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Climate|MacKenzie Scott Backs Disaster Recovery in Marginalized Communities
https://www.nytimes.com/2025/10/28/climate/mackenzie-scott-disaster-gift.html
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The billionaire’s $60 million donation to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy counters cuts to federal emergency assistance and diversity programs.
Oct. 28, 2025, 10:00 a.m. ET
MacKenzie Scott, the billionaire former wife of Jeff Bezos, is donating $60 million to the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, a nonprofit group that helps improve disaster resilience and recovery in struggling communities that otherwise lack the resources to rebuild.
The grant is an early signal that philanthropists and foundations may be stepping up to fill the void expected as the Trump administration scales back the Federal Emergency Management Agency.
It also follows other recent donations by Ms. Scott to groups that help low-income, minority students. Earlier this month, she gave $42 million to 10,000 Degrees, which works to make college accessible to low income students, who are often people of color. And she gave $40 million to the African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund. She has also supported efforts to fight global warming with a $10 million gift announced last week to support the Woodwell Climate Research Center in Massachusetts, where scientists are studying climate solutions.
Founded in 2010, the Center for Disaster Philanthropy focuses on helping “historically marginalized and at-risk populations.” Its chief executive, Patricia McIlreavy, said the donation from Ms. Scott serves as an endorsement of its focus on how floods, fires and other hazards can worsen social, health and economic disparities.
Ms. Scott previously donated $13 million to the center for initiatives concerning Covid-19 and the war in Ukraine, but her latest grant can be used however the center’s leaders see fit, Ms. McIlreavy said.
The disaster philanthropy center works with local nonprofit groups to make “high-impact” grants in disaster-weary regions, and it helps other philanthropic organizations with strategic planning around disaster-related gifts. For example, this year it launched a fund with $21 million from North Carolina-based Truist Bank to support Hurricane Helene recovery with a focus on helping small towns and communities that get less attention, and on rebuilding homes while preventing so-called disaster gentrification, when survivors are priced out of their rebuilt neighborhoods.
