Two nonprofits operating in Oregon and Washington recently received news they’re among nearly 200 organizations across the nation who are receiving funds this year from billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
Craft3, a nonprofit community development organization in the Pacific Northwest, will receive $15 million. It is the organization’s second big grant from Scott, adding to the $10 million received in 2020.
Scott also plans to give $1.5 million to The Affiliated Tribes of Northwest Indians, a nonprofit serving 57 tribes in Oregon, Washington and other western states. In a blog post on Wednesday on her site Yield Giving, Scott announced she’s giving 199 organizations a total of $2 billion.
In all, Scott has so far given away $19.2 billion, something she began in 2019 after divorcing Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon and one of the richest men in the world.
Scott said, “roughly 75% of them are non-profits that support the economic security and opportunity of people who are struggling by improving access to affordable housing, jobs that provide stability for themselves and their families, child development and post-secondary education, healthcare, and financial counseling, business coaching, and low-interest rate loans focused on increasing economic potential and building wealth.
” She also shared information about shifting her approach to giving.
“I’ve asked the investment team helping me manage the assets I’m working to give away to source funds and companies focused on for-profit solutions to these challenges,” Scott said. In her blog post, Scott went on to explain that the shift was aimed at maximizing help for people and groups who need it rather than lining the pockets of money managers.
“When I make gifts, rather than withdrawing funds from a bank account or from a stock portfolio that increases the wealth and influence of leaders who already have it, I’d like to withdraw them from a portfolio of investments in mission-aligned ventures, with leaders from the populations they are serving, or from generally undercapitalized groups like women and people of color,” Scott said.
Scott’s gifts this month follow an earlier round of giving in March. In that round, she distributed $640 million to 361 nonprofits. Four organizations in Oregon and Southwest Washington received gifts. Those included $2 million for Raphael House of Portland, $2 million for Familias en Accion, $1 million for Jackson Street Youth Services and $2 million for Council for the Homeless.
