Dr. Melanie Lundquist, LHD, is an activist philanthropist whose voice is as fearless as her life-changing work. Melanie and her husband Richard are two of California’s most significant philanthropists, having pledged more than $450 million over the last decade. Signatories of the Giving Pledge, the Lundquists have appeared six times on The Philanthropy 50, the annual list of America’s 50 most generous philanthropists. Melanie was named “Philanthropist of the Year” in 2019 by the Los Angeles Business Journal.
On stages from Aspen, Bloomberg, Milken, and POLITICO, to Boston College and Harvard Kennedy School, Melanie speaks openly and authentically about her focus to improve public education, fight climate change, make healthcare accessible, advance biomedical research, and save democracy. She is a difference-maker and a true change agent who advocates for “big bet,” maximum-impact philanthropy done with a focus to bring solutions and changes to scale.
At the 2024 Giving Pledge Annual Gathering, Melanie shared the stage with Bill Gates and David Rubenstein, where the three spoke candidly about how to become a transformational giver.
The Lundquists' “big bet” philanthropic investments include: the largest single donor contribution to a non-teaching/training hospital in the United States ($162 million, Torrance Memorial Medical Center); the largest investment ever made by individuals to improve K–12 public education in Los Angeles ($85 million, Partnership for Los Angeles Schools); and one of the largest biomedical research-related investments ever made in California ($70 million, The Lundquist Institute).
She is currently collaborating with the Gates Foundation to improve math outcomes in public schools across California. She also sparked joint efforts between The Lundquist Institute and the Gates Foundation to develop lifesaving surfactants for premature babies and a groundbreaking smart mask designed to rapidly diagnose tuberculosis.
Melanie serves as Vice Chair of the Board at the Partnership for Los Angeles Schools, one of the largest, in-district (non-charter) public school transformation organizations in the United States. She is also a member of the board of directors of News Literacy Project, the country's largest provider of news literacy education. Melanie is a member of the board of directors at The Lundquist Institute, a leading LA-based nonprofit research organization with over 150 MD/PhD principal investigators, advising on 600 research projects and 200 clinical trials annually.
Melanie previously served on the University of Southern California President's Leadership Council and is an ex-officio member of the Board of Councilors of the USC Rossier School of Education. Melanie is a founding ambassador and previously served as a trustee of AltaSea at the Port of Los Angeles, a 35-acre ocean technology campus.
Melanie holds undergraduate and graduate degrees from the University of Southern California in communicative disorders/speech pathology and audiology, as well as a credential as a specialist in special education. She earned her associate's degree from Los Angeles Valley College. In 2020, McPherson College recognized Melanie's significant body of philanthropic work by conferring upon her a Doctor of Humane Letters (LHD).
