To date, Lever for Change has unlocked over $2.2 billion in funding for high-impact solutions and strengthened dozens of top organizations.

This has been a big year for Lever for Change! We started off having reached our initial goal of driving $1 billion in funding to outstanding organizations, ahead of schedule. This was an important milestone for us, as money is now flowing to people and communities with big ideas to tackle the issues they are facing, and because it proves that our reimagined model of large-scale grantmaking works. As we enter the final stretch of 2023, I find myself looking back at our growing impact and forward to a new year with lots of developments in the pipeline.

Please join us at Lever for Change as we celebrate the 2023 United Nations International Day of Persons with Disabilities (IDPwD)! We join with champions around the world to increase awareness, understanding, acceptance, and accessibility for people with disabilities.

Today, we are delighted to celebrate the three awardees of the Maternal & Infant Health Award, an initiative we launched last year in partnership with The Patchwork Collective and ICONIQ Impact (ICONIQ Capital’s platform for collaborative philanthropy). The award was designed to aid innovative, community-led organizations in providing women with access to safe, equitable, and quality maternal healthcare, with the goal of reducing maternal and infant mortality worldwide.

We’ve had a busy past few months at Lever for Change. In March, we launched MacKenzie Scott’s $250 million Yield Giving Open Call. While there has been some pushback on the eligibility requirements, which require organizations to have budgets between $1-5 million, I’m happy to share that we’ve received an overwhelmingly enthusiastic response from around the country.

A couple of years ago, I wrote an article about “the Power of Partnership.” Recently, I’ve been thinking about our partners and how we collaborate for greater impact. Many of the ideas I explored previously still hold true.

As you wake up and get ready for your day, you may not realize the countless caregivers out there who are already up and working hard to care for the most vulnerable members of our society. These incredible individuals are the backbone of our communities, delivering essential care to those who need it most. On Caregiver Appreciation Day, we want to honor and appreciate caregivers for their tireless efforts.

In the world of philanthropy, the 100&Change competition stands out for its potential to catalyze meaningful solutions for some of the biggest problems of our time. Among the 1,904 impressive projects submitted in the inaugural round of the competition, four finalists stood out for their unique approach, strong partnerships, and vision for achieving impact. This series provides an update on these initiatives and their achievements over the past five years.

The world of philanthropy can seem mysterious and inaccessible to many, but a unique partnership between Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Columbia Business School's Tamer Center for Social Enterprise, and Lever for Change is bringing it into the classroom. MBA students are applying their learning to award over $100,000 to a nonprofit organization, gaining real-world experience in philanthropy and the opportunity to make a meaningful impact.

This was a big year for Lever for Change, capped off by our announcement that we exceeded our goal of driving $1 billion in funding to outstanding organizations with inspiring ideas. Since our launch in 2019, we have helped more than 145 organizations accelerate social impact. As we celebrated this milestone, we met many amazing people, virtually and in person, and, not surprisingly, the question we were asked most is, “How did you do it?”