Melinda French Gates launches $250M open-call funding opportunity for women’s health

Melinda French Gates on Wednesday launched Action for Women’s Health, a $250 million open call that aims to reach organizations from around the world working to address women’s physical and mental health. Its target includes groups that have been overlooked in the past.

The effort is part of French Gates’ intense focus on helping women meet their basic needs, including access to reproductive healthcare; supporting their families; and flexing their muscles in work and politics.

“We can help build a world where women have their health so they can exercise their full power,” French Gates says in a short video announcing the funding opportunity.

Action for Women’s Health is part of a $1 billion, two-year initiative centered on women’s and family issues that French Gates announced in May, shortly after her resignation from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. She left the Seattle-based organization with $12.5 billion for her own initiatives as part of her divorce agreement with Bill Gates.

French Gates recently has flipped the nonpartisan, cautious script that hemmed in her work at the foundation. She has spoken out against the Supreme Court’s decision that triggered the dismantling of abortion rights in the U.S., and for the first time publicly endorsed a presidential candidate, selecting Kamala Harris as her choice.

Pivotal Ventures, French Gates’ independent company, is overseeing her billion-dollar effort. Pivotal previously shared more details on two of its other components: the awarding of $200 million to U.S. groups focused on women’s rights, and $20 million grants issued to 12 individuals globally whose work French Gates admires.

Organizations interested in applying for Action for Women’s Health funds need to register by Dec. 3. The open call will be managed by Lever for Change. Applicants will undergo multiple rounds of review by peers and external evaluators, and Pivotal will pick the winning organizations.

Awardees will be announced by the end of next year and receive between $1 million and $5 million.