Melinda Gates just promised to put $1 billion towards gender equality over the next 10 years, and she says she has 3 priorities she wants to focus on
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Gates was named "the most powerful woman in philanthropy" by Forbes in 2018 for her work as the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Melinda Gates is afraid that Americans will forget about gender inequality.
To make sure they don't, the billionaire philanthropist pledged to spend $1 billion over the next decade empowering women, Gates announced in an essay published by Time on October 2.The $1 billion pledge will be used to fund and grow female-focused programs through venture capital firm Pivotal Ventures, Gates wrote in Time. The specific initiatives to be funded by the pledge will be announced at a later date, a representative for Pivotal Ventures told Business Insider. Gates founded Pivotal Ventures in 2015.
According to Gates, the United States is currently in a brief window of time when gender issues are at the forefront of the national conscious thanks to #MeToo, making it the right time for her donation.Gates wrote that she has three priorities with her pledge:
Social issues like gender inequality are among billionaires' favorite causes to donate to, Business Insider previously reported. In 2018, 61.7% of the world's billionaires made donations within the category, which also includes crime prevention, poverty reduction, and unemployment programs, according to research firm Wealth-X.
Gates and her husband, Microsoft founder Bill Gates, have a net worth of $107 billion, Business Insider previously reported. Gates was named "the most powerful woman in philanthropy" by Forbes in 2018 for her work as the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The couple has also spent money on educational reform and public health, according to the Foundation's website.
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