MacKenzie Scott, philanthropist, author and ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, married a science teacher in Seattle. Dan Jewett made the announcement in a letter to the nonprofit’s website, Giving Pledge, on Saturday.
Jewett said he never imagined he would be able to talk about providing significant riches during his lifetime to make a difference in the lives of others. He expressed his gratitude “for the exceptional privilege he will have of being a partner in providing assets with the potential to do so well when shared.”
Jewett has been a teacher for decades and most recently taught chemistry at Lakeside Private School, where Scott’s children attended.
The promise to give
“And now, in a happy coincidence, I am married to one of the most generous and kind people I know – and I join them in their commitment to pass on enormous financial wealth to serve others,” Jewett wrote. .
After donating $ 1.68 billion to 116 nonprofits, universities, community development groups and legal organizations in July last year, Scott asked a team of advisers to help her “accelerate” 2020 by providing immediate help to those financially shattered by the pandemic.
Scott continued to donate a total of $ 5.7 billion in 2020, urging community leaders to help identify 512 seven- and eight-digit gift organizations, including food banks, human services organizations and racial justice charities. .
She was ranked 2nd among the 50 most charitable Americans last year, according to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s annual ranking.
Bezos topped the list by donating $ 10 billion to launch the Bezos Earth Fund.
Scott announced a lot of charitable gifts in December in a post on Medium, writing that she was inspired by grassroots efforts to help people in need, such as community refrigerators and “improvised Venmo gifts from one person to another.” Scott said he began by examining 6,490 organizations, then narrowed the list to 384 organizations that have “high impact potential.”
Many of these organizations, such as food banks, address basic needs, while others focus on what Scott called “long-term systemic inequities that have been deepened by the crisis.” Among the beneficiaries:
- More than 40 food banks in America, ranging from the Central Food Bank of California to Vermont Food Bank
- Over 40 Goodwill affiliates, such as Goodwill Hawaii and Goodwill of the Heartland
- 30 Meals on Wheels member programs, such as Meals on Wheels South Florida and Meals on Wheels Atlanta
- Educational institutions, including New York University, Lehman College and Morgan State University in Baltimore
“We shared each of our gift decisions with program leaders over the phone for the first time and welcomed them to spend funding on everything they think works best for their efforts,” she wrote. “The responses of the people who received the calls often included personal stories and tears.”
Aimee Picchi contributed to this report.