As Melinda French Gates leaves the Gates Foundation, many hope she’ll double down on gender equity

abcnews.go.com:

Melinda French Gates is already one of the biggest philanthropic supporters of gender equity in the United States

NEW YORK — Melinda French Gates is already one of the biggest philanthropic supporters of gender equity in the United States and is now poised to put another $12.5 billion toward intractable problems like closing the gender pay gap and increasing women's political participation, her grantees hope.

The additional funds come as French Gates announced Monday that she was stepping down as co-chair of the Gates Foundation, which she founded together with her ex-husband Bill Gates more than 20 years ago. Gates will provide the $12.5 billion as part of an agreement made when they divorced in 2021.

Organizations like Paid Leave For All, founded in 2019 to coordinate advocacy around passing federal paid leave legislation, said French Gates' steady support over years as well as her advocacy to highlight the issue, counterbalance other funders who have been slow to back difficult fights like theirs.

“If you’re only willing to invest in a thing that you think is surely going to win in the short term, then you’re not making much of an impact,” said Dawn Huckelbridge, founding director of Paid Leave For All.

While no one knows exactly what French Gates’ future plans are, Huckelbridge's organization and other grantees anticipate she will use the funds as part of her focused advocacy and philanthropic support for increasing the power and influence of women.

“This amount of money to be moved into a space, even with just a standard 5% draw, is going to be so significant,” said Teresa Younger, president and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, which supports the women’s movement and the movement for gender equality in the