Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott is one of the richest women in the world. But the billionaire philanthropist has pledged to give away the majority of her wealth, and she’s announced her latest round of donations this week — $640 million to hundreds of nonprofits nationwide.
That includes Spark the Journey, a youth mentorship organization in D.C. Spark is getting $2 million, the largest donation in the organization’s history.
“This donation is really transformational for us. We are all very thrilled,” said Spark executive director Brandon White. “To some extent, I think we feel a little bit like we’re walking in a dream. But day by day, things become a little bit more concrete. ”
Spark provides mentorship and a community of support for young adults, helping them go to college and enter the workforce. According to their website, young adults with a mentor are more likely to enroll in college, volunteer regularly and hold leadership positions.
“What Spark does is provide students with a one-on-one personal connection to someone who can really be their champion, their advocate and their friend as they’re navigating some of the most difficult moments in their journey,” White said.
Since 1993, Spark has supported more than 1,000 local students. White said they’re planning to push into a wider network of school partners, potentially serving more local students than ever before. And the organization is looking for volunteers to be mentors.
“Our ultimate vision is to create a future where every young person in our community can attain economic mobility, independent of ZIP code, or educational background or race,” White said.
Spark the Journey was among some 6,353 nonprofits that applied to the $1 million grants when applications opened for Scott’s latest round of giving.
“The donor team decided to expand the awardee pool and the award amount,” said Lever for Change, which specializes in running philanthropic prize awards.
The 279 nonprofits that received top scores from an external review panel were awarded $2 million, while 82 organizations in a second tier received $1 million each.
Scott has given away $16.5 billion from the fortune she came into after divorcing Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Initially, she publicized the gifts in online blog posts, sometimes naming the organizations and sometimes not. She launched a database of her giving in December 2022, under the name Yield Giving.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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