Of and By

MacKenzie Scott

7 min readNov 14, 2022

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There is a poem by Gwen Nell Westerman that inspires me by shutting me up every time I read it. I had to close my laptop for a couple of days before writing this very short post.

Over the last seven months, with the help of my team, I gave $1,990,800,000 to 343 organizations supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities. Of special note is that many of the organizations are funds. For anyone similarly interested in supporting the leadership of people from the communities they’re assisting, funds are a great resource. They pool donations and spread them across a diverse group of smaller organizations working toward a common cause. The funds we picked look for teams with lived experience in the issues they’re addressing, as we did when selecting the other non-profits in this giving cycle, and the 1,200+ recipients before them, many of which are also funds. You can learn more about any of them in the database we’ll be releasing soon, with information supplied by their own teams, and mission statements in their own words.

I recently learned a saying used in disability communities: “Nothing about us without us.” For me, it’s another beautiful and powerful reminder. I needn’t ask those I care about what to say to them, or what to do for them. I can share what I have with them to stand behind them as they speak and act for themselves.

Aajeevika Bureau

Achieve Atlanta

African Communities Together

Alliance College-Ready Public Schools

Alliance San Diego

Amber Charter Schools

America’s Promise Alliance

American Association of People with Disabilities

Ascend Public Charter Schools

Asylum Seeker Advocacy Project (ASAP)

Atlas Preparatory School

Autistic Self Advocacy Network

Big Brothers Big Sisters of America

Black Alliance for Just Immigration

Black LGBTQIA+ Migrant Project

Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health

Bob Hope School

Boston Plan for Excellence (BPE)

Breakthrough Collaborative

Bright Star Schools

Brooke Charter Schools

Brothers Empowered to Teach

Busara Center for Behavioral Economics

California Community Foundation — housing and unrestricted

California Pan-Ethnic Health Network

Campaign for Southern Equality

Carmen Schools of Science and Technology

CenterLink: The Community of LGBT Centers

Charter School Growth Fund

Chicago Public Schools

Chinese-American Planning Council

Cleveland Metropolitan School District

Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights (CHIRLA)

College Access: Research & Action (CARA)

Collegiate Academies

Community Academies of New Orleans

Complete College America

Comunidades Indigenas En Liderazgo

Con Alma Health Foundation

Coney Island Preparatory Public Charter School

Cushing Public Schools

Dakota Medical Foundation

Danville Regional Foundation

Define American

Desmond Tutu Health Foundation

Detroit Public Schools Community District

Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services

Digital Empowerment Foundation

Durham Public Schools

Endowment for Health

Episcopal Health Foundation

Equality Federation Institute

Escondido Union School District

Evidence Action

Excel Academy Charter Schools

Excellence Community Schools

Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement

Family Focused Treatment Association (FFTA)

Family Life Academy Charter Schools

FirstLine Schools

Florence Immigrant & Refugee Rights Project

Fondo Lunaria Mujer

Food for Education

Foro Internacional de Mujeres Indígenas (FIMI)

Foundation for Amazon Sustainability (FAS)

Foundation for Ecological Security

Four Freedoms Fund

Freedom Prep Charter Schools

Fresno Unified School District

Friends of the Children

Generation Teach

Girl Scouts of the USA

Global Development Incubator

Global Fund for Children

Global Fund for Community Foundations

Global Greengrants Fund

Grand Prairie Independent School District

Grantmakers In Health

Greater Watertown Community Health Foundation

Haitian Bridge Alliance

Harambee Youth Employment Accelerator

Headwaters Foundation

Health Forward Foundation

Health Foundation for Western and Central New York

Healthcare Georgia Foundation

Henderson Collegiate

HIVE Preparatory School

Hmong American Peace Academy

Immigrant Legal Resource Center

Immigrants Rising

India Health Action Trust

Innovations for Poverty Action (IPA)

InspireNOLA Charter Schools

Instituto de Liderazgo Simone de Beauvoir (ILSB)

Instituto Socioambiental (ISA)

International Initiative for Impact Evaluation

Jefferson County Public Schools

Junior Achievement USA

Justice In Motion

Kansas City Teacher Residency

Killeen Independent School District

Kings River Union Elementary

KIPP Colorado Public Schools

KIPP Metro Atlanta Schools

KIPP SoCal Public Schools

KIPP St. Louis Public Schools

Latino Coalition for Community Leadership

LEARN Charter School Network

Lindsay Unified School District

Lutheran Immigration and Refugee Service

Maine Health Access Foundation

Make the Road New York

Marion County School District

Mary Black Foundation

Mat-Su Health Foundation

Metro Early College High School

Mission Achievement and Success (MAS) Charter School

Montana Healthcare Foundation

Movement Advancement Project

Nashville Teacher Residency

National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI)

National Children’s Alliance

National Day Laborer Organizing Network

National Disability Institute

National Indian Health Board

National Institute for Children’s Health Quality

National Korean American Service & Education Consortium (NAKASEC)

National LGBTQ Task Force

National Organization on Disability

National Partnership for New Americans

National Partnership for Women & Families

National Urban League

Native American Community Academy

New Paradigm for Education

Noble Network of Charter Schools

One Million Degrees

Opportunities Industrialization Centers of America (OICA)

Opportunity Finance Network

Paramount Schools of Excellence

Partnership for the Advancement of New Americans (PANA)

Paso del Norte Health Foundation

PATH Foundation

Pop Culture Collaborative

Rainbow Railroad

RIP Medical Debt

RISE Together Fund

Rocky Mountain Preparatory Schools

Sallie B. Howard School of Arts & Science

Santa Gertrudis Independent School District

Seventh Generation Fund for Indigenous Peoples

South Texas Independent School District

Springboard Collaborative

St. Louis Teacher Residency

Student Leadership Network

Study Hall Educational Foundation (SHEF)

Sunflower Foundation

Swasti Health Catalyst

Sylvia Rivera Law Project

Tacoma Public Schools

Teach For America

Texoma Health Foundation

The Aangan Trust

The Academy Charter School

The Alleghany Foundation

The Assisi Foundation of Memphis

The Center for Learner Equity

The Greater Clark Foundation

The Other Foundation

The Rapides Foundation

The TransLatin@ Coalition

Third Wave Fund

Trans Justice Funding Project

Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund

Transgender Resource Center of New Mexico

Translatinx Network

UndocuBlack Network

Urban Ed Academy

Vibrant Emotional Health

Visión y Compromiso

Vista College Preparatory

Water For People

White River School District 47–1

Women in Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organizing (WIEGO)

Women’s Refugee Commission

Workers Defense Project

MacKenzie Scott

Written by MacKenzie Scott

Mom, writer, advocate.

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