Melinda Gates’ $10 Million Gift Wows Oli
The pop star raised $10 million for nonprofits helping women and girls at the first Daisy Chain Fields music festival—then Melinda Gates doubled it to $20 million.
Oli Fields music festival. Photo: Getty
Before she sang a note at the inaugural Daisy Chain Fields music festival in Irvine, California, founder and headliner Oligood news—and a big surprise
Not only had Saturday night’s all-female benefit concert raised $10 million for organizations supporting women and girls, but Melinda French Gates had just pledged to double the amount to $20 million.
“I’m totally floored,” said Rodrigo, who was then joined on stage by Gates.
Look at what you have done, look
“Look at what you have done, look at what you’ve created,” Gates told the 23-year-old pop star, gesturing toward the cheering throng at Great Park. “When women and girls come together to dream and to lead, we change the world. And so, long after the lights go down from this festival, the organizations doing this work will keep doing it because you all are here.”
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Gates’ $10 million gift stems from Pivotal, the collective of organizations she founded in 2015 to “accelerate the pace of social progress for women and young people in the U.S. and around the world.”
The $20 million raised at the festival will be distributed equally among 10 nonprofits whose missions focus on issues ranging from women’s health and safety to gender justice: Baby2Baby, Black Mamas Matter Alliance, Center for Reproductive Rights, FreeFrom, Jhpiego, Johns Hopkins Center for Indigenous Health, National Domestic Workers Alliance, National Institute for Reproductive Health, National Women’s Law Center, and Planned Parenthood.
“The organizations we’ve partnered with are doing incredibly important work every single day in the U.S. and globally,” Rodrigo said in a press conference the day before the festival. “I’m so grateful to every person who bought a ticket, every artist who waived their fee, every sponsor for signing onto a brand-new festival, and every donation…”
Source: www.inc.com
