The Equality Can’t Wait Challenge is an initiative launched by Melinda Gates, wife of Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, that is designed to expand the power and influence of women in the United States. The challenge was launched in the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020.

The goal of the challenge is to award $40 million by 2030 to various nonprofit organizations to work on women’s issues and improve the livelihoods of women. The challenge accepted applications through September 2020 with plans to award the grants in the summer of 2021.

Previous Gates Work

In September 2019, Melinda Gates wrote an article in the Harvard Business Review titled “Gender Equality is Within Our Reach.” The article outlined Gates’s goals to accelerate gender equality in the United States. Through her investment firm Pivotal Ventures, she dedicated $1 billion towards that goal. ¹

Gates’s article included a statistic from the World Economic Forum that estimated that it would take 208 years for U.S. women to achieve gender equality. The analysis looked at factors such as representation of women in public office and in the workforce. It also looked at the outcomes for women in areas such as healthcare and education. ²

Gates’s article spawned a social media campaign to highlight her claims. Among the celebrities that joined the campaign were former First Lady Michelle Obama, singer John Legend, and actress Reese Witherspoon. ³

Founding

In June 2020, Pivotal Ventures announced the creation of the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge. The challenge was initially launched with a plan to award $30 million to nonprofit organizations who work on women’s issues. ⁴

MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos, joined the challenge and offered up some of her funds to support the challenge. ⁵ The challenge is managed by Lever for Change, an affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. ⁶

The plan is to award grants to nonprofit organizations that will improve the lives and increase the power of women. The challenge announced that it would accept applications from organizations throughout September 2020. The grants would only be awarded in the summer of 2021 after a review process undertaken by peers and experts. The expert panel would include academics, impact investors, philanthropists, and organizational leaders. ⁷

The grant process is intended to award up to 10 finalists a one-time award of $100,000. In addition, there will two grants of $10 million will be awarded as well. The final $10 million will be allocated among the finalists. ⁸

Additional Grants Awarded

In August 2020, the challenge announced that an additional grant of $10 million would be awarded. The money was provided by the Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation. ⁹

1.     Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
2.   Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
3. Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
4. Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
5.            Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
6. “Pivotal Ventures Launches Challenge To Accelerate Gender Equality”. 2020. Philanthropy News Digest (PND). https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/pivotal-ventures-launches-challenge-to-accelerate-gender-equality.
7. Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
8.   Schultz, Abby. 2020. “Melinda Gates And Mackenzie Bezos Collaborate To Boost Gender Equality”. Barrons. https://www.barrons.com/articles/melinda-gates-and-mackenzie-bezos-collaborate-to-boost-gender-equality-01592949953.
9. “Additional $10M Award For Organizations To Win Through The Equality Can’T Wait Challenge”. 2020. Pivotal Ventures. https://www.pivotalventures.org/newsroom/additional-10-million-award-equality-cant-wait-challenge-charles-lynn-schusterman-melinda-gates.