Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio Receives $10 Million Donation From MacKenzie Scott

December 17, 2020 – Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio today announced it received a $10 million donation from MacKenzie Scott.

Scott, formerly married to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos, is an American novelist, billionaire and venture philanthropist.

The donation to Goodwill is part of nearly $6 billion Scott has donated in 2020 as part of a giving pledge she announced in 2019.

“We’re humbled by this most generous donation from MacKenzie Scott,” said Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio President and CEO Anne Richards. “We couldn’t accomplish our mission of preparing people for a variety of stable career options and in turn, a more productive and sustainable way of life without the continued support of wonderful donors like Ms. Scott. This gift will enable us to make positive impact on thousands of people within the communities we serve.”

Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio serves 10 counties in Ohio and West Virginia. Last year, more than 16,000 people were served through mission outreach programs. The organization was selected by MacKenzie Scott’s team based on its accomplishments and the need in its service area.

“ … A team of advisors … took a data driven approach to identifying organizations with strong end results, with special attention to those operating in communities facing high projected food insecurity, high measures of racial inequity, high local poverty rates, and low access to philanthropic capital,” Scott wrote in a post announcing the donations. “The result over the last four months has been $4,158,500,000 in gifts to 384 organizations across all 50 states.”

Goodwill Industries of Greater Cleveland and East Central Ohio is headquartered in Stark County and serves residents in 10 counties: Cuyahoga, Geauga, part of Lake, Stark, Tuscarawas, Carroll, Jefferson, and Harrison in Ohio, and Brooke and Hancock in West Virginia. The 102-year-old non-profit has 27 different outreach programs.

The organization is now in the process of determining how these unexpected funds will be spent. The organization will work with Goodwill Akron, also a recipient of a Scott grant, to maximize impact for the region.