Founded by Melinda French Gates, Pivotal accelerates social progress by removing barriers that hold people back.
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Pivotal and Lever for Change Announce the 80+ Awardees of the $250 Million Action for Women’s Health Global Open Call
Although women make up half of the world’s population, they face inequities in nearly every aspect of their health. Women’s health is chronically underfunded and under-researched, and even when resources and solutions do exist, they often aren’t reaching the women who need them.
Melinda French Gates created Action for Women’s Health as part of the $1 billion commitment she made in 2024 to advancing women’s power around the world. The global open call is funded by Pivotal, a group of impact organizations founded by Melinda French Gates, and managed by Lever for Change, an organization with a track record of identifying bold ideas to solve the world’s most pressing problems.
"I want to see women everywhere making decisions, controlling resources, and shaping policies and perspectives—but women can’t do well unless they can be well...These 80+ organizations have proven that when it comes to improving women’s health, progress is possible and solutions exist. We hope this funding will help them expand their lifesaving, life-changing work, scale their impact, and reach millions more women around the world."
Each of the awardee organizations takes a unique approach to their work, shaped by local context, community needs, and lived experience. From bringing reproductive health services to rural communities to ensuring women have access to culturally relevant mental health care, the awardees are delivering innovative, scalable, and equitable solutions to the women who depend on them. Their focus areas also include maternal and perinatal health, furthering public health and education, and ensuring communities’ access to quality health care. Yet, despite the importance of their work, many of the awardees announced today have historically lacked access to major funding streams.
"We believe the best agents for change are those closest to the challenges. The awardees of the Action for Women’s Health Open Call exemplify that truth. They are bringing forward powerful, community-informed ideas that address urgent health inequities women face every day and are seeking funding to implement their plans. Philanthropy alone cannot close every gap, but it can shine a light and create momentum for change. This initiative is a call to funders, partners, and advocates to invest boldly, listen deeply, and act urgently."
Over 4,000 organizations from 119 countries applied to the open call. Applications underwent a multi-stage review, including administrative screening, a participatory review process, and an external Evaluation Panel composed of experts across the health, gender, and philanthropic fields. Following an additional round of due diligence, Pivotal and Lever for Change identified the final awardees from among the top-scoring organizations. Grants to these organizations have been made through a donor-advised fund supported by Pivotal at National Philanthropic Trust (NPT).
More information about the initiative and awardees is available at womenshealth.leverforchange.org.
About Pivotal
Founded by Melinda French Gates in 2015, Pivotal is a group of organizations that work to accelerate the pace of social progress and expand women’s power and influence in the U.S. and around the world. Through high-impact investments, philanthropy, partnerships, and advocacy, Pivotal seeks to remove the barriers that hold women—and all people—back. Pivotal includes Pivotal Ventures, LLC and Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a 501(c)(3) private foundation launched in 2022.
About Lever for Change
Lever for Change is a nonpartisan nonprofit that creates equitable access in the world of philanthropy, enabling donors to discover and invest in organizations with transformative potential. Through an inclusive open call approach, the team invites organizations of all sizes from around the world to showcase their big ideas and receive donor funding and resources to make them happen. To date, Lever for Change has influenced over $2.5 billion in grants and worked with more than 500 organizations worldwide. Discover new potential at leverforchange.org.
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