{"id":3509,"date":"2026-06-04T16:01:16","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:01:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3509"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:01:16","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:01:16","slug":"melinda-french-gates-pledges-215m-to-advance-womens-health-worldwide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3509","title":{"rendered":"Melinda French Gates pledges $215M to advance women\u2019s health worldwide"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"\"<\/figure>\n article<\/span><\/div>

FILE – Melinda French Gates, founder of Pivotal Ventures, following an interview for the “Leaders with Francine Lacqua” podcast in London, UK, on Friday, Oct. 3, 2025. (Jose Sarmento Matos\/Bloomberg via Getty Images0<\/span> <\/p>

Read more 2 fans banned from NBA arenas for life after incident during Game 1 of Finals: report<\/a><\/p> <\/div><\/div> <\/div>

Melinda French Gates has pledged to donate $215 million to support contraceptive access and maternal care, as well as initiatives aimed at middle-aged women, including further study of menopause.<\/p>

The backstory:<\/p>

Gates has been an avid supporter of women\u2019s healthcare and education, especially since she stepped away from The Gates Foundation in 2024.\u00a0<\/p>

<\/div>

French Gates founded The Gates Foundation alongside her ex-husband, Bill Gates.\u00a0<\/p>

By the numbers:<\/p>

This latest round of funding reflects an increasingly strategic approach to areas she feels are underfunded.\u00a0<\/p>

It includes a $40 million donation to Co-Impact for an initiative that embeds mental health support into maternal and primary care, especially in Africa.\u00a0<\/p>

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French Gates also hopes her $10 million donation to the Menopause Society to improve menopause care in the United States, by educating healthcare practitioners and expanding outreach in areas where care is limited, will encourage other funders to begin working on the issue.<\/p>

Thursday pushes French Gates\u2019 donations for women\u2019s health over $600 million in the past two years.<\/p>

What they’re saying:<\/p>

“The role of philanthropy, in my opinion, is to look at some of these societal problems that have been left behind, and shine light on them, show ways of making progress so you can then crowd in other donors and ultimately crowd in government funding,” French Gates told The Associated Press. “Part of what I\u2019m doing here, I hope, is sending a signal to say, \u2018This is really important. Let\u2019s do something about it.\u2019 And my hope is that I\u2019ll be able to get others who will join me.”<\/p>

Read more Ohio State approves $100M settlement for former student athletes abused by doctor<\/a><\/p> <\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Melinda French Gates will expand her giving to improve women\u2019s health globally, pledging another $215 million.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3507,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,23],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3509","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-world"],"yoast_head":"\nMelinda French Gates pledges $215M to advance women\u2019s health worldwide - Houston Moving Journal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/houstonmovingjournal.com\/?p=3509\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Melinda French Gates pledges $215M to advance women\u2019s health worldwide - 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