Grassroots Giving

Grassroots Grantmaking

Field Note: Melinda French Gates speaks about participation

March 2025

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Proximate

June 2024

March 2025

|

Proximate

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Yes, we read that op-ed. Melinda French Gates wrote about her vision to “play offense” on womens’ and reproductive rights, weeks after announcing her departure from the Gates Foundation.
In one notable excerpt, she hinted at being open to participatory grantmaking: “I’m also experimenting with novel tactics to bring a wider range of perspectives into philanthropy. Recently, I offered 12 people whose work I admire their own $20 million grant-making fund to distribute as he or she sees fit.”
That group – which includes former New Zealand prime minister Jacinda Ardern and several well-known activists – is a bit more grasstops than grassroots. But it’s a welcome step and a far cry from the Gates Foundation’s current stance on its own power.

- BW

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Proximate is an independent media platform covering movements for participatory problem-solving. We look at the news through the lens of money: how it’s given away, how it’s invested, and how it’s distributed by government.
We are a fiscally sponsored project of Movement Strategy Center.

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