Philanthropist Melinda French Gates is expanding her efforts to improve women's health worldwide, pledging an additional $215 million to support contraceptive access, maternal care, and initiatives targeting middle-aged women, including further study of menopause.
The new funding, announced on Thursday, pushes French Gates' donations for women's health to over $600 million in the past two years. In an interview with The Associated Press, French Gates said that women's health is the cornerstone of the work she does through Pivotal, the group of organizations she founded to handle her philanthropy and investments. "It's just blaringly obvious that women's health is fundamental — she has to be well to do well in life," French Gates stated.
Since stepping away from The Gates Foundation in 2024, which she co-founded with her ex-husband Bill Gates and built into one of the world's largest private funders of healthcare, French Gates has honed her approach to supporting women. This latest round of funding reflects an increasingly strategic approach to areas she feels are underfunded.
Key Allocations
The funding includes a $40 million donation to Co-Impact for an initiative that integrates mental health support into maternal and primary care, particularly in Africa. Additionally, French Gates hopes her $10 million donation to The Menopause Society will improve menopause care in the United States by educating healthcare practitioners and expanding outreach in underserved areas.
According to the World Economic Forum, despite women comprising half the population, health issues specifically affecting them receive only 2% of private healthcare funds. This lack of funding has resulted in a scarcity of dedicated products and services. "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 said. "Part of what I'm doing here, I hope, is sending a signal to say, 'This is really important. Let's do something about it.'"
Expert Perspectives
Dr. Stephanie Faubion, medical director of The Menopause Society and director of The Mayo Clinic's Center for Women's Health, noted that the United States currently has about 6,000 counties with critically low access to menopause-competent clinicians. She said the donation will allow the society to offer educational resources to more areas in need. "Menopause remains one of the most overlooked and underserved areas in medicine, and The Menopause Society believes women deserve better," Faubion said.
Faubion also highlighted that research into menopause treatments was already underfunded before recent cuts by the Trump administration, making philanthropy even more crucial. "I think philanthropy is going to fill a greater role than it ever has in the past because we are just not going to have the same type of government funding that we've had before," she said. "Funding is hard to come by these days – much, much harder than it was before. And the need hasn't gotten away. We still have to do the research somehow."
Faubion emphasized that the attention generated by French Gates' gift may be as important as the funding itself. "It shows that somebody like Melinda Gates and Pivotal feel that this is an important issue," she said. "It will illuminate the gaps that are still there… and it makes people not only aware, but maybe motivated to take some action."
French Gates' Vision
For French Gates, increasing visibility for women's health issues is nearly as important as increasing funding. "I want women's health issues to not be invisible," she said. "I don't want the default to be that women are expected to deal with pain and suffering. I want them to be seen for what they're going through, their real life experiences, and have those issues addressed so they can live their very best lives."
The Associated Press receives financial support for news coverage of women in the workforce and in statehouses from Melinda French Gates' organization, Pivotal. Associated Press coverage of philanthropy and nonprofits receives support through the AP's collaboration with The Conversation US, with funding from Lilly Endowment Inc. The AP is solely responsible for this content.
