Bezos Foundation gives Robin Hood $100 million for NYC child care

The Bezos Family Foundation is putting $100 million behind Robin Hood’s early childhood work in New York City, a major infusion that lands as Mayor Zohran Mamdani tries to turn free child care into a defining city promise. The money gives one of the city’s best-known poverty groups fresh leverage in a policy fight that has long exposed how hard it is for public systems to build child care at scale.

Robin Hood said the gift is earmarked for early childhood education in New York City. The foundation behind it was created by Jeff Bezos’s mother, Jacklyn Bezos, and stepfather, Miguel Bezos. Jackie Bezos, the foundation’s president and co-founder, also sits on Robin Hood’s board, linking the gift directly to a group that has become an important intermediary in the city’s child care politics.

Robin Hood is already one of the most active philanthropic players in the field. In 2025, it said its early childhood programs supported more than 39,000 families and 28,000 children ages 0 to 5, and helped more than 2,500 families enroll in affordable child care. The group says the need remains enormous: 52% of New York City families cannot afford child care, and the economic cost tied to parent absenteeism and turnover is about $1.28 billion a year.

The new donation arrives alongside a broader public push. In January 2026, Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mamdani announced a plan to launch free child care for 2-year-olds in New York City and strengthen the city’s existing 3-K program. The state said it would provide $73 million for the first year of 2Care, beginning with 2,000 seats in high-need areas. Hochul also proposed increasing child care funding by $1.7 billion for the upcoming fiscal year, including $1.2 billion for subsidies, and said the state wants a seat for every 4-year-old by the 2028-2029 school year. Mamdani has already started opening provider recruitment for new 3K and 2K seats.

The latest gift also revives an older pattern in New York City, where private philanthropy and public dollars have often been braided together to push child care policy forward. In May 2022, Robin Hood and the city announced a $100 million Childcare Quality and Innovation Initiative, split between $50 million from Robin Hood and $50 million in city funding through state and federal block grants. Robin Hood later said that effort improved care for 715 children through grantees. The Bezos Family Foundation also gave Robin Hood $10 million in 2022 tied to the child care effort.

For Mamdani, the donation is a political boost. For the city, it is another reminder that universal child care still depends on a fragile mix of public financing, private capital and nonprofit execution, even as leaders promise a more durable system.