Mackenzie Scott, a philanthropist, and ex-wife to Jeff Bezos is changing the world of philanthropy with her generous contributions.
Scott is among other billionaires who signed the Giving Pledge, promising to donate to charity work. Earlier this year, the award-winning novelist promised to give nearly $ 4 billion to more than 400 organizations.
A few weeks ago, Scott donated $5 million to Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation for its Every Girl Thrives initiative. The initiative which was founded in 2015, partners health departments, healthcare organizations, and childcare organizations among other organizations to promote early childhood education as well as support families.
Speaking during a retreat, the chairperson of Early Child Thrives Kathy Cauley said, “I mean, literally, everyone’s mouth was kind of open, How did MacKenzie Scott ever find us? And after that initial kind of shock and awe, we were quickly rather jubilant. I mean, Jefferson County is around 85,000 people. So this doesn’t happen here.”
Scott whom Forbes named as the 18th richest American in 2022 with a net worth of US$ 33.4 Billion making her the 21st -wealthiest person in the world. Mackenzie has a 4% stake in Amazon which was founded by her ex-husband. The philanthropist contributed $20 million to Fresno Unified, a California-based school district.
Scott has donated $12 billion to various organizations since 2019. According to a July 2020 Medium post, Scott had donated more than $1.7 billion to 116 non-profit organizations. In the same year, the philanthropist also donated $4.15 Billion to 384 organizations to support those affected by Covid-19 impact.
Since 2020, Scott has donated to state organizations like Planned Parenthood of Wisconsin, The Boys and Girls Club of Dane County, Milwaukee Habitat for Humanity, and United Way of Racine among others.
The New York Times noted that “Ms. Scott has turned traditional philanthropy on its head… by disbursing her money quickly and without much hoopla, Ms. Scott has pushed the focus away from the giver, and onto the nonprofits, she is trying to help.”
