Melinda French Gates says she will donate $1 billion to groups working on behalf of women around the world over the next two years.
The causes French Gates will support include reproductive rights in the United States, which have been reduced in several states since the historic Roe v. Wade the ruling was overturned.
It is the second billion-dollar commitment she has made in the last five years, after pledging to expand women’s power and influence for ten years in 2019.
In a guest essay for The New York Times, French Gates said she is frustrated by claims that now is not the right time to talk about gender equality.
“Decades of research on economics, well-being and governance make clear that investing in women and girls benefits everyone,” she wrote.
Earlier this month, French Gates announced that she was leaving the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and promised to focus on women and families.
As part of his departure from the Gates Foundation, he received $12bn (£9.4bn) from Bill Gates for his philanthropy in the future.
She said she has begun allocating grants through her organization, Pivotal Ventures, to groups working in the United States to protect women’s rights.
The grants are for general operating support, meaning they are not earmarked for specific projects.
In her essay, French Gates addressed the high rates of maternal mortality in the United States, noting that Black and Native American mothers are at greatest risk.
“Women in 14 states have lost the right to terminate a pregnancy under almost any circumstance,” she wrote.
“We remain the only advanced economy without any form of paid family leave nationwide.
“And the number of teenagers experiencing suicidal thoughts and persistent feelings of sadness and hopelessness is at its highest point in a decade.”
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It also pledged to give 12 people $20m (£15.6m) each to distribute to charities of their choice before the end of 2026.
French Gates will leave the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation next week, the organization he helped co-found nearly 25 years ago.
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