The National Trust for Historic Preservation’s African American Cultural Heritage Action Fund has been awarded a $20 million grant from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott in an unprecedented move that will nearly double the amount of funding the organization has received since its inception in 2017. 

Scott’s grant was announced in a Medium post she authored, which outlines some of her motivations for supporting causes with a progressive social agenda. 

The donation is part of a larger $2.7 billion gift Scott and husband Dan Jewett gave to a variety of arts organizations with a focus on African diasporic cultural concerns, including the Souls Grow Deep Foundation and the Studio Museum in Harlem, which is currently undergoing a radical transformation at the hands of Adjaye Associates. 

The money will allow the fund to pursue its stated goals of promoting a “national identity that reflects the nation’s true diversity.” The organization recently placed 6 sites specific to Black history on the trust’s annual list of the 11 most endangered places and has made headlines for its efforts to save a range of other important historic locations, including several stops on the Underground Railroad, an entire neighborhood in Easton, Maryland and the childhood home of singer Nina Simone.

“People struggling against inequities deserve center stage in stories about [the] change they are creating,” Scott wrote on Medium. “This is equally — perhaps especially — true when their work is funded by wealth. Any wealth is a product of a collective effort that included them. The social structures that inflate wealth present obstacles to them. And despite those obstacles, they are providing solutions that benefit us all.” 

The fund has raised $30 million outside of the grant and will now look to put it toward transformative initiatives like its HOPE program, which provides architecture students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities with internships and hands-on training in the field of historic preservation. 

“This inspiring gift,” Executive Director Brent Leggs said in a statement, “is an affirmation that our work to elevate the significance of Black culture in American history matters, and that preservation of historic landmarks is a form of equity. We are grateful to Ms. Scott and Mr. Jewett for their investment, which scales up our commitment to preserve and tell overlooked stories of African American achievement that are fundamental to the nation itself.”