Ypsi Non-Profit Receives $2M Grant from Mackenzie Scott (Bezos)

MacKenzie Scott’s Yield Giving announced that several Michigan nonprofit organizations have secured a total of $11 million in grants. Scott, a novelist and philanthropist, is the former wife of Amazon founder and billionaire Jeff Bezos.

The open call asked for applications from nonprofits who are community-led with missions “to advance the voices and opportunities of individuals and families of meager or modest means,” Yield Giving said on its website. Scott’s stated goal is to give away the bulk of her wealth. By the end of 2023, Yield Giving awarded $17 billion — nearly half her fortune — to more than 2,300 nonprofit organizations. 

The Michigan grants are part of a new round of $640 million going to more than 300 organizations throughout the nation.

“We are excited that our partnership with Yield Giving has resonated with so many organizations,” Cecilia Conrad, CEO of Lever for Change, said in a press release. “In a world teeming with potential and talent, the Open Call has given us an opportunity to identify, uplift, and empower transformative organizations that often remain unseen.” 

The Peace Neighborhood Center, located in Ann Arbor and Ypsilanti, secured $2 million. Its mission is “to provide programs for children, families, and individuals who are affected by social and economic challenges that stem from intergenerational poverty, racial inequities, and trauma,” according to its website. 

Another recipient is the Detroit Justice Center (DJC), which received an award of $2 million. 

“We see this donation as an act of wealth reclamation,” said DJC’s Executive Director Nancy A. Parker. “We will use it to re-distribute wealth stolen from overworked and underemployed Amazon workers and put it towards serving our community, which is disproportionately affected by cycles of incarceration.”

The DJC said this is the largest gift it’s received in its nearly six years in Detroit, but noted that “it comes at a time when there has been a significant rollback from 2020’s outpouring of philanthropic support for Black-led organizations fighting against the criminal punishment system.”

Downtown Boxing Gym, a Detroit-based nonprofit program centered around student achievement and success; Detroit People’s Platform, a social action nonprofit; and InsideOut Literary Arts each earned $2 million gifts. 

The Detroit-based Avalon Healing Center secured $1 million. The center “inspires healing and empowerment for those affected by sexual violence through free and immediate comprehensive services; promotes public awareness; and advances social change,” according to its website.