The Columbus Urban League announced Monday that the organization is the recipient of a $6.5 million donation from philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott.
Scott is the former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and one of the wealthiest women in the world.
Columbus Urban League president and CEO Stephanie Hightower called Scott's gift a "game changer" and a validation of the organization's racial equity and social justice work.
"For so many years, we've lived hand to mouth," Hightower said. "And what I mean by that is we've always done more with less."
Hightower said the funds will give CUL the ability to fully fund their programs and spread the wealth in the community—for example, by helping out a small business that lacks access to capital.
"If we need to nudge somebody to help them grow and scale their business, we'll have these kinds of additional funds to be able to do that level of work that is really not only impactful but transformational."
Scott also made similar gifts to 24 other Urban League affiliates across the country.
She has given out roughly $12 billion to a variety of organizations since 2019, many of them focused on racial equity.
