Gates Foundation Commits Additional $250 Million for Covid-19 Tests, Vaccines, and Treatments

Here are notable new grant awards compiled by the Chronicle:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

$250 million commitment to make additional grants to develop tests, treatments, and vaccines that will aid in the global fight against Covid-19, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. Among the grants is $5 million to Sherlock Biosciences to develop a disposable, at-home diagnostics kit that enables people to self-test and diagnose cases of Covid-19.

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation

$228.4 million to 186 grantees in support of the arts and humanities, higher education, and cultural organizations that have lost revenue during the Covid-19 crisis. One of the largest grants was $10 million to the California Community Foundation to provide emergency financial assistance for Los Angeles arts and cultural organizations.

Johnson & Johnson

$100 million commitment over five years to address systemic racism and promote health equity for Black people and other communities of color in the United States.

Lilly Endowment

$43 million to 18 museums and other cultural institutions nationwide to cultivate educational programs and exhibitions that depict the role of religion in the United States and around the world. In this round of grants, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston received $2.5 million to endow a new curatorial position dedicated to Islamic art.

(The Lilly Endowment is a financial supporter of the Chronicle of Philanthropy.)

St. David’s Foundation

$31.7 million to 56 nonprofit organizations in Central Texas to address critical health needs and bolster safety-net clinics, palliative care, home-visiting services, and food security in the region. Lone Star Circle of Care received $6 million to enhance its clinics, health information technology, care coordination, and programs that include dental care and its Big Pink Bus mobile mammography services.

C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Foundation

$24 million to the Virginia Commonwealth University and VCU Health to support the C. Kenneth and Dianne Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research, provide scholarships to students in the College of Engineering, and finish building the VCU Health Adult Outpatient Pavilion. Kenneth Wright, who died last year, owned several rental-car franchises. Dianne Wright died in 2013.

#StartSmall

$15 million to Mayors for a Guaranteed Income to explore pilot programs that give direct financial aid to people who live in the following U.S. cities: Columbia, S.C.; Los Angeles; Madison, Wis.; New Orleans; Pittsburgh; Providence, R.I.; Richmond, Va.; Tacoma, Wash.; St. Paul; and more cities that will be announced at a later date. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter and Square, previously gave $3 million to the organization through his #SmartSmall LLC in July.

Chick-fil-A

$10 million to the University of Georgia to expand and enhance the Institute for Leadership Advancement, which is housed within the university’s Terry College of Business.

Duke Endowment

$10 million to Duke University’s Sanford School of Public Policy to endow graduate fellowships and professorships, and support the school’s academic priorities.

Lever for Change

$10 million to Per Scholas as the winner of its Economic Opportunity Challenge. Per Scholas provides rigorous, tuition-free training for people from underserved communities to help them qualify for high-paying careers in information technology, enhancing economic development for those workers’ communities.

TikTok

$10 million to 10 academic institutions that serve underrepresented students and prepare Black, Latinx, and Indigenous students for careers in public health, medicine, and health care. The recipients, which have each received $1 million, are Delaware State University, Florida A&M, Laredo College, North Carolina A&T University, North Carolina Central University, South Carolina State University, Tougaloo College, University of South Dakota, Virginia Union College, and Xavier University of Louisiana.

Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust

$7.3 million in unrestricted Covid-19 emergency-response grants to 100 nonprofit groups in Arizona that are working in human services and arts and culture.

Chan Zuckerberg Initiative

$7 million commitment to five nonprofit organizations to help advance racial equity, support tribal identity, and enhance mental wellness among students in the communities most affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The recipients are the First Nations Development Institute, Forward Promise, the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health at the University of Texas at Austin, the Center at Sierra Health Foundation, and the Skillman Foundation.

The grant maker also gave $5.8 million to three organizations — Education Leaders of Color, Latinos for Education, and Surge Institute — for their work to diversify the pipeline of the education work force and recruit more Black and Latino teachers.

Daily’s Foundation

$5 million to Nemours Children’s Health System to enhance its facilities and drive improvements to patient care at this hospital in Jacksonville, Fla.

Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation

$5 million to the Baltimore Elementary and Middle School Library Project, which will provide operating support for 15 libraries in the city and provide funding for capital improvements at four new libraries over the next three years.

Barr Foundation

$4.2 million to 31 organizations across Massachusetts to advance racial equity and support the communities that the pandemic has hit the hardest. Among the grants is $1 million over four years to the King Boston Center for Economic Justice.

San Diego Foundation

$1.8 million through the San Diego Covid-19 Community Response Fund to 34 nonprofit organizations that help residents of San Diego in need. The grants came from an $8 million gift to the fund from the billionaire MacKenzie Scott in her latest round of giving.

Texas Women’s Foundation

$1.4 million through its Resilience Fund to provide immediate, mid- and long-term cash support to women, girls, and families in Dallas that have been the most affected by the Covid-19 economic and community-health crises.

AT&T

$1 million to Jobs for America’s Graduates to help vulnerable young adults overcome significant economic, emotional, social, and academic challenges.

New Grant Opportunity

The Cigna Foundation has issued an open call for applications for its Healthier Kids for Our Future program, which will make $25 million in grants over five years to schools, nonprofit groups, and community organizations that are focused on improving the health and well-being of children. In 2021, the program will award an additional $5 million in grants to address food insecurity and the mental health and emotional well-being of children, with emphasis on identifying and treating loneliness, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts. Applications may be submitted after January 25 and are due February 26.

Send grant announcements to grants.editor@philanthropy.com.

The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s subscribers also have full access to GrantStation’s searchable database of grant opportunities. For more information, visit our grants page.