With wealth inequality growing by the minute, and the dismantling or hollowing out of public programs, there is now, perhaps more than ever, a need for charitable giving.

In today’s interview, we’ll reveal the results of an important report on the status of the Giving Pledge - 15 years after its creation. You may be wondering, what is the Giving Pledge? Founders Bill Gates, ex-wife Melinda French and Warren Buffet established the Pledge to encourage greater charitable giving by billionaires to fulfill their commitment to the public good. Stay tuned to hear what this report reveals about philanthropic giving.

The funding bill passed in 2025 by Congress transfers even more wealth from working people to billionaires and large corporations by lowering their tax rates. Are they using that wealth to give back to the common good through charitable giving? How have things changed in the past 15 years?

Bio

Our guest is Bella DeVaan, Associate Director of the Charity Reform Initiative and a Co-editor of Inequality.org. DeVaan graduated cum laude with a B.A. in American Studies from Columbia University, where she studied inequality and philanthropy.

This podcast covers a lot of information, so I'm including relevant links.

Report on the Giving Pledge, 15 years later: https://ips-dc.org/report-giving-pledge-at-15/

https://inequality.org

https://inequality.org/subscribe

Book: Burned by Billionaires - by Chuck Collins

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