FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: May 28, 2024
CONTACT: Daniela Perez, dperez@domesticworkers.org
Generous Contribution from Melinda French Gates’ Pivotal Ventures to Strengthen Care Economy, Improve Working Conditions for Domestic Workers
NEW YORK— The National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA), the leading voice for dignity and fairness for millions of care and domestic workers across the country, is honored to announce today that it received a generous, multi-year gift from Pivotal Ventures. This gift is part of Melinda French Gates’ bold and timely new commitment to advancing the rights and economic mobility of women and women of color across the country and the world.
NDWA is thrilled to deploy the resources toward supercharging our efforts to organize and mobilize women of color and care workers toward change that will support all women and families—affordable childcare, paid family and medical leave, access to aging and disability care, and good jobs with good pay for care workers—at the local, state, and national levels.
The National Domestic Workers Alliance released the following statement:
“Pivotal Ventures’ generous grant to the National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) will help us meet this moment for women – to ensure women of color working in the care economy have a voice and a powerful platform to shape the policies that define what is possible for women.
This is a critical moment where our fundamental rights and freedoms are under attack, and at the same time, transformational change is possible, especially when it comes to care. We plan to rise to the occasion; this support will help ensure we can do so powerfully.
As Melinda French Gates shared, ‘We know that economies with women’s full participation have more room to grow.’ We are deeply grateful for her leadership and this call to action, and proud to fight alongside Pivotal and its partners to secure the future our daughters and granddaughters deserve.
The donation underscores a deep commitment to uplifting women and women of color, who form the majority of the domestic workforce. By supporting NDWA, French Gates and Pivotal Ventures are addressing long-standing issues of economic inequality, ensuring that women in domestic work – and beyond – receive the recognition, support, and economic mobility they deserve. This is a value French Gates understands deeply. ‘Despite the pressing need, only about 2 percent of charitable giving in the United States goes to organizations focused on women and girls, and only about half a percentage point goes to organizations focused on women of color specifically,’ she told the New York Times. ‘When we allow this cause to go so chronically underfunded, we all pay the cost.’
As a society, we have devalued the care economy and care work to our shared peril, with women of color bearing disproportionate costs. At NDWA and at Pivotal Ventures – we see value and power where others don’t. We know that care is essential, that child care, paid leave, and aging and disability care are economic issues. We see care workers as powerful enablers of modern economies that must be uplifted. This investment is a reflection of our shared commitment to the value of care. With Pivotal’s support, NDWA will boldly push forward change at the local, state, and federal levels to improve the quality of care work and achieve dignity and economic security for care workers.”
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National Domestic Workers Alliance (NDWA) is the leading voice for dignity and fairness for millions of domestic workers in the United States. Founded in 2007, NDWA works for respect, recognition and inclusion in labor protections for domestic workers, the majority of whom are immigrants and women of color. NDWA is powered by over 70 affiliate organizations and local chapters and by a growing membership base of nannies, house cleaners and care workers in over 20 states. Learn more at
www.domesticworkers.org. NDWA is a non-partisan non-profit organization that does not endorse, support, or oppose any candidates for public office.
