MacKenzie Scott donates $640 million to 361 nonprofits
By Marlene Lenthang
Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated $640 million to 361 nonprofit groups, she announced Tuesday.
Scott, the ex-wife of Jeff Bezos and a co-founder of Amazon, has been keeping good on her word to donate at least half of her wealth to charity as part of the Giving Pledge.
The latest round of donations, which varied from gifts of $1 million to $2 million, were awarded to nonprofit groups across the country with a variety of focuses - the arts, affordable housing, education, public health, immigration and diversity.
In a post on her Yield Giving website, she wrote that those community-led groups were "elevated by peer organizations and a round-2 evaluation panel for their outstanding work advancing the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means, and groups who have met with discrimination and other systemic obstacles."
The organizations were chosen from a pool of over 6,000 applicants.