Among the contributors to this overwhelming gift include fashion designer Tory Burch, Pivotal Ventures, Walmart’s Alice L. Walton Foundation, Target Corporation, Bank of America, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. These donors find themselves among a now-growing list of founding donors who have given $1 million or more including Deloitte, AARP, Jane and Spencer Abraham, the Robert and Lynda Altman Family Foundation, Rosario Dawson, Billie Jean King, among others. The funds provided to the museum have, and will continue to support the planning of the museum’s building, program development, and digital content for the museum, which will honor American women and their many and varied accomplishments.
In a statement, Melinda French Gates said, “The stories we tell about our country’s history so often overlook the contributions of the women in every generation whose efforts and ideas helped make us who we are today.” Gates believes that the future museum will “empower and inspire [the women] who will shape our future."