FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 18, 2022
Key Points
- ChangeLab Solutions has received a generous one-time donation of $8 million from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.
- The gift will help advance the organization’s mission of creating healthier communities for all through equitable laws and policies.
- As the largest gift in the organization’s 25-year history, this donation will increase ChangeLab Solutions’ ability to partner with communities, funders, and governments to help ensure that everyone can attain their full health potential.
Oakland, CA: ChangeLab Solutions, a national nonprofit organization that advances health equity through law and policy, has received a one-time donation of $8 million from author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott. The gift, the largest in ChangeLab Solutions’ 25-year history, comes at a time when changemakers across the nation are seeking new and innovative ways to address structural inequities through the tools of law and policy.
ChangeLab’s recent strategic plan names five fundamental drivers of health inequity as the key barriers to health equity. In their policy work, ChangeLab strives to center the knowledge and concerns of communities that are most at risk for poor health. The organization’s interdisciplinary team of lawyers, planners, and policy analysts works with changemakers across the nation to enact equitable legal and policy solutions by providing tools, trainings, and technical assistance.
The influx of resources through this unrestricted financial gift will bolster ChangeLab’s day-to-day work of addressing structural discrimination and racism in four focus areas for 2022: enacting equitable enforcement strategies, expanding housing justice, supporting public health authority, and identifying equitable policy solutions for rural communities.
“We are thrilled! This generous donation is an investment in our organization’s sustainability and will support our long-term work to create lasting systemic change,” says ChangeLab Solutions CEO Sarah de Guia, JD. "I am grateful to our staff, our board, and our funders and partners, whose collaboration and expertise are essential to the integrity and effectiveness of our work."
“This charitable contribution will enable ChangeLab Solutions to further their focus on the creation of legal and policy innovations that our society needs to achieve health equity,” says Oxiris Barbot, MD, chair of ChangeLab Solutions’ board of directors.
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ChangeLab Solutions is a nonpartisan nonprofit organization that uses the tools of law and policy to advance health equity. We partner with communities across the nation to improve health and opportunity by changing harmful laws, policies, and systems. Our interdisciplinary team works with community organizations, governments, and local institutions to design and implement equitable and practical policy solutions to complex health challenges. For more information, visit www.changelabsolutions.org. Follow ChangeLab Solutions on Twitter and Facebook.
Media Contact:
Kim Arroyo Williamson
Chief Communications Officer
kwilliamson@changelabsolutions.org
510-302-3310