Newswise — Jacqueline Ackerman is the interim director of the Women’s Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy. She is available to comment on Melinda French Gates’ latest announcement of $1 billion dollars to organizations supporting women and girls, as well as the $12.5 billion dollars French Gates says she received as part of her departure from the Gates Foundation and will use for her philanthropy moving forward. Ackerman can also discuss research from the Women's Philanthropy Institute that shows typically, less than 2 percent of overall charitable giving in the United States supports causes supporting women and girls.
The Women’s Philanthropy Institute at Indiana University in Indianapolis increases understanding of women’s philanthropy through rigorous research and education - interpreting and sharing insights broadly to improve philanthropy. The institute conducts research on gender and philanthropy, women’s giving, and giving to women’s and girls’ causes.
Some quotes from Jacqueline Ackerman, interim director of the Women's Philanthropy Institute at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of Philanthropy:
"The Women’s Philanthropy Institute has produced the Women & Girls Index every fall starting in 2019. The Index measures philanthropic support for organizations based in the U.S. that serve women and girls."
"The most recent Women & Girls Index that we launched this past October (2023) showed that in 2020, women’s and girls’ organizations in the U.S. received $8.8 billion in philanthropic support, or 1.8% of overall charitable giving. This statistic is not a standalone. The Women & Girls Index shows that these causes are chronically under-funded. This less-than-2% statistic has not budged since we started measuring it, and we have data going back to 2012."
"Melinda French Gates, like many donors, has been very clear about her motivations for giving to women’s equality and leadership. She is led by the data - by data from us at WPI, and others, showing that women and girls are disadvantaged and under-resourced across multiple measures. This move by Melinda French Gates away from the Gates Foundation and more fully into her own individual philanthropy is a huge opportunity to better the lives of women and girls. This move can be a game changer for women’s and girls’ causes, but only if it spurs more giving and longer-term giving by people across the country and around the world."