News Update

MacKenzie Scott surprises Oakland nonprofit with $3 million donation

An Oakland nonprofit that drew national notice when it created a virtual learning hub for Black children during Covid is the latest unexpected beneficiary of MacKenzie Scott’s philanthropic binge.

Oakland REACH announced this week it received an unrestricted $3 million gift from Scott, a novelist who has promised to give away half of the fortune in Amazon stock she received in the divorce settlement with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. She is reported to have given away $8.5 billion since 2020 of her $48 billion net worth, as of February, to organizations working on climate change, gender equality, racial equity and education.

Oakland REACH founder and CEO Lakisha Young said Tuesday she will use the money, the largest contribution since its founding five years ago, to expand and replicate its literacy tutorial program and broaden it to include early grades math. In the program, REACH trains parents and neighborhood adults to tutor elementary students up to third grade.

Young started its City-Wide Virtual Hub during the spring and summer of 2020 and continued it during 2021-22 for Oakland families dissatisfied with Oakland Unified’s remote learning. It trained and provided family liaisons and K-12 enrichment programs in martial arts and science. This school year, it is offering virtual programming to 950 children through the district’s Sojourner Truth independent study program, Young said.

As with all of Scott’s recipients, the money was a surprise. Young said she received a call last fall notifying her that an anonymous donor wanted to know more about Oakland REACH. Months later, she got an email announcing Scott was making a contribution. The message was to continue the good work you do, Young said.

Scott’s 0ther recent gifts include $133.5 million to Communities In Schools, a network of nonprofit groups with an operation in Los Angeles that work in low-income K-12 schools across the country; $35 million to Oakland-based NewSchools Venture Fund, which funds innovative district and charter schools in California, and $800 million to a number of historically Black colleges and universities.