MacKenzie Scott has made yet another life-altering donation and this time it’s positively impacting the lives of people in Africa.
Village Enterprise, a non-profit dedicated to poverty eradication, announced they’d received a gift of $7 million from Scott will be used to equip three million first-time entrepreneurs in Africa with skills and resources to launch sustainable businesses, ending extreme poverty and building climate resilience for 20 million women, children, and men by 2030 according to the organization.
“It’s only fitting that Ms. Scott’s generous gift comes during Women’s History Month, as it will be life-changing for women living in extreme poverty in Africa and their families,” said Dianne Calvi, Village Enterprise Chief Executive Officer in a news release. “When women have opportunities to launch climate-smart businesses, they not only lift themselves and their families out of poverty—they are also equipped to adapt to the threats of climate change. As East Africa is going through its worst drought in four decades, this is crucial to ensuring long-term prosperity for the most vulnerable households.”
Village Enterprise has already trained more than 264,000 entrepreneurs in Africa.
“Over the past seven years, I have been impressed by Village Enterprise’s proven and cost-effective intervention to work with the most vulnerable to provide them with the tools to live a better life,” said Pascale de la Frégonnière, Strategic Advisor to the Board at Cartier Philanthropy, n organization that supports Village Enterprise’s mission “They are constantly innovating and improving on their model to increase their impact especially among women and are not afraid of taking on very ambitious challenges, such as successfully putting together and implementing the first development impact bond for poverty alleviation in sub-Saharan Africa. Cartier Philanthropy is excited to continue to invest in Village Enterprise’s life-changing program.”
“Ms. Scott’s gift is a powerful testament to our work and to the fact that we can’t end extreme poverty alone,” said Dianne Calvi. “We’re looking for more governments, agencies, companies, and individuals to join us in taking collective action to end extreme poverty. After all, we go further together.”