Celebrating the Value of Underrepresented Voices: MacKenzie Scott Announces MCN Gift

Thu, 03/24/2022 | by MCN Admin

Dr. Laszlo Madaras provides a check-up to a child held by their parent
Dr. Laszlo Madaras, Chief Medical Officer at MCN, meets with migrants at a shelter in McAllen, Texas.

At Migrant Clinicians Network, we have dedicated our lives to raising up the voices of migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers – those whose perspectives and needs are not merely ignored but often muted. With our partners across the country, we work with migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers to identify the largest gaps in care that they face, the largest inequities that keep them from being healthy and safe, and we work diligently and unceasingly to challenge those inequities.

The work is unrelenting, and, over the course of our almost 40 years, it has grown in scope and in urgency. In the last few years, we have expanded our work to support migrants, particularly food and farmworkers like meatpackers and seafood workers, as COVID doubled down on the health disparities they already faced, and asylum seekers, including hundreds of pregnant women who have had little to no prenatal care and are close to their due dates while they seek safe haven.

Our impact has been and continues to be significant – we’ve paved the way for well-being, health, and community connection for thousands and we have saved many lives -- and yet, it can be difficult to find funding to support this incredibly impactful and necessary work. Funders are often less interested in projects for people who are largely invisible, who aren’t on the front page of the newspaper, who are just trying to get by, to lead their lives, to survive.

A family sells produce at a farmers market

This week, MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and writer, wrote an announcement on the nearly $4 billion she’s given away in the last six months. In it, she emphasizes the value in underrepresented voices, and the need to elevate these voices to make lasting change that positively impacts the entire community. Five million of her dollars was given to Migrant Clinicians Network.

How rare it is to celebrate the value of underrepresented voices on such a large stage and at such an impactful scale. We have championed this work for decades because we know that these voices -- of the migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers who are struggling, lacking support, running into health inequities and structural racism at every step – these voices lack representation. Scott’s inspirational approach allows organizations like MCN to grow that representation. Scott’s validation of our work, of our mission, of our dedication to the health and well-being of migrants, immigrants, and asylum seekers, lifts their voices higher.

With her well-placed gift, we are accelerating our solutions, removing barriers to care in the face of systemic racism, and building health justice and equity for migrants. We are supporting clinicians who lack the tools and education to best serve their migrant patients. We’re connecting people directly to the care they desperately need and deserve, so they can have healthy lives. Thanks to MacKenzie Scott, we are doing this at a scale as never before.

Read Scott’s latest announcement, Helping Any of Us Can Help Us All, to learn more about her philanthropic philosophy, and see the complete list of nonprofits, including MCN, that have received funding from her in the last six months.