Billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott, 54, donated $65 million to Enterprise Community Partners last month, a national nonprofit based in Maryland that aims to address the U.S.’s shortage of affordable housing.
The surprise donation left the organization shocked, reps said in a statement.
“Some of us probably wanted to cry for joy,” Janine Lind, president of Enterprise’s community development division, told the Baltimore Banner. “This came at a moment where the affordable housing sector certainly is being put to test and is struggling.”
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It’s Scott’s second gift to the 42-year-old organization—the first was $50 million in 2020. The organization noted in a press release that Scott’s gift is “one of the largest reported gifts to an affordable housing organization.”
“Housing affordability is on the national radar in a way that it’s never been in my three decades of work in this field,” said Shaun Donovan, CEO and President of Enterprise Community Partners, in a statement. “There is growing bipartisan consensus over the need to address this crisis, and MacKenzie Scott’s continued support reaffirms the importance of Enterprise’s mission. This gift will allow us to expand and accelerate our work, delivering community-based and sustainable housing solutions to the people and places that need them most.”
Scott, who helped start Amazon with her first husband, Jeff Bezos, is still a “major” shareholder with a 1.3% stake, based on a November 2024 SEC filing, and has an estimated net worth of $41.3 billion, according to Bloomberg.
In 2022, Scott donated two Beverly Hills homes worth $55 million to the California Community Foundation to support the nonprofit’s affordable housing and immigrant integration initiatives. That same year, she also donated $84.5 million to the Girl Scouts of the USA.
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