network

myAgro

National 4-H Council

National Association of Community Health Centers

National Association of Police Athletic/Activities Leagues

National Birth Equity Collaborative

National Black Child Development Institute

National Collaborative for Health Equity

National Compadres Network

National Council for Mental Wellbeing

National Council on Aging

National Hispanic Council on Aging

National Indian Council on Aging

National Indian Education Association

National Indigenous Women’s Resource Center

National Latina Institute for Reproductive Justice

National Medical Fellowships

National Policing Institute

National Rural Health Association

New Leaders

New Pluralists Collaborative

New Teacher Center

NewSchools Venture Fund

Nexleaf Analytics

Nia Tero

Noora Health

Norwegian Refugee Council — Ukraine relief efforts

Nossas

Notah Begay III Foundation

NPower

Nurse-Family Partnership

Operation Homefront

Organizer Zero

OutRight Action International — Ukraine relief efforts

Partners for Dignity & Rights

Pastoral Women’s Council

Pawanka Fund

Penn Center

PHI

Planned Parenthood Federation of America

· Planned Parenthood Association of Utah

· Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette

· Planned Parenthood Gulf Coast

· Planned Parenthood Keystone

· Planned Parenthood North Central States

· Planned Parenthood of Greater Ohio

· Planned Parenthood of Greater Washington and North Idaho

· Planned Parenthood of Illinois

· Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan New Jersey

· Planned Parenthood of Metropolitan Washington, DC

· Planned Parenthood of Montana

· Planned Parenthood of Southern New England

· Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida

· Planned Parenthood of Southwest Ohio Region

· Planned Parenthood of Southwestern Oregon

· Planned Parenthood of the Pacific Southwest

· Planned Parenthood of the Rocky Mountains

· Planned Parenthood of the St. Louis Region & Southwest Missouri

· Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin

· Planned Parenthood South Atlantic

· Virginia League for Planned Parenthood

Playworks

Police Executive Research Forum

Politize! — Instituto de Educação Política

Pressley Ridge

Prevention Institute

Project ECHO at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center

Projeto Saúde e Alegria

Prospera International Network of Women’s Funds

Public Allies

Purposeful

Reading Partners

Recidiviz

Redes da Maré

Rethink New Orleans

RI International

Rights and Resources Initiative

RISE Colorado

Rising Ground

Root Capital

Saga Education

SAJIDA Foundation

Samdhana Institute

Schott Foundation for Public Education

SELCO Foundation

Shatterproof

Sightsavers

Silver Lining Mentoring

SisterSong National Women of Color Reproductive Justice Collective

Sociedad Peruana de Derecho Ambiental

Socio-Economic Rights Institute of South Africa

Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC)

Southern Education Foundation

Stand for Children Leadership Center

Student Experience Research Network

Student Veterans of America

Surge Institute

Talent Beyond Boundaries

TalkingPoints

Teaching Lab

Team Red, White & Blue

Team Rubicon

Tenure Facility

The Anti-Recidivism Coalition

The END Fund

The Fortune Society

The High Resolves Group

The Jed Foundation

The Literacy Lab

The Memphis Lift

The Mission Continues

The Oakland REACH

The Praxis Project

The Steve Fund

TNTP

Transcend

Transitions Clinic Network

Trust for America’s Health

Trust for Indigenous Culture and Health (TICAH)

Tunnel to Towers Foundation

UnboundEd

United States of Care

United Way Worldwide

Upstream USA

Urban Teachers

Urgent Action Fund — Urgent Response Fund for Ukraine

Vera Institute of Justice

Vetor Brasil

VillageReach

Warrior-Scholar Project

Wayfinder Foundation

West Africa Civil Society Institute (WACSI)

Women Win

Women’s Fund Asia

Woodwell Climate Research Center

Workshops for Warriors

World Mosquito Program

Wounded Warrior Project

Young People in Recovery

Youth Development and Empowerment Initiative

Youth Guidance

Youth Villages

YouthBuild

https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9