Gender Justice receives groundbreaking $2 million gift from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 19, 2024
CONTACT
Natalia Garzon, on behalf of Gender Justice
[email protected]
917.257.9793
Today Gender Justice received a transformational gift of $2 million from MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving Open Call, which awarded a cohort of community-led, community-focused organizations working with people and in places experiencing the greatest need in the United States. Among this cohort, Gender Justice was one of the highest-scoring organizations to receive an award. This is the largest one-time gift in Gender Justice’s history.
For fourteen years Gender Justice has built a track record of innovative work to advance gender equity through the law, playing a pivotal role in huge victories for abortion access and trans rights, setting groundbreaking legal precedents, and building transformative coalitions. Gender Justice is celebrating a historic and groundbreaking ruling this week by the Minnesota Court of Appeals that a pharmacist’s refusal to fill a woman’s prescription for emergency contraception based on his personal beliefs constitutes illegal sex discrimination under the Minnesota Human Rights Act. The ruling is the first in the United States to find sex discrimination in the context of a pharmacy’s refusal to fill such a prescription. The organization is also co-leading the effort to pass a Minnesota Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), calling for an amendment to the state constitution that would be a major stride forward in the fight for gender equity, reproductive autonomy, and trans rights.
“With a conservative legal movement threatening our fundamental rights here in Minnesota, North Dakota, and across the United States, this gift could not come at a more crucial time. We are incredibly grateful and humbled by this recognition from Yield Giving and Lever for Change,” said Gender Justice Executive Director Megan Peterson.
“Building and sustaining a world free of gender barriers requires community organization, education, and changing the ways we talk and think about gender. This Open Call award helps us take our fight for justice and equity to the next level, continuing our work to dismantle the legal, structural, and cultural barriers that contribute to gender inequity.”
In March 2023, Yield Giving launched an Open Call for community-led, community-focused organizations whose explicit purpose is to enable individuals and families to achieve substantive improvement in their well-being through foundational resources.
The Open Call received 6,353 applications and initially planned for 250 awards of $1 million each. In the Fall of 2023, organizations top-rated by their peers advanced to a second round of review by an external Evaluation Panel recruited for experience relevant to this cause, and underwent a final round of due diligence. In light of the incredible work of these organizations, as judged by their peers and external panelists, the donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount.
“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” said Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.”
More information on the Yield Giving Open Call and other initiatives can be found at
www.leverforchange.org.
Gender Justice
Gender Justice is a legal and policy advocacy organization dedicated to advancing gender equity through the law. Our vision is for a world where people of all genders, gender identities and expressions, and sexual orientations have the opportunity to thrive. We work towards our vision through impact litigation, policy advocacy, movement building, and public education.
Yield Giving
Established by MacKenzie Scott to share a financial fortune created through the effort of countless people, Yield Giving is named after a belief in adding value by giving up control. To date, Yield’s network of staff and advisors has yielded over $16,500,000,000 to 1,900+ non-profit teams to use as they see fit for the benefit of others. To learn more, visit www.yieldgiving.com.
Lever for Change
Lever for Change connects donors 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 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, 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 $1.7 billion in grants to date and provided support to more than 145 organizations. To learn more, visit www.leverforchange.org.