MacKenzie Scott, Former Wife of Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, Makes Multi Million-Dollar Donations to HBCUs

MacKenzie Scott puts her activism skills to good use by donating over $1 billion to a list of 116 historically black colleges and universities.

The former wife of Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, Scott gathered $1.7 billion from her extensive fortune to give to a number of Black universities and institutions. These institutions include Howard University, Hampton University, Xavier University, Morehouse College, Spelman College and Tuskegee.

Scott also included Black-focused organizations Black Girls Code, Harlem Children’s Zone, the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund.

The author and philanthropist participated in this donation plan out of the need to assist the education system that has drastically changed due to the coronavirus outbreak. Most schools have either had to close their campuses indefinitely or perform classes online. “I watched the first half of 2020 with a mixture of heartbreak and horror. Life will never stop finding fresh ways to expose inequities in our systems; or waking us up to the fact that a civilization this imbalanced is not only unjust, but also unstable,” Scott discussed in her statement. “What fills me with hope is the thought of what will come if each of us reflects on what we can offer.”

Hampton University President Dr. William R. Harvey expressed his deepest gratitude towards Scott’s contribution, “This pure act of benevolence is clearly a game-changer and it could not have come at a better time. I speak for the entire Hampton University community when I say we are grateful to Ms. MacKenzie Scott, who has chosen to support us during this unprecedented period of uncertainty.”