One of the billionaire philanthropist’s latest gifts, a $42 million donation to Elizabeth City State University on the school’s Founders Day in North Carolina, pushes her total giving to HBCUs well past the $1 billion mark. And that’s just part of Scott’s $26 billion philanthropic commitment since 2020, in which she’s donated to thousands of organizations focused on DEI, disaster recovery, community development, health, and environmental causes. Tuesday also happens to be Scott’s 55th birthday.
Elizabeth City State University Chancellor S. Keith Hargrove, Sr., expressed his “deepest gratitude” for Scott’s gift, saying she recognizes” the critical role that HBCUs play in expanding opportunity and strengthening communities.”
The gift is the latest in a pattern Scott, the ex-wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, has been building since 2020, when she first began directing hundreds of millions of dollars toward HBCUs. One such gift was to Howard University, the alma mater of former Vice President Kamala Harris, Thurgood Marshall, and Toni Morrison (with whom Scott shares a deep connection). Scott, who is worth an estimated $38.3 billion, donated $80 million to Howard in November 2025, which was one of the school’s largest donations in its 158-year history.
Every HBCU MacKenzie Scott has funded—and how much
- Alabama State University: $38 million, largest in the school’s history (2025)
- Alcorn State University: $42 million (2025)
- Bowie State University: $50 million (2025); $25 million (2020)
- Claflin University: $20 million (2020)
- Clark Atlanta University: $38 million (2025); $15 million (2020)
- Delaware State University: $20 million (2020)
- Dillard University: $19 million (2025), $5 million (2020)
- Elizabeth City State University: $15 million (2020)
- Hampton University: $30 million (2020)
- Howard University: $80 million (2025); $40 million (2020)
- Lincoln University (PA): $20 million (2020)
- Morehouse College: $20 million (2020)
- Morgan State University: $63 million (2025); $40 million (2020)
- Norfolk State University: $50 million (2025); $40 million (2020)
- North Carolina A&T State University: $45 million (2020)
- Prairie View A&M University: $63 million (2025); $50 million (2020)
- Spelman College: $38 million (2025); $20 million (2020)
- Tougaloo College: $6 million (2020)
- Tuskegee University: $20 million (2020)
- University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES): $38 million (2025)
- Virginia State University: $50 million (2025)
- Voorhees University: $19 million (2025)
- Winston-Salem State University: $50 million (2025)
- Xavier University of Louisiana: $20 million (2020)
Why no-strings-attached giving is so rare and powerful
These donations share a commonality: They’re unrestricted, meaning schools can allocate them however they see fit, which could include funded scholarships, fortified endowments, attracted faculty, and bankrolled long-deferred facility upgrades. That flexibility, rare in philanthropy, is the cornerstone of what has made her approach so distinctive.“She practices trust-based philanthropy,” Anne Marie Dougherty, CEO of the Bob Woodruff Foundation, previously told Fortune. (Scott made two major donations to a veterans-focused organization: $15 million in 2022 and $20 million in 2025). Noni Ramos, CEO of Housing Trust Silicon Valley, has similarly noted Scott’s donations are “unlike traditional funding processes,” which typically involve lengthy applications, specific restrictions, and reporting requirements.
“Her style empowers organizations like ours to determine how best to direct funds quickly and innovatively to address pressing issues,” Ramos told Fortune in 2024.
Scott’s HBCU giving exists within a broader DEI-focused philanthropic strategy that has become increasingly pronounced as the Trump administration rolls back federal support for diversity-focused programs and institutions. In 2025 alone, she donated $70 million each to the Thurgood Marshall College Fund and the United Negro College Fund.
