Chicago, IL, October 9, 2024 – Today, Pivotal, a Melinda French Gates organization, launched Action for Women’s Health, a $250 million global open call that will fund organizations around the world improving women’s mental and physical health. The open call is a key component of the $1 billion French Gates announced in May to advance women’s power globally. Applicants must register by December 3, 2024.

“To fully exercise power over their lives, women need to be mentally and physically healthy. And yet, women’s health is being neglected everywhere,” said Melinda French Gates. “More than 1 billion women and girls suffer from malnutrition. Reproductive health care is being denied in the U.S. and other countries. And globally, a woman dies in childbirth every two minutes. This is unacceptable, but there is reason for hope. Organizations around the world are taking innovative approaches to addressing these challenges, and this open call is about getting them the resources they need to scale up and reach as many people as possible.”

Today, women worldwide experience inequities across all aspects of their health—from spending more years in poor health to facing barriers to access services and treatments. These inequities can negatively impact women’s daily lives as well as their economic prospects and prosperity, their ability to engage in their communities, and their opportunities to achieve their goals.

Action for Women’s Health will support an array of organizations—of diverse geographies, sizes, perspectives, and approaches—united by their work to improve the mental and physical health of women. This initiative seeks to open access to funding streams to organizations and groups that historically have not had access to them.

Interested organizations are invited to visit womenshealth.leverforchange.org for more information and to take the Organizational Readiness Tool assessment to determine their eligibility. Applicants must register before 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Tuesday, December 3, 2024. Once registered, applicants must submit an online application before 4 p.m. U.S. Central Time on Friday, January 10, 2025. Eligible organizations serve women and have a record of improving their mental or physical health. They should center equity in their approach and be poised to scale their work to strengthen the health of more women.

Action for Women’s Health is being managed by Lever for Change, a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation that connects funders with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change.

“We are delighted to partner with Pivotal again, on this vital issue of women’s health,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “Three years ago, the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge awarded $40 million to support bold ideas to expand women’s power and influence in the United States. With this new open call, we hope to reach even more outstanding organizations in communities that have not had access to this kind of funding. Action for Women’s Health will lift up community-informed groups around the world with deep lived experience of the issues they work on.”

After applications are submitted, they will undergo an administrative review to confirm basic eligibility, followed by a participatory review by other applicants. In May-June 2025, organizations that are top-rated by their peers will advance to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel made up of experienced individuals from across sectors working on women’s health. Following a final round of due diligence, Pivotal will select awardees from among the organizations, giving each awardee flexible funding between $1 million and $5 million. Action for Women’s Health awardees will be announced by the end of 2025.

More information on Action for Women’s Health can be found at womenshealth.leverforchange.org.

Contact:

Imani Greene, Pivotal, imani@pivotalventures.org

Marc Moorghen, Lever for Change, media@leverforchange.org

Pivotal

Founded by Melinda French Gates in 2015, Pivotal works to advance 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 is comprised of Pivotal Ventures, LLC and Pivotal Philanthropies Foundation, a 501c3 nonprofit organization launched in 2022. Learn more at pivotalventures.org

Lever for Change

Lever for Change is a nonprofit donor advisor that connects funders with bold solutions to the world’s biggest problems—including issues like racial inequity, gender inequality, lack of access to economic opportunity, and climate change. Using an inclusive, equitable model and due diligence process, Lever for Change creates customized open call challenges and other tailored funding opportunities. Top-ranked teams and challenge finalists become members of the Bold Solutions Network—a growing global network that helps secure additional funding for as many applicants as possible, amplify members’ impact, and accelerate social change. Founded in 2019 as a nonprofit affiliate of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lever for Change has influenced over $2.2 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 500 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.