New York (CNN Business) In a powerful philanthropic pairing, Melinda French Gates and MacKenzie Scott have teamed up to direct $40 million to advancing the power and influence of American women over the next decade. The challenge billed itself as "the first competition centered on gender and equality in the U.S. with an award of this magnitude and ... an opportunity to invest in and empower women leaders." The four contest winners — which were chosen from among 550 applicants — proposed various creative ways to empower and improve the lives of women and gender non-conforming people in the United States. Many of these issues have become particularly important given the Covid-19 pandemic's outsized impact on women , which experts have said set gender equality back by years. "The awardees are strong teams working on the front lines and from within communities to help women build power in their lives and careers," Scott said in a statement.

Source: CNN July 29, 2021 20:26 UTC