MacKenzie Scott has said it would be easy for herself and the rest of the world’s super wealthy to “hole up at home” and wait for the pandemic to end.
Instead, Scott, an author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, is giving away her billions, including to several Chicago philanthropic organizations. Bloomberg lists Scott as the 18th richest person in the world.
United Way of Metro Chicago announced this week Scott has donated $25 million, the single largest donation in the organization’s history.
“To have this $25 million investment come completely unexpectedly from MacKenzie Scott was just remarkable and overwhelming in what it means for our community,” said Sean Garrett, United Way’s local president & CEO.
The gift comes about 14 months after United Way received a $10 million donation from BMO Harris Bank — at the time, the single largest gift the organization had received.
“While this has been an unbelievably challenging year — and the needs are greater than ever — we’ve actually seen continued support, which is really a testament to the generosity of this community,” Garrett said.
Community Investment Corp., which describes itself as a “leading source of financing for the acquisition, rehabilitation and preservation of affordable housing in the Chicago area,” is also receiving its single largest individual grant from Scott: $8 million.
“We are thrilled and humbled by Ms. Scott’s confidence in CIC’s work to expand access to credit in all Chicago neighborhoods, especially at an unprecedented time of great need when small building owners and tenants are struggling,” Jack Markowski, president and CEO of CIC, said in a statement.
Other Chicago-area organizations on the list to receive gifts include YMCA of Metro Chicago and Chicago Community Loan Fund. A spokesman at CCLF said the organization is receiving $10 million. Milwaukee-based Goodwill Industries of Southeastern Wisconsin and Metropolitan Chicago is set to receive $15 million, a spokeswoman there said.
Scott said in a post this week on medium.com that she has donated a total of about $4 billion in gifts during the last four months to 384 organizations across the United States and in Puerto Rico.
In her post, Scott cited a Chicago teenager as part of the inspiration for her giving.
“In March, a 19-year-old girl in Chicago sent a group text to her friends, suggesting they buy supplies for people in their neighborhood who had lost their jobs,” Scott wrote. “She posted two Google forms — one for people who needed help and another for people with help to give — and by two days later, they’d raised $7,000. ‘We’re really excited,’ she said. Me too.”
Scott noted the pandemic has hit already struggling Americans like a “wrecking ball.”
“Economic losses and health outcomes alike have been worse for women, for people of color, and for people living in poverty,” she wrote. “Meanwhile, it has substantially increased the wealth of billionaires.”
