Cheerleaders from a CMSD school dance during Cleveland's 2022 Labor Day parade. Credit: Mark Naymik/Signal Cleveland

MacKenzie Scott, one of the world’s wealthiest people because of her stake in Amazon.com, announced in a Medium post she has donated nearly $2 billion in recent months “to 343 organizations supporting the voices and opportunities of people from underserved communities.” 

Cleveland Metropolitan School District spokesperson Tom Ott said the district will provide details on the gift next week. 

“We’re excited to be a recipient,” Ott said.

In her post, Scott said she will “soon” release a searchable database of the gifts. It will include statements from the organizations themselves.

Scott’s list contains a number of other urban public school districts, including Chicago Public Schools and the Detroit Public Schools Community District, as well as dozens of charter school networks. Among the other recipients is the Charter School Growth Fund, a nonprofit that invests in charter schools across the United States. The Charter School Growth Fund supports the Breakthrough Public Schools, a Cleveland-area charter-school network.

K-12 Education Reporter (he/him)
Paul, a former City Year Cleveland AmeriCorps member based in a charter school, covered K-12 education for Signal Cleveland until August, 2023. Paul joined us from Cleveland Documenters, where he focused on creating infographics and civic tech to make public information more accessible. Paul is also a musician, photographer and graphic designer.